"Empire (Art & Politics) a theatrical reflection on the manipulation of the masses and the making of empires
- from: 19.07.2008
- to: 22.07.2008
agenda
At the Festival of Avignon from 19th to 22nd July 2008
Practical
Superamas - http://www.superamas.com/
Festival of Avignon - http://www.festival-avignon.com/
Superamas' new show is a fable about the making and spreading of empires. Going from the reconstruction of a Napoleonic battle to a short travel film, from a society reception to a devilish samba, from a flag ceremony to a fireworks display that smells of trouble, "Empire (Art & Politics)" is not exempt from a reflection on the nature of State propaganda or on the power of the fire of American imperialism. In May 1809, at the gates to Vienna, the armies of the Emperor Napoleon crossed the Danube with the intention of destroying the forces of Archduke Charles. 175,000 soldiers were involved in the fighting, 40,000 died in two days. Ever since, the Austrians have celebrated their victory at Aspern, while French schoolchildren learn about the win at Essling. Each claims the victory, but this is above all the greatest slaughter of modern times, a fight in vain and without a winner that paved the way for cannon fodder in wars on an industrial scale. It is also a battle of press releases and triumphant editorials, how to manufacture a victory? Must we print the legend or the reality? In this way empires are born and die. Superamas' show starts with this paradoxical success which is also a strange failure and continues through an amusing questioning about the empire as one of the fine arts: its manufacture, filming, its propaganda and its societies as well as its violence, thirst for power and its unstoppable need to reproduce, even today, with summits bringing together the major powers in the war in Afghanistan. All this is shown on the stage of "Empire (Art & Politics)", from images of Napoleon to George Bush on TV, how by swapping the military dress for the three piece suit and tie, abandoning propaganda for the leisure industry, our politicians are dressed like our business men, an inevitable sign of imperial ideology. Still to be seen as a hysterical performance and produce such a smell of gunpowder.
- Updated: 11.12.2008
