Wars affect individuals and groups, but they do not affect them in the same way. First of all, wars deeply change the physical performances of people. War conflicts result in death, injuries, disability and psychological trauma to men, women and children.
But how does war change human behaviours and attitudes concretely? How does it change the inherited and traditional performances of the body? And furthermore, can we examine cultural resistance to social norms through these altered performances? And how are they transformed after?
This course has two aims. First, we will provisionally map the still-emerging field of research on performances of humans in war and post-war environments, including culture anthropology and ethnography. Second, we will tell some stories about the relationship between humans and war from our own experiences, also giving some concrete examples how war environment has changed the performance of people.
Performance theorist Jon McKenzie writes: “Perhaps one of the most striking cultural paradoxes of the late twentieth century was that while many critics, practitioners, and scholars sadly observed theatre’s precipitous decline as an art form, it nonetheless continued to provide vibrant and supple models for studying and producing events outside the theatre.”
P. Vijayashanthan is an experimental theatre maker and a theatre performance artist. He is the founder and artistic director of EXPERI Theater Zürich. His works represent a convergence between the tradition of avant-garde and experimental theatre, which incorporates different elements, and the residual atmosphere created by society. He also puts on experimental theatre performances in various public spaces.
Patrick B. Yogarajan is an actor and performer. He completed his Master of Arts in Acting at the ZHdK in Zürich. He is a founding member of the EXPERI Theater Zürich and has worked as an actor in several theatre and film projects. In the film „Soundless Dance“(2018) by Pradeepan Raveendran, he plays the leading role of Siva. The film addresses war and the bitterness of exile.