Programme Preview 2025
The second edition of Performing Exiles explores the question of what the term exile means today. The festival presents works by internationally renowned artists as well as artists who are still at the beginning of their careers. A special focus is placed on the artistic positions of those who identify as diasporic and have chosen Berlin as the centre of their lives. In addition to a world premiere by Mohammad Rasoulof and a guest performance by Mario Banushi, it will also present co-productions by Lina Majdalanie & Rabih Mroué and by Tamara Trunova. Within Performing Exiles, the programme “100° Diaspora” will present the work of 45 diasporic artists (or groups) in a three-day performance marathon on five stages at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
Four Walls and a Roof
Lina Majdalanie & Rabih Mroué
In 1947, Bertolt Brecht was interrogated by the HUAC, the “House of Un-American Activities Committee,“ while in exile in the United States – an event he transformed into a “theatre scene” with his excellent rhetoric and broken English. The Lebanese artist duo Lina Majdalanie and Rabih Mroué draw on this memorable interrogation in their piece “Four Walls and a Roof“ (2024), linking it to their own experiences of exile. With critical humour and creative digressions, they weave historical documents with personal elements to shed light on current political and social conflicts as well as ideological aberrations – always fighting against preconceived opinions and judgements.
Four Walls and a Roof. Lina Majdalanie & Rabih Mroué
© Christophe Berlet
Confronting the Shadow
Tamara Trunova
“Confronting the Shadow” by the Ukrainian director Tamara Trunova is a co-production between the Left Bank Theatre in Kyiv and the Performing Exiles Festival. The work is an attempt to represent and highlight the theme of absence. Initially planned as a stage production revolving around issues of war and feminism, in recent days and weeks Trunova has widened its focus: Is what is at stake the disappearance of an entire country? And will that country’s role be reduced to that of a victim? What and who is the dark side and why does it consistently pursue us? Does the shadow have a voice? How long will it survive after the object, the subject or the entire country has disappeared? Together with six actors and a musician, Tamara Trunova will develop a new production shaped by living and working in Ukraine and Europe.
Tamara Trunova
© Anastasiia Mantach
Destinaton: Origin
Mohammad Rasoulof
This theatre production by Mohammad Rasoulof weaves the themes of exile, identity and artistic freedom into a performance that invites the audience to reflect on the meaning of home and the power of self-determination. Setareh Maleki, Mahsa Rostami and Niousha Akhshi, with whom Rasoulof previously collaborated on “The Seeds of the Sacred Fig Tree” (2024), also appear in “Destination: Origin”. Just like Rasoulof himself, they were forced to leave Iran.
In Berlin, at their (supposed) destination, the actresses in the performance go through the stages of their escape. What do you orientate yourself by when you leave the boundaries of constant political control? What do you return to in order to arrive at your own freedom? Rasoulof creates images of a journey in which destination and origin become blurred.
Goodbye, Lindita
Mario Banushi
What needs to happen to be able to bid a final farewell? How can life go on? What does death mean?
In “Goodbye, Lindita” (2023), the second part of his trilogy, Mario Banushi examines grief and the process of coping with loss. The audience witnesses the poetic farewell of a family mourning Lindita’s passing. Without any dialogue, the performance takes us on a journey that explores how we can come to terms with death. In this visual meditation, Banushi draws on funeral and burial rituals rooted in Balkan traditions – where every ending becomes a beginning.
Goodbye, Lindita
© Theofilos Tsimas
100° Diaspora
100° Diaspora plans to highlight the broad spectrum of Berlin-based diaspora working in the arts and make this its programme. The stage marathon will be held as part of Performing Exiles from 26 to 28 June 2025 on five stages at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. 45 artists and groups from the performing arts who are based in Berlin and identify as diasporic will be invited to take part. What’s special about it: the programme for 100° Diaspora is not curated, instead it will present the first 45 applications in response to the open call on a first come, first served basis, provided proposals can be realised.
Summer School
As part of Performing Exiles there will be a “Summer School” from 16 to 28 June 2025. This will offer workshops, seminars and mentoring. The participants will see the performances and guest productions in the festival programme and visit artistic initiatives and cultural institutions in Berlin that operate across a wide range of disciplines and contexts. Under the direction of Christoph Gurk, the two-week “Summer School” will focus on the concept of ‘freedom’. On one hand, this is essential to maintaining any kind of democracy. At the same time, it has been instrumentalised by populist and neofascist forces for explicitly anti-democratic purposes – especially in the last decade. A public presentation of the participants’ current work and research at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele will complete the programme.