Methods:
In these post-pandemic times, which have been followed by other catastrophic scenarios such as the Ukraine war, the gas crisis, right-wing populist despots and, of course, the ongoing threat of environmental catastrophe, the world seems more unstable than ever. Art is under increasing pressure to take a political stance. However, one side effect seems to be an immense change in what constitutes a catastrophe. The term has made its way into the very heart of our existence and our everyday routine, such as in the expression “It’s a catastrophe”. Thus, it is time we developed an informed perspective again. It is time we stopped and identified contemporary catastrophes. And it is time we asked what role the arts should, could, and need to play in the process. With this in mind, the project initially seeks to explore the depiction of catastrophic events in the performative arts.
Objective:
The “Catastrophe and Performing Arts: Past, Present and Future” exchange module is taking place in cooperation with the Theatre degree programme of ZHdK and the Theatre Academy of Uniarts Helsinki. A group of ZHdK students travelled to Helsinki for two weeks in December 2022, started their research with the students there, and developed small artistic sketches. In summer 2023, the students from Helsinki will travel to Zurich to undertake further work in transdisciplinary groups and jointly present the resulting artistic positions at Kunsthaus Helferei in Zurich at the end of May.
Conclusion:
The participating ZHdK students are all from the MA Theatre, Directing; however, they have a variety of artistic backgrounds, such as dance, acting, film, contemporary music, opera, and text-based work. Conversely, the students from Helsinki are dramaturges, dancers, performers and musicians. Thus, the artistic results will range from performances, audio walks, urban interventions, short films, essays, photographic works and audiovisual installations. Some of the students are also working on a variety of projects and in different ensembles.
The goal is to jointly present and discuss the work produced in Zurich at a public university event involving performances and exhibitions. Kunsthaus Helferei is a popular performance location that is both steeped in history and a catastrophic location for the city: Ulrich Zwingli and his family lived there, and it also sheltered plague victims in Zurich.