zeitraumexit e.v. mannheim
zeitraumexit e.v. hafenstraße 68 -72, 68159 mannheim
telefon: 0621/3709830; fax: 0621/3709832; office@zeitraumexit.de, www.wunderderpraerie.de
Call for Submissions
For Performance-Art, Theatre, Dance, Art
Since nine years zeitraumexit has organised an international festival with changing themes. Since 2004
the festival is named "Wonders of the Prairie".
"Wonders of the Prairie" stands for experimental art projects (fine and performing arts). It occurs in art
spaces as well as in urban spaces and is a well-established part of urban life of the city of Mannheim.
Amongst others, the following artists and groups participated: Anna Huber, Stefan Kaegi, Alastair Mc
Lennan, Boris Nieslony, Lindy Annis, Gob Squad, Jaap Blonk, Théatre du Radeau, Stan's Café,
FarADayCage, Volker Gerling, Mike Pearson, LaS Company, Antonia Baehr, Bill Aitchison, Hong O Bong,
She She Pop, Jeffery Bird, Nicola Unger.
THEME 2009
Of Waste and Men
Our society produces that much that many things cannot be utilised. Waste is inherent in every product. At
least in highly industrialised societies many products are put away before they are worn out. Used things
are thrown away; they are regarded as waste - something bad that, if it cannot be prevented, should be
transported to places where we are not forced to see and to smell it. Our electronic scrap, for example,
goes to the places where the world's poor live. There it is further taken apart and recycled. People
handling this scrap are contaminated by it.
We live in an affluent society, a society of excess production: we are overwhelmed by a surge of images,
sounds, floods of information and data, mountains of refuse. We cover the earth with more used things
than ever before; their disposal has become a lucrative industry. Never before have people earned that
much money by disposing refuse, by protecting us from toxic pollution - of course only in "rich" countries.
On the other hand, mankind has lived on credit since the mid of the 1980s from the ecological point of
view. We spend more resources than earth can regenerate (SZ, Oct. 18, 2008).
Waste exists and belongs to life as decay belongs to the natural cycle of life and death and the sequence
of the seasons. Everyone knows that; nevertheless we do not want to acknowledge this fact, to see waste,
to smell or to touch it. In this way we produce our beautiful world of coloured plastics that does not have
taste, does not smell, but that, unfortunately, must be disposed. This is methodical paranoia.
Everything we consider not worth being in this world is called "waste".
Therefore our theme also addresses gray zones: infanticide, namely the killing of female infants, disabled
babies, the practice of isolating the disabled, the crazy, or the elder, the ghettoisation of the poor.
In the United States the poor white class is called "white trash".
zeitraumexit e.v. mannheim
zeitraumexit e.v. hafenstraße 68 -72, 68159 mannheim
telefon: 0621/3709830; fax: 0621/3709832; office@zeitraumexit.de, www.wunderderpraerie.de
It is interesting to observe that debasement has been turned into a new quality. HipHop and Rap, artists
like Eminem turn negative attributions into self-confidence; their pride in being "underdogs" has made
them successful.
Call
Which answers can art give to the casting away & elimination of what is regarded as "useless"? To the
trend that only the wealthy and healthy lifes of beautiful people are considered "worth living"?
Which self-assured statements of the other, the useless, of resistance are possible?
Appreciating art also means to appreciate what is considered useless, dispensable, futile, foolish; it means
to appreciate social autonomy.
Often things thrown away and worn-out have given an important impulse to creative and artistic
processes.
Art discovered waste, the fascination of things cast away. Art noticed the value of objects marked by use
which tell stories and whose observation adds new meanings. Moreover, the old question of mankind
"what will remain" is of manifold importance in all ephemeral arts. We would also like to address this
aspect by the theme chosen by us.
From this angle we could regard the huge amount of paintings, stage productions, stage designs
produced by artists as "waste".
zeitraumexit is looking for artists artists from the fields performance art, dance and theatre who have
worked on the subject. We are especially interested in contributions from the intersection of these genres.
We are looking for self-assured statements of "the other", the positive appropriation of waste, trash, junk in
new contexts as well as the critical discussion of art production.
We do especially welcome contributins which approach the theme from the angle of non-western
societies, countries, and continents.
zeitraumexit e.v. mannheim
zeitraumexit e.v. hafenstraße 68 -72, 68159 mannheim
telefon: 0621/3709830; fax: 0621/3709832; office@zeitraumexit.de, www.wunderderpraerie.de
The Venues
The festival-centre: The stage room ("Kubus"): a room of about 11 x 11 square metres where the
audience can be placed variably; black wooden floor/dance floor black or white;
white walls or black panelling; hight of rigging: 3.80 ms.
Action room ("Kantine"): a room of about 16 metres length, 7 metres width, 4
metres high. The seating can be integrated freely. Tile floor, one window front.
It is possible to equip the room with simple equipment for illumination and sound.
There are several other rooms which can be used if needed.
Presence in the city: The festival is part of the urban life of Mannheim. Interventions into urban spaces
are an important part of the festival.
Other venues: Co-operation partner "Alte Feuerwache".
Festival duration: September 2 through September 12, 2009
Application deadline: February 27, 2009 (date of the postmark)
Address: zeitraumexit, Hafenstrasse 68, 68159 Mannheim
Curators: Elke Schmid, Tilo Schwarz, Gabriele Oßwald, Wolfgang Sautermeister
We do not accept any responsibility for the application documents.
Applications will not be sent back and saved by us!
Please indicate explicitly when you wish us to send back your documents. Make sure that an
answer envelope with adequate postage is included! For applications from other countries than
Germany: please include the equivalent of the adequate postage in Euro!
zeitraumexit e.v. mannheim
zeitraumexit e.v. hafenstraße 68 -72, 68159 mannheim
telefon: 0621/3709830; fax: 0621/3709832; office@zeitraumexit.de, www.wunderderpraerie.de
Applications should consist of:
1. Name/Contact (address, phone number, Email-address)
2. Description of the project/production
3. A list of all participants
4. Venues & dates when the project/production was shown before (not in case of new productions)
5. Venues & dates (before March 1, 2009) which can be visited by the curators
6. CV(s)
7. Press material about the production/artist(s) (on CD/DVD)
8. Video recording of the project and/or short version of the project (DVD); in case of new productions:
meaningful material about previous projects
9. Production/press photos (on CD, DVD or by Email; 300 dpi, 10 x 13 cm, format: jpg, tiff, or similar
formats)
zeitraumexit e.v. mannheim
zeitraumexit e.v. hafenstraße 68 -72, 68159 mannheim
telefon: 0621/3709830; fax: 0621/3709832; office@zeitraumexit.de, www.wunderderpraerie.de
10. Technical Requirements
(the proposed project has to fit the technical and spatial conditions of zeitraumexit)
Stage plan
Illumination plan
Equipment
Number of actors
Duration (with & without break)
Assistants, technicians
required (from zeitraumexit)
Material/technology required
(from zeitraumexit)
Time needed for:
- building up
- taking down
- technical equipment
- rehearsals
Fees (liable to VAT?)
Costs of travel/transport
Use of music liable to GEMAfees
Licence fees / copyrights