Conditions of Political Choreography

Conditions of Political Choreography is a research project and performance exhibition initiated by Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Tel Aviv, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. International artists working with diverse performative strategies – from the fields of visual art as well as dance, theater, and film – were invited to conceive new works. Over the period of four weeks the artists present their works, every week focusing on a different theme. A spatial intervention based on the concept of New York artist and architect Ohad Meromi structures the exhibition space that becomes a territory on its own and with each performance will be reinterpreted. In 2016, architect and exhibition designer Markus Miessen integrated the two floors of the CCA building in Tel Aviv with a quarter-pipe stage and a book display. In Berlin, the discursive formats “Spaces of Debate” and “Moving Thoughts” provide an interpretation beyond the project’s scope. 

While the question of how the shared memory space between Germany and Israel in the 21st century constitutes itself against the backdrop of the Holocaust – and not only that – is one starting point of the project, Conditions of Political Choreography seeks to form a sense of topicality of history in the face of increasing racism and populism in democratic societies. In the light of global migration and local oppression, the project reflects multiple perspectives and the formation of transnational memory contrary to the trend of memorialization. The medium of performance here allows both to mark and to leave a territory at the same time.