KAMP

The Dutch artist group Hotel Modern approaches the unimaginable horror of the Nazi extermination machinery during World War II in an astonishing and physically affecting way. Arlène Hoornweg, Pauline Kalker and Herman Helle confront the audience with a miniature replica of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex. Barracks, railroad tracks, the gate with its inscription ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘Work sets you free’) and three thousand finger-sized puppets fill the stage.

The multimedia representation approaches the unimaginable horror of the Nazi extermination machinery in an astonishing and physically affecting way. The three performers move through the set like giant reporters, arranging the puppets, filming with micro-cameras and silently zooming into the everyday life of the extermination camp. With dramatic effect – in spite of the smallness of the puppets.

War is a recurring theme in the group’s work: De Grote Oorlog (invited to the Spielart Festival in 2003) depicted World War I from the soldiers’ point of view. But Hotel Modern also tackles lighter projects including a live animated film for a production of Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) at the Stuttgart State Opera in 2021/22.

There will be an audience discussion with Hotel Modern following the performance on 3 November 2022.

Performed as part of the International Puppet Theatre Festival and in cooperation with the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism