Paris

Question your solidarity

Ivo Dimchev portrays Paris from the perspective of the immigrant, as an ambiguous city: simultaneously open and closed. In the 20^th century, Paris was undoubtedly a refuge for countless people who could go nowhere else – both political and economic refugees and artists and intellectuals. According to sociologists, in the 1980s the French capital had more immigrants than any other European metropolis. The other side of the story is that it is precisely this expanding group that is faced with underpaid work, social humiliation and racism. Artists do not escape the problem either. Paris is attractive, like a modern Babylon, but rather than the confusion of tongues associated with that city, here it causes a profound confusion of identity. Artists are equally likely to work as taxi drivers or streetcleaners, or else they are excluded from the life of society.

The performer Christian Bakalov gives a compelling impression of the experience of the artist-immigrant. Endless humiliation and social exclusion lead to rage and bitterness. Bakalov’s convincing performance leads the audience to ask questions about its own feelings of empathy and solidarity.

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