Focus: Bet

The “Foreign Affairs” festival, hosted by the Berliner Festspiele, has launched a new series for the coming years, highlighting the underestimated phenomena of our times with reference to the fine arts, theatre and theory. This year’s festival investigated the favourite occupation of gamblers – the bet. What is the potential of betting today? Why should bets be the focus of a festival featuring the phenomena of our times and why should it take the principle of betting so seriously? What exactly is at stake? The bet is a pattern of action and relationships. It is based on faith. Its structure is never causative, but always contingent on something – a game of luck and risk which springs from the hope of maximizing one’s happiness. In cooperation with the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, “Foreign Affairs” investigated the doubt, contingency and meaning of bets. The project “Focus: Bet” included a weekend of performances at the KW and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele (12./13. Jul. 2013) along with other events, which were presented throughout the entire duration of the festival.

Artistic director: Matthias von Hartz
Participating artists and theorists: Pieter de Buysser (Brussels)/ Armin Chodzinsky feat. Nis Kötting (Hamburg)/ Jochen Dehn (Paris)/ Elena Esposito (Bologna)/ Forced Entertainment (Sheffield)/ William Forsythe (Frankfurt)/ Nikolaus Gansterer (Vienna)/ Hadley+Maxwell (Berlin)/ Chris Kondek (Berlin)/ Johannes Kreidler (Berlin)/ Barbara Matijevic (Zagreb/Brussels)/ Daniel Tyradellis & Joseph Vogl (Berlin)/ geheimagentur (Hamburg) & Joshua Sofaer (London)/ Johannes Paul Raether feat. Ute Waldhausen (Berlin)/ Michael Portnoy (New York)/ Reactor (Nottingham)/ Saskia Sassen (London, New York)/ Richard Sennett (London, New York)/ Santiago Sierra (Madrid)/ Janek Simon (Cracow)/ Cally Spooner (London) and many others

Haus der Berliner Festspiele, KW Institute for Contemporary Art and public venues, 27 Jun. – 14 Jul. 2013