Bauerntheater – Performative land art project

At first thought, farming and theatre seem to have little in common. Indeed, farmers and actors appear to represent the diametrical areas of nature and culture, country and city, manual labour and sophisticated leisure. This is where the project "Bauerntheater" comes in. It intends to examine the "Art of Farming" and the "Work of Performance" today and in the future. This "land art" performance titled "Bauerntheater" featured an unemployed actor who played the role of a farmer in May 2007. For 14 hours a day, the actor "performed", i.e. farmed, one hectare of land in Brandenburg for an entire month. In this way, the actor simultaneously performed an art and a job which sustains him. The "Bauerntheater" project also hopes to illustrate the potential for farmers to act as service providers for agricultural simulations and ecological tourism in the future. The project has been carried out together with citizens, farmers and experts from around the region. The audience could view the performance close-up on the field or from a 24-metre-high observation deck on the Biorama Project's water tower.

Artistic directors: Sarah Phillips, David Levine

Schedule: 5 - 28 May 2007, Schorfheide-Chorin, Brandenburg

The documentary film "Bauerntheater" by David Levine premiered in Berlin on November 1, 2007.


Bauerntheater Book Launch:
To celebrate the publication of the Bauerntheater Book, The Goethe Institute Berlin is pleased to announce a special screening of BAUERNTHEATER, followed by a conversation between artist David Levine, theater critic Thomas Irmer, and Kulturstiftung des Bundes representative Uta Schnell.
12th June, 7:00 - 21.30 Hrs
Admission free.
Goethe Institute, Neue Schönhauser Strasse 20, 10178 Berlin-Mitte