Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Daniel Kötter, Constanze Fischbeck

state-theatre #1 LAGOS

Doc. expérimental | hdv | couleur | 24:7 | Allemagne | 2010

The word `theatre` (theatron in greek) refers first and foremost to the place and architecture of a performance, rather than to what is being performed. Even after centuries, a theatre?s architecture represents the visual order from which it emerged: the possibilities for artistic production are historically conditioned. The geometrical space of architecture is pitted against the anthropological space of its use. 1st case study: LAGOS The National Theatre of Nigeria in Lagos was built for the Second Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1976.
It is the only state-subsidized theatre in Nigeria.
 While its smaller halls are occasionally used for theatre performances, banquets and weddings, the 5000-seat main hall has been deserted since the early 1990s.
A reopening was scheduled for 2010 but 
postponed indefinitely after a series of changes in direction. counter shot: The Bariga Arts Center was founded in 2009 in a Lagosian slum by choreographer and Nollywood actor Segun Adefila, after the rent free agreement between his company Crown Troupe of Africa and the National Theatre of Nigeria had been revoked.

Daniel Kötter has been implementing experimental approaches to the formats of theatrical and musical performance, collaborative models for artists and non-artists, video art in the context of different formats of presentation ? exhibitions, live performances, film, with a particular interest in multi-channel video installations and alternative concert formats. Daniel Kötter (b. 1975) lives and works in Berlin. Between 2008 and 2011 he developed the video- and opera-performance trilogy on artistic labour - Arbeit und Freizeit. His music theatre performances in collaboration with composer Hannes Seidl are shown on international festivals like Venice Biennale, Musica d?hoy Madrid and others. A new series of installations, films, and discursive work on urban and socio-political conditions of performativity has been developed in collaboration with Constanze Fischbeck since 2010 under the title state-theater: Lagos/Teheran/Berlin. Constanze Fischbeck was born in 1968. She studied set design, and now works as a set designer for theater, music theater and dance. She has also been working as a video artist since 1996. Space and the current time of specific locations are always the initial points from which her work unfolds. In her video works, she is interested in the intersection of documentary and staged moments in the context of an urban environment. Since 2001, she has developed a series of works that explore the function of society in cities like Magdeburg, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Sarajevo, Lagos, Tehran and Detroit. Her work has been shown in festivals, art institutions and theaters. "state-theater" is her second collaboration with Daniel Kötter.