FLOOR.TREFF.LEIPZIG. 
THE LAST 500 MILLION YEARS.

By and with: Thomas Goerge (earth theater: text, video, installation), Uwe Gössel (artistic direction, text and performance), Niclas R. Middleton (video installation), Mark Polscher (composition and performance), Annett Sawallisch (performance) , Bernhard Siegl (installation and equipment), Brian Völkner (choir conducting) as well as citizens of Leipzig and other experts.

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"Boden.Treff.Leipzig" combines language, moving images, sound and numerous exhibits from the Natural History Museum in Leipzig into a performance, installation and exhibition. The project takes into account both the concrete ground around the bowling club and the question of how this ground was used as the basis of our lives in the past. "Boden.Treff.Leipzig" is created in cooperation with the Natural History Museum on site and in an exchange between citizens, scientists and experts.

The participatory, interdisciplinary exploration of the terrain uses the various artistic disciplines to tell of what was reality a tremendously long time ago. The main protagonists are also the museum’s exhibits, some of which are millions of years old, such as the bones of the boar and the spectacular building from 1926. The viewers experience the artistic handling of the real objects immersively. Against the background of the last 500 million years and the history of mankind, the works shed light on thresholds, hinges and points where mankind took a bend and created the conditions for our life today. This includes, for example, the beginning of sedentariness in the Neolithic or the imperialist occupation and exploitation of foreign societies and natural resources for endless industrial growth without thinking about future generations.

The theater maker and author Uwe Gössel researched the geological, sociological and historical references for the project, conducted interviews with archaeologists, paleontologists and geologists, walked through opencast mines, river courses and archives and collected personal stories about Leipzig soil. Based on Walter Benjamin's “Sachverhate”, Uwe Gössel's texts deal with the different perspectives on the history of the soil. 

He brought an artistic ensemble to Leipzig for the project: Bernhard Siegl , stage designer and theater painter, staged the exhibition of the exhibits from the museum in the empty Bowlingtreff.

Thomas Goerge , artist and theater maker, writes an earth theater with a video-beaming drill rig in the earth's interior of our mythical world. The composer Mark Polscher sets up a sound installation for "Boden.Treff.Leipzig" and performs with analogue synthesizers and soprano saxophone. Annett Sawallisch , a member of the ensemble at the Schauspielhaus Leipzig, negotiates the so-called facts about the Leipzig soil together with the Leipzig Choir set up by Brian Völkner . The video installation by documentary filmmaker and cameraman Niclas R. Middleton is also part of the performance.

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Leipzig Choir :  Victoria Findlay{Parze: Nona}, Holger Freund, Stefanie Garbade, Viviane Griesche, Michaela Henze {Parze: Morta},  Emily Huber {Parze: Dezima}, Michael Oswald, Matthias Präg and Anke Völknerer

Video projection: Stefan Pfaffe +++ Production management: Elisa Calosi +++ Production assistance: Emily Huber +++ Technical assistance: Jakob Tornau +++ Graphic design: makena plangrafik +++ Press work: Yven Augustin

Program:

Performance & exhibition “Soil. meeting Leipzig. The last 500 million years.”

15.10.2021 (Premiere), 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 October 2021 - 7 p.m

Tickets: 10€ / 5€

Documentary "Bowling Club"

(D 2015) by Thomas Beyer and Adrian Dorschner

17, 24 and 31 October 2021 - 6 p.m

discussion

October 23, 2021 - 6 p.m

Registration is mandatory for all events

service.naturkundemuseum@leipzig.de or by telephone on 0341 98221-0.

In co-production with  the Natural History Museum in Leipzig

Supported by the Performing Arts Fund from funds provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of “Neustart Kultur”.

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Natural History Museum Leipzig:  Director: Dr. Ronny Maik Leder +++ Project manager new concept/new building: Roland Stratz +++ Management assistant:  Juliane C. Winges +++ Public relations: Jana Domaratius +++ Editing: Henriette Joseph

Thanks to:  Henrik Adler, Babett Börner, Ulrike Dura (Leipzig City History Museum), Elisabeth Goerge, Ulrich Hörning, Dr. habil. Frank W. Junge, Isolde Käß, Christiane Kühl, Bernd Sikora, Dr. Thomas Westphalen (Saxon State Office for Archeology), the Schaubühne Lindenfels and the Schauspiel Leipzig as well as the employees of the Natural History Museum Leipzig