The Art of Assembly

From Occupy Wall Street to Milo Rau's The Congo Tribunal, from citizens' movement to artistic project, German dramatist and writer Florian Malzacher has for years been exploring the theatrical possibilities and effects of protest, “assembly” and other political and participatory forms. He recognises a strong international need, among both artists and audiences, for theatre that not only addresses political issues, but that can be radical in content as well as in form.     

In his recent book, The Art of Assembly. Political Theatre Today, he examines several trends and iconic projects where the boundary between theatre and politics is explored. The final chapter, ‘Theatre as Assembly’, is the starting point for this conversation with two Brussels-based, internationally working artists, Anna Rispoli and Danae Theodoridou. Both of them work with people whose voices need to be amplified in the public space, for instance Brussels youth or female domestic workers with migration backgrounds. Both develop public meetings and assemblies, and they do so in close cooperation with these groups. 

Together with moderator Lara Staal, a conversation develops about co-creation and about how their experience as artists helps them set up assemblies that can be more surprising, subversive, flamboyant or playful. What is the power of that artistic imagination? And what is its impact? 

“Not art in public space but art as public space: achieving this is perhaps political theatre’s most urgent desire.” - Florian Malzacher, The Art of Assembly 

Danae Theodoridou is a performance maker and researcher based in Brussels. Her work focuses on social imagination, the practice of democracy and how art contributes to the emergence of socio-political alternatives. She publishes, teaches and with her projects, including An attempt to devise a democratic assembly, was recently a guest at MolenFest, the event that highlighted Molenbeek's candidacy as cultural capital. It will be reprised for this edition of Ecopolis.  

Anna Rispoli works on the border between artistic creation and public space and often does so with and from groups: teenagers and schoolchildren, activist groups, organisations working on redistribution, basic income, and so on. She is guided by what she observes: from social anxiety to the link between eroticism and politics, or ...big differences in assembly techniques. Her project With love not for love also recently had a public moment at MolenFest: a catwalk of domestic workers.  

Lara Staal is a researcher, curator, theatre maker and writer. Her work deals with how theatre can provide a platform for political reflection and mobilisation. She likes to make connections between different domains. As house director at NTGent, she signed for committed performances such as ‘Dissident’ or ‘Serdi’.

Florian Malzacher is a curator, writer and dramaturg. Since 2021 he hosts The Art of Assembly, a series of lectures on the potential of gathering in art and activism. He was artistic director of Impulse Theater Festival in Cologne, Dusseldorf and Mulheim (2013-2017), and co-curator of steirischer herbst festival in Graz, Austria (2006-2012). His books and essays have been translated into more than 15 languages. His most recent publication is The Art of Assembly. Political Theatre Today (2023).