The current project of the Swiss performer Beatrice Fleischlin and the German director Antje Schupp deals with Kosovo and development processes in the youngest European state. «Interest in Kosovo in Western Europe varies from moderate to non-existent. The word itself conjures up images of minefields, toothless old people and trouble spots. In the eyes of many Western Europeans, Kosovo is a lost soul. Nobody expects ‹them down there› to get their act together any time soon. Then you travel to Kosovo and are amazed to see that everything is running smoothly and efficiently! It just goes to show how narrow minded and bigoted we really are.» This is how Fleischlin and Schupp describe the reason for their project. The two performers travelled to Kosovo in June 2012. Fleischlin und Schupp followed the political and social processes there from their own, deliberately naive Western European perspective. They have now collaborated artistically with the Kosovar performer Astrit Ismaili and the dancer Labinot Rexhepi to present their impressions, experiences and reflections in a joint process. ‹LOVE. STATE. KOSOVO› reflects the four performers' personal view of Kosovo and their dealing with existing prejudices and misconceptions, while taking a tongue-in-cheek look at the drawing and overcoming of boundaries in artistic collaborations.
Following the event at Kaserne Basel on Th 24.10. there will be a discussion with the artists.
Promoted by the Commission of Theatre and Dance BS/BL, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the Ernst Göhner Foundation, Migros Culture Percentage, the Landis & Gyr Foundation, Gesellschaft für das Gute und Gemeinnützige Basel (GGG), SIS Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
Duration: 90 min
Languages: German, English, Albanian, Swiss German with German surtitles
Concept and artistic direction: Beatrice Fleischlin, Antje Schupp
Performance: Beatrice Fleischlin, Antje Schupp, Astrit Ismaili, Labinot Rexhepi
Stage & Light: Nico de Rooij
Costumes: Diana Ammann
Dramaturgy & production manager: produktionswerkstatt / Larissa Bizer
Production manager Kosovo: Nita Hasani
Directed intership: Hendrik Lipke
A production of the produktionswerkstatt in coproduction with CULTURESCAPES Balkans 2013, Zurich Theatre Spectacle, Kaserne Basel, SPIELART Festival Munich, Qendra Multimedia Prishtina
