2015

Premio Franco Quadri 2015 for Heiner Goebbels

On November 30th in Piccolo Teatro Grassi in Milano Heiner Goebbels will be awarded with "Premio Franco Quadri", named after the legendary italian essayist, translator and theatre critic (1936-2011) "A German composer, director and thinker who cannot be confined within predefined categories, Heiner Goebbels is the creator of an artistic and curatorial language marked by a strong political tension. His deconstructive work on theatrical, musical and visual conventions – that reached its peak in Surrogate Cities, Stifters Dinge, and in the recent productions Delusion of the Fury and De Materie – bears witness to the urgency of creating a profound dialogue among different disciplines. Deeply committed to furthering the conditions of instruction in the performative arts, he has contributed to fuelling the international theoretical debate on artistic education with his uninterrupted activity in scholarly research, with his involvement in various prestigious European academic experiences. With a keen eye towards curatorial practices as potentialities in rethinking the processes of human interaction, as artistic director of the Ruhrtriennale (2012-2014) he gave life to an experimental laboratory emancipated from the idea of the repertoire, a chance to reconsider the relations between the various expressive forms of live art – from dance to contemporary opera – by way of intense dialogues with both leading interpreters on the international scene and emerging artists, with a scouting activity that distinguishes him within the panorama of his generation. In recognising the tenacity of an entire lifetime dedicated to progress in theatre, in practical and theoretical research, the Franco Quadri Prize wishes to give further emphasis to the force of this exemplary figure, who has contributed to changing the way of conceiving the relations between theatre and music in our time, extending the knowledge of art to public life."

Heiner Goebbels New Lecturer for "Kantorowicz-Lectures of Political Language" 2015

With a quote by Elias Canetti "Erkläre nichts. Stell es hin. Sags. Verschwinde" / "Don't explain. Put it there. Say it. Leave." Heiner Goebbels gave a speech as part of the prestigious "Kantorowicz-Lectures of Political Languages" at the Casino of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Nov 11th, 6pm.

Макс Блэк in Moscow

Heiner Goebbels re-staged his successful music theatre piece Max Black (1998) with words by Paul Valery, Wittgenstein, Lichtenberg and Max Black in Russian for the Electrotheatre Stanislawski in Moscow. The premiere and first run of sold out performances with actor Alexander Panteleev have started early octobre in Electrotheatre & during TERRITORIA FESTIVAL and were enthusiastically recieved by both audiences and reviews.

More anthologies and translations available

Electrotheatre Stanislawski has published a russian anthology with "writings on music and theatre" by Heiner Goebbels - with 64 pages of colour photos of his productions. A polish anthology is on the way and his article "aestetics of absence" is now available in portuguese in brazil.

Heiner Goebbels "Aesthetics of Absence - Texts on Theatre" out now.

Today, April 14th, the first English translation of a new collection of writings and lectures by Heiner Goebbels "Aesthetics of Absence" is published by Routledge. "Aesthetics of Absence presents a significant challenge to the many embedded assumptions and hierarchical structures that have become ‘naturalised’ in western theatre production. These writings map Goebbels’ engagement with ‘Aesthetics of Absence’ through his own experience at the forefront of innovative music-theatre and performance making. In this volume, Goebbels reflects on works created over a period of more than 20 years staged throughout the world; introduces some of his key artistic influences, discusses the work of his students and ex-students, the collective Rimini Protokoll; and sets out the case for a radical rethinking of theatre and performance education. He gives us a rare insight into the rehearsal process of critically acclaimed works such as Eraritjaritjaka and Stifters Dinge, explaining in meticulous detail the way he weaves an eclectic range of references from fine art, theatre, literature, politics, anthropology, contemporary and classical music, jazz and folk, into his multi-textured music-theatre compositions. As an artist who is prepared to share his research and demystify the processes through which his own works come into being, as a teacher with a coherent pedagogical strategy for educating the next generation of theatre-makers, in this volume, Goebbels brings together practice, research and scholarship."