The birds, flying on the edge of a flock guide the whole group. They are the ones exposed to environmental influences and conditions; it is them who see things approaching, who feel any change. At the center of the flock, on the other hand, it is safer. But the ability to move is limited. The birds there can only perceive the reactions of those immediately around them. Yet the essential remains hidden from them. 

This biological observation becomes the guiding image and idea for what BIRDS ON PERIPHERIES wants to be at SPIELART Festival Munich: a programme looking from the margins, wanting to narrate, wanting to change.

With this edition, SPIELART invites a group of seven co-curators to select compelling productions – to offer even the birds at the center of the flock a glimpse of the forces and influences at the edges: Gabriel Yépez Rivera (Mexico), Virginie Dupray (Portugal), Aurélien Zouki and Éric Deniaud (Lebanon), June Tan (Malaysia), Satoko Tsurudome and Sankar Venkateswaran (India) collectively decided, from across continents and time zones, whose voices should be heard here. Voices from Beirut, Bengaluru, Kuala Lumpur, Pachuca, Goma and Abidjan – places that are often marginalised in global discourse, yet are all the more urgent in narrating memory, identity, and resistance.

Five productions will be presented at  SPIELART: Stéphanie Mwamba KIZAZI and Zantara ESQUIVE (Double Bill), Lakshman KP ANNIHILATION OF CASTE BY DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR, Carlos Cruz VETA NEGRA (VARIATION), Elie Mouhanna and  Anthony Sahyoun JAHIMU S-SUWARI – a poetry performance, and January Low PENDING. Different in form, language, and aesthetics, united in their quest for what is often overlooked: Histories of colonial violence, social hierarchies, the power of imagery, the collective as well as the individual memory. These are positions that do not seek to please, but rather to provoke, disturb and contradict. These pieces do not just tell stories from the margins; they shake the centre to its core.

You may visit the productions of this programme during the final festival weekend individually or as a cycle in a row. The different venues are all located within the Kreativquartier and are situated only a few minutes walking distance apart. The programme will be supplemented by a series of subsequent  Artist Talks.