, 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 24, 2017

Rustom Bharucha, former IRC-Fellow and Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India, joined the conference Open City – Towards an Intercultural Social Center that was held from 13 until 15 October 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia. On this occasion, Rustom Bharucha was interviewed by Ivan Hromatko, journalist at Kulturpunkt, a non-profit web portal that is part of Kurziv – Platform for Matters of Culture, Media and Society, a non-profit organization working towards the development of a critical and analytical discourse in Croatia.
In this interview, Bharucha elaborates on the ideas and challenges of interculturalism and how those could be made productive not only for the idea of a cultural center in Zagreb but also for the challenges arising with the current migration into Europe. We publish parts of the interview here on
Textures – the full-length interview can be read on the Kulturpunkt website. 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
, June 19, 2017
A few weeks ago, IRC-Fellow Hanne de Bruin went to Paris to see Une chambre en Inde, Théâtre de Soleil's latest production directed by Ariane Mnouchkine. The production premiered in November 2016 and was inspired, among other things, by the South Indian (Tamil language) Kattaikkuttu or Terukkuttu theatre. Hanne de Bruin works as Programme Director/Facilitator for the Kattaikkuttu Sangam, an association of professional Kattaikkuttu performers. Together with her husband Kattaikkuttu actor, director and playwright, P. Rajagopal, she helped set up the school Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam in 2002. Being an expert on Kattaikkuttu, de Bruin watched Une chambre en Inde with totally different eyes then most of its audience - a rare chance to get a special insight. Have a look at her review to learn about her thoughts and questions. read more
, May 4, 2017
In December 2016, Christel Weiler shared her impressions about a performance called Earthport in her essay "The Art of Encounter" here on Textures. Now, the project's director and former IRC-Fellow Nora Amin talks about the same performance, describing the process of rehearsing and performing from her point of view, and sharing her observations and thoughts with us. read more
, April 10, 2017
As a follow-up of his text on last year's Tangier International Conference IRC Research Associate Stefan Donath writes about "Blasmia" by young Moroccan theater company Daha-Wassa, not only sharing his thoughts on the production but also presenting an interview with Ahmed Hammoud, director of “Blasmia” and artistic director of Daha-Wassa. The text provides a valuable insight into making of the production and the work of the company. 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
, March 16, 2017
In October 2016, our Visiting Doctoral Candidates Program entered a new round. During the academic year 2016/17, the Research Center has continued its collaboration with the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, and the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, Hyderabad, India. As a result, we were able to welcome Promona Sengupta (New Delhi) and Abheesh Sasidharan (Hyderabad) at the Center. In this interview, they introduce their work to us and share their experiences during the last months in Berlin. read more
, March 7, 2017
In this interview, IRC-Fellow Kedar A. Kulkarni speaks about the development of his research on "Literature in Public: Poetry and Drama in India before Nationalism, 1790-1890". Kulkarni received his PhD in comparative literature from UC San Diego in 2013, and has been a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and the Center for the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin. Framing his background as a comparatives - his main interests lie in Indian literatures of the nineteenth century, their performances by itinerant performers, and Indian drama - Kulkarni elaborates on his research project and its current challenges. read more
, March 1, 2017
Last year’s 12th edition of the annual Tangier International Conference entitled “The Narrative Turn in Contemporary Theater” aimed at recapturing narrative elements and contemporary practices in different theater and performance cultures in order to interrogate the return to narrative-centred traditions. As an integral part of the conference the festival Performing Tangier presented not only Moroccan productions but a variety of performances from the Arab world. IRC-Research Associate Stefan Donath visited Tangier and shares his impressions with us. read more