Why are you creative? - An interview with Christoph Schlingensief
- Series: Why are you creative
Film / theatre / opera director Christoph Schlingensief lost his fight against cancer. He was considered one of the most innovative, important and controversial characters in the German cultural sector. Beyond that, the director was involved in several social projects right until his death.
In an interview with Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Christoph Schlingensief said he wanted to leave something to the world. „Though suddenly, you think about wanting to participate in something... Maybe you want to be part of the cultural revolution, you want to have a connection [to some things].“
With his last project, a combination of fiction and reality, the director satisfies that wish. „S.M.A.S.H. - in Hilfe ersticken“ (“S.M.A.S.H. – suffocated by help”) is a play not based on, but featuring some facets of his actual opera village project in Burkina Faso. In the fictitious scenario, Africa is suddenly overwhelmed by development aid, and Schlingensief’s opera village is occupied by UNO forces. „S.M.A.S.H. - In Hilfe ersticken“ was supposed to premiere at the Ruhrtriennale – fate prevented that.
The real project in Burkina Faso is being realised. In February, Christoph Schlingensief was there to lay the foundation stone. Now, the project will be continued by companions, and the late director’s family is asking for donations for the opera village instead of flowers and wreaths. The legacy of the director is extensive:
Artists and politicians appreciated Schlingensief as a truly significant personality, someone who shook up people - his provocations would be sadly missed in Germany. Altogether, he had created about 80 plays and campaigns, Schlingensief said at the beginning of January – films, installations, objects, paintings, and sculptures not included.
As a director, he first was noticed by a broader public for his notorious film "Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker“(„The German chainsaw massacre“) which marked the beginning of his outstanding career as an awareness-rising, renowned artist.
Schlingensief talked with Herman Vaske about the inexhaustible source of his creativity which is based on a combination of a compulsive zest for action and the quest for an individual reality.
"Why are you creative?" presents the inspiration and motivation of the most creative personalities around the world working in various disciplines such as arts, design, architecture, film, literature, photography, fashion, music, politics, science and religion, and opposes it to the creativity of the individual.
Herrmann Vaske travelled around the world to do his research on the reasons for creativity :
From Jim Jarmusch to Roman Polanski, Michail Gorbatschow to Nelson Mandela, Helmut Newton to Herbert Grönemeyer, Bono to David Bowie, Salman Rushdie to Günter Grass, Christoph Schlingensief to Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Hawking to the Dalai Lama - he talked to them.
They all have given their very personal answers to the question "Why are you creative?" - and 2010LAB.tv presents them here.
- Why are you creative? – Interview with Nina Hagen
- Why are you creative? – Interview with David Hockney
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- The art of living together: Cities and Diversity
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