, 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
, 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
, 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
, 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
, 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
, September 18, 2017
Our highly regarded colleague, friend and mentor Klaus-Peter Köpping passed away in June 2017. His death came unexpected to everybody here at the Center. We miss him a lot.
In 2015, artist Thomas Martius published a film, a documentary about and with Klaus-Peter Köpping; a special opportunity to spend some time with the thoughts of this exceptional thinker. Followed by some personal words about Köpping, Martius shares his film Klaus-Peter Köpping, Fellow. in this post. read more
, July 10, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Balakrishnan Ananthakrishnan, professor in the department of theater arts, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad, speaks about his research interest and current research projects. Specialized in Indian performance studies B. Ananthakrishnan, whose career is marked by a lively mixtures of theater practice and theater studies, explains what role his biographical background played in the choice of his studies. read more
, March 28, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Chetana Nagavajara speaks about his research for his highly acclaimed book Brecht and France (1994) as well as on his perspectives on literature, performance, and the interweaving of performance cultures and research cultures. Educated at Cambridge and Tübingen and now Professor Emeritus of German at Silpakorn University, Thailand, Nagavajara is a scholar of comparative literature with extensive experience in performance – in Thailand as well as in Germany, France, the U.K., and the USA. Reflecting on his past experiences at the International Research Center, Nagavajara demonstrates the enormous potential of research that crosses disciplinary and cultural boundaries. read more
, February 13, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Johanna Devi, artist, choreographer and dancer, provides a personal insight into her artistic career and the choices leading up to the research project that she had pursued at the IRC. Following the stages of her training, she explains how dance and music as well as Germany and India have always been closely interwoven parts of her life. Devi describes the challenges of the project that aimed at elaborating the metaphysical connection of performers and audience members asking how ether or space could serve as a medium for the transportation of subtle energies that communicate the state of the performer to the viewer. read more
, December 18, 2016
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Jacqueline Shea Murphy, professor in the University of California, Riverside’s dance department, gives a very personal insight into the ways in which her life as a researcher has developed, has changed herself and intensified virulent research questions. Unfolding the complexity and range of her focus on “indigeneity,” Murphy concretely talks about how the impulses of Indigenous knowledge contribute to contemporary choreographic processes, modern dance practices, and alternative understandings of the world. read more