Crash! Boom! Bau!

In 2009 the Bauhaus commemorated the 90th anniversary of its foundation in Weimar. The historic State Bauhaus was regarded as the leading educational institution in the field of architecture, design, free and applied art in Germany. The Bauhaus also included a theatre workshop in which historic and internationally pioneering artistic experiments with space, bodies and light were developed. Oskar Schlemmer, László Moholy-Nagy and others created concepts and models of the avant-garde, the traces of which still exist today. The now "classical" connection between architecture and set-building for staging exhibitions, theatre and film productions has now been supplemented by elements of media art which are intended to further develop the Bauhaus ideas both technologically and aesthetically. In recent years the design demands for temporary venues have steadily increased, resulting in a growing interest in new scenographic concepts.
With a focus on the Bauhaus avant-garde of the 20th-century, the festival tied in the ideas and challenges of today and presented current scenographic projects. The programme included an audio room featuring the diaries of Oskar Schlemmer as well as the scenographic reconstruction of the Dadaistic-Bauhaus concert Stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads. Most of the festival events took place at the former auditorium of the Theaterhaus Jena. Designed by Walter Gropius in 1921 and demolished in 1987, the auditorium served as the basis for a discussion about its reconstruction. The project included guest performances in Berlin and project presentations in London and Budapest.

Artistic director: Markus Heinzelmann
Curators: Jan Brüggemeier, Janek Müller
Dramaturges: Martin Wigger, Christin Bahnert
Artists: Louis Philippe Demers (CA), Heiko Kalmbach, Emma Waltraud Howes (CA), Ulrike Haage, Staffan Schmidt (SE), Edina Cecília Hováth (HU), Adám Ledvai (HU), Mika Hannula (FI), Tanja Siems (GB), Theo Lorenz, Martin Blacícek (CZ), Vivarium Studio / Compagnie (FR), Showstudio / Compagnie (GB), andcompany&Co, Mass&Fieber (CH) and others

Venues and schedule:
Festival: Theaterhaus Jena: 1-17 May 2009
Guest performance: Dock 11, Halle Pankow, Berlin: 4-11 Sep. 2009
Project presentations:
Architectural Association Gallery, London: 1-8 Oct. 2009
C3 Center for Communication & Culture Budapest: 15-22 Oct. 2009