REASON, NOW!, curator: Rabih Mroué

The 2024 artistic residency mentor at Komuna Warszawa Theater was Rabih Mroué, a Lebanese theater director, actor, visual artist and playwright based in Berlin. The residency program was developed in cooperation with the HELLERAU European Center for the Arts and the Goethe Institut.

Between Warsaw and Dresden

The residency program REASON, NOW! was not focused on effect, but on supporting the creative process of male and female artists. Seven artists qualified to participate through an open call for proposals: Filip Pawlak, Jack Bannerman, Krysia Bednarek, Kalina Dębska & Maria Gustowska, Maria Kvalheim, Mike Dele Dittrich Frydetzki.
The work was divided into two stages. In May 2024, the participants met in Dresden for a six-day familiarization workshop at the HELLERAU European Arts Center. This was the stage for mutual project presentations, feedback and mentor consultations on developing the process methodology.
Two months later, in July, the residents worked on their projects for three weeks at the Komuna Warszawa Theater. Here they were provided with working conditions and consultations with selected experts, including Gosia Wdowik and Wojtek Ziemilski.
The residency ended with workshop screenings in September.

Grupa ludzi w pomieszczeniu. W centrum na podłodze siedzi kobieta. Wokół niej są trzy wentylatory, jest obsypana białym puchem lub piórami. Za nią stoi jedna kobieta wyciąga rękę do wentylatora. Pozostali siedzą pod ścianami.
Grupa ludzi w pomieszczeniu. Na lustrach na ścianie są napisane różne teksty. Przed lustrem stoi kobieta i coś pisze. W odbiciu widać osoby siedzące na parapecie.
Kobieta stojąca przy mikrofonie. Stoi w rozkroku, głowę odwraca w lewo. Zielonkawe światło
Grupa ludzi w pomieszczeniu. Przy ścianie stoi telewizor, obok siedzi mężczyzna. Przed nim na pufach siedzą pozostałe osoby
Na środku sceny rozłożona płachta i trzy gaśnice. Przy nich stoi osoba w czarnej koszulce, uśmiecha się. W tle wyświetla się tekst, fioletoworóżowe światło
Grupa ludzi w sali. Na telewizorze wyświetla się tekst entrance into the esoteric world, przy nim siedzi kobieta. Pozostali siedzą przed nią
Na środku sceny stoi osoba. Dłonie trzyma na łopatkach. Na jej plecach wyświetla się portret mężczyzny. Zielonkawe światło

Photos

Sisi Cecylia

European Centre for the Arts HELLERAU

European Centre for the arts HELLERAU The HELLERAU European Art Center is one of the most important centers for contemporary art in Germany and Europe. It was built in 1911 as a theater and musical educational institution has been transformed into a laboratory for artistic contemporary. Hellerau operates as an interdisciplinary production house and residency venue within the forms of dance, music, theater, performance, media arts and visual arts.

Rabih Mroué

Lebanese theater director, actor, visual artist and playwright based in Berlin. He is one of the editors of The Drama Review magazine (New York) and co-founder of the Beirut Art Center. He was a member at the International Research Center “Interweaving Performance Cultures” at Berlin’s Freie Universität from 2013 to 2014, and was a cooperating theater director at the Münchner Kammerspiele from 2015 to 2019.

Rabih Mroué is currently one of the most interesting performance artists working at the intersection of theater and visual arts. His works deal with political topics – such as the civil war in Lebanon and the current economic crisis, the Arab Spring or the dictatorship in Syria – but he talks about geopolitics through the prism of his personal experiences and the stories of his subjects.
Among his most important works is “Pixelated Revolution,” presented a year ago at MoMA in New York. In it, the artist used cell phone footage of Syrian protesters in 2011.

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