Page 76 - The Documenta issue of World of Art magazine (2002)

neWS ReLeASe

PIcTuRE OF‘PAIXAO’ OF AS PALAvRAS/cIE cLAuDIO BERNARDO
© AS PALAVRAS
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CuRAToR PETER ROOSE in all its forms.
Departing from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film version of the Gospel according
to St Matthew, Claudio Bernardo - in close cooperation with the video
artist Marie-Jo Lafontaine - developed a dance piece relating to passion

in Flanders. is being developed. As a fully-fledged component,
only in the the technology has to be directed, just as an
last five to actor does.
ten years has Is Format 2002 the only one of its kind?
that evolution An increasing number of theatres are beginning
really begun to take an interest in new technology. In the
to make a Netherlands Ro-Theater is probably the pioneer;
breakthrough. in Flanders Muziektheater Transparant, the
These days Kaaitheater and the Nieuwpoorttheater play
several an exemplary role in this field. In Wallonia you
companies have Charleroi/Danses, which is committed to
are seriously developments and some festivals have a separate
committed section for new technology. But a festival that
to multi- makes new technology the criterion is new in
disciplinary Flanders and, I believe, in Belgium as a whole. In
projects and my opinion, the vagueness of the definition of the
technology genre stands in the way of a real breakthrough.
has also come You have committees and subsidies for dance
much further. and theatre, but new technology still has to fit
We now into one of those compartments. It is difficult
have a new to obtain financial backing and recognition of
generation the content within those established structures.
that has Moreover, such productions are still very
grown up expensive and so they can certainly use that
with a certain visual technology, and it is that support. In that sense Format 2002 is also a plea
development which interests me. With Format for recognition. Another objective of Format –
Format 2002 2002 I look at how the world of the performing albeit one we approach with caution - is to bring
having carried out a thorough arts is responding to it - whether it is doing people together. While I was looking for material
investigation into various forms of new anything with that evolution and, if so, what. for Format, I discovered that many people are
visual and sound technology within the working with exactly the same technologies.
performing arts, as curator of Format how do you set about finding such For example, people in Great Britain are busy
2002, Peter Roose now provides a stage projects? with the same things as someone in Denmark.
for a confrontation between culture and The field of application of new technologies If those people were to pool their resources and
technology. might appear to be virgin territory, but when know-how, then we might well see some amazing
you are actively involved in such evolutions, you creations. Hopefully, cooperation will result from
with Format 2002 you are looking to develop a great sensitivity for new productions the juxtaposition of visions and ideas at Format.
assess the state of play with regard in all the various programme brochures. You
to multimedia achievements in the get to know the people who experiment, you The whims of technology are
performing arts. why this interest in new discover new festivals… In the years I have been unpredictable. In that respect, aren’t you
technologies? following the evolutions on this front, I have taking a bit of a risk as the curator?
My fascination for new technologies dates become aware of the potential, but also of the of course, technology can fail and that is a very
from the early eighties. I was doing a course in limitations of the technology. The number of less real danger. A computer can have a blackout,
theatre studies when I saw The Wooster Group successful productions I have seen is, I would just like an actor. But - and this is the nice thing
at work. That experience broadened my outlook imagine, larger than the number of successful about it - it shows that technology is an actual
enormously, the way they used microphones, ones. often technologies are simply used as a part of a production. If it crashes, then that’s the
the camera and visual material as an integral sort of décor and they are not really part of the end of your performance. of course, I also take a
part of a theatre production. Till then I had not production. The idea behind Format 2002 is that risk by programming things I don’t know the end
seen many innovative experiments with new we offer concerts, productions and installations result of, but that is also the case with theatre.
technology in the theatre. But the funny thing where the new technology really is part of the You simply have to have confidence in the artists’
is that The Wooster Group, which took theatre creation process. Format is a plea to bring in the track record.
in a totally new direction, had few followers technology at the beginning, when the concept

74 WORLD of ART