“Sometimes you only have to listen…”
About the sonic entanglements of our colonial past

, December 10, 2019
Who decides what “sound” is? Who would classify it as “music”? In May 2019, former IRC-Fellow meLê yamomo premiered his sound-performance Echoing Europe - Postcolonial Reverberations at Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in Berlin. The performance focuses on recording techniques during colonialism, specifically from 1890-1950 in Southeast Asia and the ways they are exhibited in today's museums as well as their inherent power dynamics. Shortly after the premiere, IRC-Research Associate Stefan Donath led an interview with meLê yamomo about his performance and research. read more

Video-Interview with IRC-Fellow Sola Adeyemi

, June 13, 2018
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Sola Adeyemi, a lecturer in theater and performance at Goldsmiths, University of London, introduces the wide range of his research interests in global theater and performance. Talking about his research project "Dramatizing the Postcolony: Nigerian Drama and Theater", he aims at proffering a new dramatic interpretation of the colonial historiography and postcolonial conquest and at suggesting a new reading of the legacy of dramatic narratives. Adeyemi's study uses geographical mapping and dramatic narratives to express the idealism and figurative ideas that are representational of the cultural manifestations that construct the nature of postcolonial encounters in Africa. Adeyemi also explains how his passion for the theater arouse and his connection to Femi Osofisan. read more

Video-Interview with IRC-Fellow Andrej Mirčev

, May 16, 2018
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Andrej Mirčev, a scholar of performance studies, a visual artist and a dramaturge, talks about his research project on "(Un)Framing Icons: Performances of Blasphemy in Post-Yugoslavia." Mirčev explains how he tries to explore the in-between spaces of performing arts, dance and visual art. Working as a curator and dramaturg he positions his research in the intersection of theoretical and practical work with a close focus on intermediality. In the interview, Mirčev explains how he aims to apply the concept of iconoclasm to the performance arts in order to examine the use of religious symbols in numerous harshly criticized performances in post-Yugoslavia. read more

Turkey’s Artists at Risk: Dramaturgies of Resistance vs. Politics of Fear

, April 5, 2018
Pieter Verstraete is an independent theater scholar who, for the past 6 years, had been working and researching in Turkey. The political development of the last years has had many effects, e.g. on the daily lives, on the arts and culture, on journalism. Verstraete is not only one of those who had to leave the country but also an expert on contemporary Turkish theater. In this very personal and moving text, he shares his impressions of the last two years and gives a brief insight into a few of the artistic consequences. read more

Video-Interview with IRC-Fellow Catherine M. Cole

, January 23, 2018
In this video-interview, IRC-Fellow Catherine Cole, Professor of Drama and Dean of the Arts at the University of Washington, talks about her work and in what way her personal background has been interwoven with the course of her studies and research. Cole has been focussing her research first on Ghana and later on South Africa. In this interview, she stresses to what extent the many similarities to the USA concerning aspects of segregation can be brought to light through a performance studies approach. Introducing her current research project on “Performance and the Afterlives of Injustice,” Cole explains her interest in contemporary choreographers from post-apartheid South Africa, that are trying to unravel histories and injustice through their artistic work. She underlines how many political implications a research on embodied knowledge is carrying in this context. read more

Beyond the Small Things

, December 19, 2017
When Abheesh Sasidharan, visiting Doctoral Candidate at the Center, approached us with the idea of inviting Daya Bai, activist for ecology, human rights and feminism, we trusted his suggestion. He said that it would be something special to meet Daya Bai personally. And he was absolutely right! Daya Bai is one of those people who are fighting for a bigger cause instead of focusing only on their own lives. During the exchange with our Fellows, she described the crucial stages of her life, explained why she had decided to live with the tribal people in one of the poorest regions of India and raised questions like: What does it mean to fight for the rights of the oppressed? And how does the personal experience in the difficult handling of local authorities shatter the foundation of your own convictions and hopes? Looking for answers to these questions, Daya Bai emphasized the important role that theater plays in fighting poverty through empowerment. Before saying goodbye, she left us one of her poems to share with you. read more

Video-Interview with IRC-Fellow Platon Mavromoustakos

, December 6, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Platon Mavromoustakos, a Professor at the Department of Theater Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, talks about his research project and interest in ancient Greek drama. Born in Alexandria and raised in Greece, Mavromoustakos explains how he has always been seeing his identity as separated in parts, which proved to be influential for his life and work. After having received a degree in law, he changed to theater studies (in Paris) and was a member of the Athens Department for Theater Studies from its first year on. He is a co-founder of Arc-Net, that brings together the different disciplines working on the subject of ancient Greek drama and theater. In this interview, Mavromoustakos explains his special interest in the category of space and on how ancient Greek drama has been working as a factor of reshaping performance spaces throughout theater history. read more

Speaking, Singing, Telling Stories:
Pansori in Berlin, Paris, and Elsewhere

, November 8, 2017
Jan Creutzenberg, researcher and expert on Korean theater and music, was one of the organizers of the international symposium “Pansori in Europe: Between Mediation and Appropriation”, that took place in July 2017 in Berlin. In this post, Creutzenberg reports from the conference sharing his impressions of performances and discussions about the intercultural transmission of the traditional Korean performing art pansori. read more

Video-Interview with IRC-Advisory Board Member Khalid Amine

, November 1, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Advisory Board Member Khalid Amine, Professor of Performance Studies, Faculty of Letters and Humanities at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco, speaks about his focus on interweaving. Describing himself as “a hybrid post-colonial subject located between East and West and between different traditions”, Amine tries to bridge the gap between theory and practice. As the founder of Performing Tangier, an international festival annually taking place in Tangier, and the Founding President of the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) in Tangier, Amine talks about his efforts to show the positive potential of the concept of interweaving and that of collaborations. read more

Introductory Notes on
‘Spirituality and Performance’

, October 25, 2017
For the academic year 2017/18, the International Research Center “Interweaving Performance Cultures” is focussing on questions related to religious and, in particular, spiritual matters. In the context of an opening talk for the academic year 17/18, IRC Senior Advisor Christel Weiler talked about the significance of "Spirituality and Performance" and engaged in a discussion with former IRC-Fellow Koffi Kôkô and the present IRC-Fellows and guests. For those, who could not be present, we share Christel Weiler's introductory notes on the subject here on Textures. read more