Wagner Project

The Rhine-Main region around Frankfurt is one of the most vibrant centres of hip-hop in Germany. In the early 1970s, this music style had already become part of the subculture there. Today hip-hop is alive and well in the broad, often migrant-based scene. The “Wagner Project – Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” by the Japanese director and theatre artist Akira Takayama focuses on this musical setting. By creating a link between hip-hop and Richard Wagner’s famous opera, the project spotlights a key area of cultural identity formation and casts a probing look at the social asymmetries in Germany.

Takayama’s project is supported by several partners. Over a period of ten days, he will present a set design by Keigo Kobayashi in the theatre auditorium of the Frankfurt Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, thereby transforming the venue into a “School of Hip-Hop”. Half performance festival and half conference format, the “school” will serve to translate the ten-day singing competition in front of the gates of Nuremberg to today’s urban environment. The hip-hopper Hiroshi Egaitsu and other co-curators from the region are tasked with casting the “masters”. The group of instructors will be supported by guests from the hip-hop and street-art-related areas of literature, architecture and political activism. In this manner, the project will produce a programme of concerts, lectures, workshops, actions and discussions going forward.

Artistic director: Akira Takayama
Dramaturgy: Tatsuki Hayashi, Marcus Dross
Participants: Saki Tanaka, Keigo Kobayashi, Hiroshi Egaitsu, Konrad Claus and others