Verein zur Aufhebung des Notwendigen

by Christophe Meierhans
Concept and Direction: Christophe Meierhans (Brussels)

Guest performance during FIND 2017

»Verein zur Aufhebung des Notwendigen« by Christophe Meierhans is a dinner party about democracy. A very specific and direct democracy as an internalised and everyday fact of life, as the way to satisfy our personal and collective needs and reach binding decisions together. A dinner party brings people together; it should be jovial, comfortable and sociable. However, food is always a topic that is loaded with very intimate beliefs: existential, ethical, aesthetic, economic, social, ritual or religious. In other words, a dinner party offers the perfect setting for a political showdown. For the duration of the performance, the audience becomes a community, the »Verein zur Aufhebung des Notwendigen« in which each individual brings their personal preferences, values and convictions to a collective decision-making and creative process. Following a recipe book created by Christophe Meierhans, the spectators jointly prepare a two-course meal, including an appetiser and drinks. They set the table as well as the tone of the evening and eat together. The kitchen becomes the stage for collectively or individually made binding decisions. Each spectator carries the responsibility for making the evening a success but this is not about reaching a consensus: objections, arguments and refutations are all permitted. The finished meal will taste of the sum of all the decisions made by the audience – an openended experiment. Please bring an appetite!

Inspired by an idea from the Association for the Elimination of the Necessary, with thanks to R. Komarnicki.

Co-production: Kaaitheater, Vooruit, BIT Teatergarasjen, BUDA, Nouveau Théâtre de Montreuil, Vaba Lava. With the support of: The Flemish Government, Kunstenwerkplaats Pianofabriek. A House On Fire Project, with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union.

Concept and direction: Christophe Meierhans
Duration: ca. 150 minutes