In a Strange Place | THEATER DER WELT

In the organizer's words:

Forest work as everyday life - in art. A meditative video installation invites us to understand care and shared responsibility for the landscape.

Over several years, artists Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis from Calgary, Canada, one of the most densely forested countries in the world, invited 150 foresters, activists, land managers and forest rangers from various countries to physically perform their forest-related activities in front of a camera, without words or explanations.
No roles, no acting. The video installation In a Strange Place opens up a meditative perspective on work, responsibility and relationship to a place that is uncanny to some people, home to others and the basis of life for everyone. "Strange Place" is the name of the whole thing in German.
Recorded on video, people can be seen individually performing familiar, repetitive tasks, carried out in barely perceptible, slow and aesthetically pleasing movements. Forestry work is not demonstrated, but embodied as a physical experience.
The people filmed wear self-made masks that represent imaginary beings from a future forest. The masks create eye contact with the audience and thus create a peculiar relationship between audience and performer. The result is a video installation with nine screens set up in a walkable circle. The installation does not provide a linear vision. The space is freely accessible, with the visitors themselves determining the beginning and end of the experience.
The forest appears neither as an idyll nor as a disaster zone, nor is it a "hero", but rather a stage, a field of work and a place of encounter.

Location: Spinnbau - Hall 2
Duration: The installation is freely accessible at all times during opening hours and runs continuously. A complete run lasts 124 minutes.
Information: Without spoken word

All further information at: https://www.theaterderwelt.de/programm/

A festival of the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute e.V.
Organized by Chemnitz Theatres, the Festival Academy Brussels and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH.

Price information:

Admission free