The artistic installation Temple of Materialised Histories by artist Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir features new kinetic sculptures directly derived from the materials used to build the theater’s surrounding architecture. The audio work, Reflecting Materials, offers visitors a path to contemplate these elements through a prism of “factual” storytelling.

Responding to Staatstheater Kassel and the context of Temple of Alternative Histories, visitors are welcomed to experience an artwork by Lundahl & Seitl—a choreography of movements, and technological experiments. It is a mutating, site-sensitive work, and composite of over a decade of learnings from earlier environments. Adapting to the locality of Kassel, the work emerges from internal exercise on how to become a river-shaping and being shaped by different topographies, letting the visitor become the artwork and the artwork become a visitor. Symphony is a testimony to the understanding of virtual reality as an ability rather than as a form of technology. Immersive methods of spatial sound and bodily illusions, led by an unseen performer, trigger a process where the visitor perceives a present in negotiation between senses and reason.

Pre-registration is not required—all are welcome!

Acknowledging metal’s ubiquity and the intertwined aesthetic, cultural, socio-economic, and political entanglements it creates, her study examines metal’s role in shaping the world of finance, belief systems, geopolitical relations, the formation of (digital) bodies, the stratosphere, and climate-engineered weapons or weaponised environments.

‍Questions from March citizen dialogues, as prompt for public discussions:

"How can we get humanity to work together to finance a sustainable future?"

"What is the role of common good, sustainability, transparency and democracy in economics?"

"How do we learn to think and work together again? After the long time we have learned competition?"

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

Sebastien Noel and Conny Freyer from the artist group Troika will be talking about their motion capture animation ‘Terminal Beach’ and their ongoing research project ‘Untertage’ that imagines the genesis of a homegrown alien intelligence - Salt - as a non-human crystalline power that is slowly taking over the world. The artists will be broaching themes that include artificial intelligence, forms of life, personhood and the issues around technological advancement.

Question from March citizen dialogues, as prompt for public discussions:

"How does technology serve people, not the other way around?"

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

Out of the woods! Out into the city! "Opera out!" is the new discourse series of the Music Theatre at the Staatstheater Kassel and the Research Institute for Music Theatre at the University of Bayreuth (fimt). Before selected opera performances, artists and academics meet in small groups, discuss the socio-political potential and utopias of the genre, trigger its pain points and look at delusions in our perception. Live in the opera foyer and available afterwards as a podcast.

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At the end of the season, the hosts of "Oper raus!" review the past year and discuss the potential of cross-border music theatre on the occasion of "Temple of Alternative Histories": What empathetic narratives can music theatre gain when it leaves its conventional paths and encounters other genres, art forms and disciplines on an equal footing?

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

In his talk, Devin Zuber explores the potential of the body and its felt experience of art to (re)attune ourselves to our place on the planet and our embeddedness in larger scales of Deep Time (geologic, evolutionary). Drawing on some of the thinking of the so-called New Materialists, Zuber examines how art might permit new forms of cognitive access to our ecological surroundings. How might our collective entry into alternative “temples,” broadly be conceived, for art, religion, or culture—or even what Donna Haraway calls “natureculture”--facilitate new kinds of belonging and being together, with both our fellow homo sapiens and the other-than-human persons that are all around us?

Questions from March citizen dialogues, as prompt for public discussions:

"How do we transform scientific knowledge into political action?

"What impact should we as humans have on our planet?"

"How can we study the relationship between humans and nature?"

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

Environmental crises not only cause ecological damage, but also endanger social structures. The climate and environmental change intensifies already existing social and political conflicts and at the same time creates new ones. In her talk, Ljubinka Petrovic-Ziemer takes up this topic and wants to discuss the following questions with the audience: How can climate-sensitive conflict transformation succeed under these conditions?  How can environmental conflicts be transformed into environmental cooperation? How do we deal with climate stress and strengthen resilience?

Questions from March citizen dialogues, as prompt for public discussions:

"How can we work together in society to address the lingering effects of trauma?"

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

Unlike most creatures, octopuses have, in addition to their central brain, separate mini-brains at the base of each of their tentacles and they put them to incredibly adept use. Before the last stage presentation of Temple of Appropriated Histories takes place, the different tentacles University Kassel, Staatstheater Kassel, the initiators of TAH and Scientists for Future will get together to discuss the pros and cons of sharing an architecture to host, of working transdisciplinary. 

Questions from March citizen dialogues, as prompt for public discussions:

"How can spaces be created where people (can) really participate?"

"Redefining the economy: as care; as the use of resources for the benefit of all (humans, animals, nature). What is the way there?"

Written and directed by Icelandic theater artist Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson, ​Temple of Appropriated Histories activates Staatstheater Kassel’s collective of actors, dancers, opera singers, musicians. Building a story arc from the beginning of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment to the industrial revolution, the work extends to the modern world and aims to chronicle massive contradictions in European history.

Two central works of European history are interwoven in this story structure: the Poetic Edda, a creation and downfall story of the world based in Norse mythology; and Richard Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelungen”, an opera which aimed to transcend the arts into a sphere of the gods, creating a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. The connections between these two historical works exposes the appropriation and extraction as well as the flow of knowledge through the veins of Europe’s cultural history.

“Temple” references Wagner’s wish to build a temple around his creation and then burn both the manuscript as well as the building after its premiere. Today, these kinds of “temples” stand in cities across Europe and the world, but do they still function as interactive ritualistic social gathering places with transformative powers?

The artistic installation Temple of Materialised Histories by artist Anna Rún Tryggvadóttir features new kinetic sculptures directly derived from the materials used to build the theater’s surrounding architecture. The audio work, Reflecting Materials, offers visitors a path to contemplate these elements through a prism of “factual” storytelling.

Responding to Staatstheater Kassel and the context of Temple of Alternative Histories, visitors are welcomed to experience an artwork by Lundahl & Seitl—a choreography of movements, and technological experiments. It is a mutating, site-sensitive work, and composite of over a decade of learnings from earlier environments. Adapting to the locality of Kassel, the work emerges from internal exercise on how to become a river-shaping and being shaped by different topographies, letting the visitor become the artwork and the artwork become a visitor. Symphony is a testimony to the understanding of virtual reality as an ability rather than as a form of technology. Immersive methods of spatial sound and bodily illusions, led by an unseen performer, trigger a process where the visitor perceives a present in negotiation between senses and reason.

Pre-registration is not required—all are welcome!

In this workshop we will come together to create wildflower seedballs, using the technique developed by Masanobu Fukuoka, and used by various Guerilla gardeners as a way to reclaim the city with seeds of environmental restoration local to Kassel.
The event aims to plant seeds of change, seeds of restoration which has, for a long time, been a metaphor for the Documenta. An action by artists and citizens alike with of course the great example of Joseph Beuys who planted 7000 Oak trees around Kassel and The Vietnamese immigrant Garden.

Have you seen so much art you think your brain will explode?! Do you feel like you want to talk about it? If that is how you feel, come and have an art encounter, and make some new friends. Because really if you don't discuss the artwork, does it really exist? SpeedfriendingXART allows you the opportunity to come have a free drink and make some connections.