Perform a book

The format “Perform a Book” opens up a new layer of literary experience for guests. Instead of simply reading books or talking about them, they are brought to life through short, striking interventions in the Kampnagel foyer. Performance artists choose works themselves and embody them as performative actions – without a traditional stage, right in the middle of the space, surrounded by the audience.

This year, the theme of the performances is NEW CLASSICS: performances based on books everyone should have read – whether they’re new releases slowly claiming their place in the canon, established classics that deserve a fresh interpretation, or groundbreaking works that don’t appear in the European literary canon due to power dynamics. From the Odyssey to Octavia Butler: which lines deserve not only to be heard, but to be physically and emotionally experienced?

This year's selected texts are:

• Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, performed by David Odiase
• Anne Carson, The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos, performed by Nicole Wysokikamien
• Silvia Federici, Beyond the Periphery of the Skin: Rethinking, Remaking, and Reclaiming the Body in Contemporary Capitalism, performed by Marie Heleen Samrotzki

Catch the performances between 4 and 6 p.m. in the Kampnagel foyer!