In October 2019, Sven Marquardt photographed members of the Palast’s international dance ensemble just after a performance as well as after rehearsals. In some of the pictures, the posture and expression show that the subject is still on an adrenaline high, whereas others reveal more intimate moments. Less than half a year after the photo shoot, the artists portrayed were deprived of their stage and essentially became ‘stageless’ when all performances between 11 March 2020 and 1 January 2021 were cancelled due the coronavirus pandemic.
The Palast stands for glamour and elegance – at least it normally does. This exhibition is literally a huge intervention in our foyer, our lives, our future as a show theatre. Hence you’ll find bare, paint-splattered scaffolding, traces of the ongoing building work, and powerful photographs printed on construction fence tarpaulins illuminated with construction lights. These raw, improvised aesthetics do not merely give the impression of a construction site – we really are one: the theatre’s ventilation system is currently being refurbished (due to be completed by December). The tapestry of sounds audible in the exhibition may lead some to think that the sounds of construction work are part of the installation. When you stand on the huge stairs in the foyer featuring metre-high video projections, you will almost feel as if you are in an abandoned grand hotel. In all its intensity, there is something comforting about this massive artistic intervention by curator Felix Hoffmann (C/O Berlin) and Sven Marquardt: it is all temporary, we’ll be back.
For those eager for a sneak preview: this ZDF television report provides some interesting insights.