The Words of the Arty Class

Michael Annoff, Nuray Demir / Kein schöner Archiv

The Independent Theater has always been on lockdown.

"Independent Theater has always been in lockdown", claim the artists in the 2020 anthology "Lernen aus dem Lockdown" [Learning from Lockdown] by the Impulse Theater Festival. For they, the Covid crisis (of the Independent Theater Community) was, above all, a class issue. While workers (of color) were working double shifts or holding out in too-small apartments, the predominantly white middle-class theater regulars could stay in and work from home. However, before and after the crisis (even more so in the face of inflation), going to the theater has been a question of income, of how much time one has for recreational activities, and of how one was socialized. Yet, (in the Independent Theater Community), the new debates about classism and digitalization are dominated by white perspectives. Why is that?

The artistic evaluation lab "The Words of the Arty Class" is an intersectional investigation of classism and racism in the field of Independent Theater. Forms of voicelessness in a society where criticism of injustice too often remains unheard constitute the basis of their lab’s analysis.

They will create a digital, performative publication based on silenced memories and unpublished notes. "The Words of the Arty Class" is a performative researching back: They illuminate the white spots of the upper middle class and of its audience research and cultural politics.

Participants

Melmun Bajarchuu, Corç Demir, Nuray Demir,Aidan Riebensahm, Azadeh Sharifi, Joana Tischkau, Trần Thu Trang (Artist Lab & Contribution Performative Publication), Gürsoy Doğtaş, Suy Lan Hopmann, Nesrin Tanç and many more. (Further Contributions Performative Publication), Concept & Hosts: Kein schöner Archiv (Michael Annoff & Nuray Demir), Franziska Morlok, Flore Lassius / Rimini Berlin (Visual Design Video & Performative Publication), Caroline Spellenberg / high expectations (Production), Team des HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Technique), Nine Eglantine Fumiko Yamamoto-Masson (Translation)