ErsatzCity

Under the title of "ErsatzCity" the Berlin Volksbühne theatre is to realise a many-facetted artistic project breaking the bounds of its regular programme and extending the traditional terms of theatrical discourse. It is a development of a concept of theatre the Volksbühne has consistently pursued and from which its work derives its strength. The stage designer Bert Neumann will transform the entire interior of the theatre with sets made up of urban elements which do not correspond to the European conception of the city, thus giving rise to a counterpart, "Ersatz" city highlighting the public and private spaces occupied by squatter's and "gated" communities, by street trading and shopping malls. "ErsatzCity" connects the experiences and ways of life of various metropolitan areas around the world. It will portray those spaces existing in most modern cities which function mainly as niches for informal, at times illegal, activity. The project outlines new images of the city and suggests concrete, as well as utopian, improvements to urban life. For a number of weeks this backdrop will become a forum for artistic events, television productions and social initiatives.

KIOSK for useful knowledge

As part of the KIOSK archive "Stories of places, cities and territories", a new
series of dialogues titled "A Life in Four Hours" has begun in April.
The dialogues feature well-known personalities, whose autobiographies we
always wanted to hear, publicly telling their life stories to a listener of their
choice.