Die Wende
Ingrid Hora
opening act / performance: Thursday October 22, 2009, 20:00
exhibition in February 2010
Die Wende ("The Turn" in German) is the story of a group of women from former East Germany who are training to perform a particular movement in synchronized swimming, called "die Wende," in which the swimmer makes an underwater backwards loop.
Die Wende also refers to the period of time immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall. "The Turn" marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to democracy and capitalism.
The women, most of them over 60, are part of a still active East German association (Verein) and have been training together for over 20 years now.
The project will unfold in three stages, which will be documented and edited together in a video:
PERFORMANCE
On October 22 the women will do a theatrical performance including a gymnastic choreography and the recitation as chorus of a text written by Maxi Obexer. In this collective monologue the women ponder whether they are ready or not for "die Wende". The performance will be interrupted by the musician and composer Andrew Hamilton, who will perform a piece including sound recordings, voice and violin.
SHOW AND TRAINING
The gallery space will feature different artifacts intended for dry training. Over the course of the show in February 2010 the group will meet in the gallery space once a week for some dry synchronized swimming lessons. At the same time they will also be meeting in the pool for some water sessions.
FINAL CHOREOGRAPHY
The project will culminate in a final performance in water.
VIDEO
The different stages of the project – the performance, the training and the final choreography – will be documented and will result in a video piece, including interviews with the project's participants.
Ingrid Hora (Italy, 1976) works and lives in London/Berlin. Through her works, Hora narrates the life of a disordered (or hyper ordered) society. People build walls around themselves to create order and borders. Hora shows what happens behind these walls, where obsessions, desires and fantasies hide. Some of the works resemble pieces of furniture, although their definitions don't quite exist yet; they seem to support behaviours rather than bodies. Lately her work has evolved around Functional Escape, a term she came up with to describe the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially through a special activity, purpose, or task. The objects carry stories of loneliness and hope, the urge to hide and the desire to reach out. Ingrid Hora was a fellow of Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Akiyoshidai Interantional Art Village in Japan, Casino Luxembourg and will be an artist in residency at Khoj in Delhi this winter. Hora’s work is exhibited and published internationally. She has taught at the Royal College of Art, Architectural Association and London Met. [www.ingridhora.com]
collaborators
Maxi Obexer (Southern Tyrol, Italy) lives and works in Berlin. She is best known as a dramatist whose plays have been performed widely in the German-speaking countries. She is also the author of a number of radio plays and short stories, the translator of works from the Italian, and a journalist whose essays regularly appear in a number of newspapers. She has received numerous scholarships and awards, including grants by the Literary Colloquium, Akademie der Künste and Akademie Schloss Solitude. Her recent works "Das Geisterschiff", "Gletscher" and "Lotzer. Eine Revolution" have recently been produced.
Andrew Hamilton (Dublin, 1977) studied in Ireland, England and The Netherlands with Kevin Volans, Anthony Gilbert and Louis Andriessen. His works have been performed recently by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orkest de Volharding (Amsterdam), Ensemble Ascolta (Stuttgart), Continuum (Toronto), Ensemble Klang (Den Haag), the National Chamber Choir of Ireland and the Ives Ensemble. In 2004 he was awarded the Macaulay Fellowship by the Arts Council of Ireland and from 2005 to 2006 he was a fellow at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart. Future plans include new works for the Crash Ensemble, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Theatre of Voices and a one hour opera for the Ives Ensemble.
Trainer: Veronika Springmann
participants: Babette Winter, Sophie Weikert, Rosmarie Haar, Rena Leder, Sigrid Rigbers, Daniela Nitz, Martine Schoenmakers, Brigitte Geier
Supported by the Amt für Kultur, Autonome Provinz Bozen Südtirol