Art & Science

Through diverse performances and urban interventions, the Theatre of the Anthropocene creatively delves into the topic of ‘Man and Nature in the Anthropocene’. On stage, anthropogenic issues such as emissions and the atmosphere, ocean acidification and the loss of biodiversity, as well as questions of law and justice, animal and natural rights are explored. The Theatre was developed to promote cooperation and collaboration between artists, scientists, designers and civil society, and created special digital formats in accordance to COVID-19 restrictions, several of which involved members of the IRI THESys community.  

The third German-Chinese online dialogue ‘ME(ER)TAMORPHOSEN’ took place on December 12, 2020 and focused on socio-ecological challenges related to water. THESys Director Prof. Jörg Niewöhner presented ‘Hydro-social territories. What is Water for whom?’ on the functions of water for various social actors in hydro territorial spaces. After the scientific exchange, the experimental short film ‘Medea’ by the renowned Chinese avant-garde director SU Xiaogang was shown.

The ‘Requiem for a Forest’ series premiered on March 7, 2020 as digital productions in which artists and scientists present scenic-musical readings about the significance of forests. IRI THESys participated in two digital productions with guest performances of THESys Members. This included THESys Member Ina Säumel reading ‘Wild Woods Forests & Timber Plantations’ on October 8, 2020 at the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership, as well as THESys Member Christoph Schneider read ‘Forests in the Earth System of the Anthropocene’ at the opening of ‘Culture and Sustainability’ at the Stiftung Genshagen event on October 15, 2020. See video recordings of the events below.

More information can be found on the Theatre of the Anthropocene Website.