The issue of class and classism as a structural problem continues to be inadequately discussed in all its complexity, particularly in the field of performing arts.
Beyond the same old clichés about social advancement, which rarely combine intersectional perspectives, it is primarily stories of separation (from one's own origins) and conformity (to a normative structure) that tend to confirm rather than challenge the bourgeois self-image.
Yet there are a variety of aesthetic and artistic strategies for dealing with one's own class (clown) affiliation and resisting attributions between “below” and “above”.
As a further development of the laboratory Witzigkeit kennt seine Grenzen – Klassismus und Humor in den performativen Künsten (Wit knows its limits – classism and humor in the performing arts), which took place at Mousonturm in 2023, the clown class meeting aims to deepen the insights gained in the lab and open up new class-conscious spaces for humor with further participants in a clown workshop.
In Germany's first clown class meeting, artists with multiple experiences of classism will put their skills as class clowns to the test and adopt the first class clown manifesto.
Hendrik Quast is part of the Sophiensæle Artistic Adivisory Board. Since the 2024/25 season Sophiensæle has an artistic advisory board at its side. It is important to us to sustainably integrate the perspectives of artists into our structures in order to further develop the artistic vision of our space in a mutual exchange, to review production conditions for artists and to strengthen the cultural-political situation of the Sophiensæle.
Four artists with different focuses and practices are appointed for two years at a time. The members for the years 2024-2026 are Simone Dede Ayivi, Isabel Lewis, Enad Marouf and Hendrik Quast, who will each host an artistic exchange format. Simone Dede Ayivi’s Schwarze Kantine took place February 28th, 2025 in the Kantine. Sip & Speak by Isabel Lewis, together with Djibril Sall, was performed on April 19th, 2025, in Hochzeitssaal.
(IN GERMAN)
Additional information
Witzigkeit kennt seine Grenzen – Klassismus und Humor in den performativen Künsten (Wit knows its limits – classism and humor in the performing arts) was part of the nationwide Artist Labs, an initiative of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, financed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR. Media partners: Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.
Dates
December 2025
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