Biography
YouTurn is a new label within the BERLIN operation. Within YouTurn, we are looking for new destinations for the artistic material that has been created over the past two decades. We dive into our archive and use it as a starting point to investigate alternative ways of dealing with repertoire and to enter into new (sometimes unexpected) artistic collaborations.
In 2024, BERLIN will be 20 years old. An excellent moment to re-examine the richly filled database of film recordings that has been collected over the years. Both material that ended up in the performances and outtakes. For many performances (within the city cycle with, among others, Iqaluit, Jerusalem, Moscow, Tagfish – filmed in the Ruhr area -, Zvizdal, etc.) a total of approximately 700 hours of footage was shot at locations that appeal to the imagination. This “pool” of material forms the basis for YouTurn.
YouTurn gives students, artists, researchers and BERLIN loyalists access to a large part of the archive and encourages them to work on new projects based on the material that appeals to them. YouTurn will run for five years (2023-2027) and will be a collaboration with various partners worldwide. The project is divided into two parts: Approximately 100 hours of footage will go to schools (mainly film and visual arts students) and in addition, fellow artists can also (re)activate part of BERLIN history and use it for their own project.
In the academic year 24-25 we will start with the ‘schools part’, in which mainly young people (at the beginning of their career in the arts) will work with our material with a fresh perspective. Students create new artistic work with archive material. The end result can take various forms (short film, video clip, video installation, mixed media, online experiment, etc.). They can deviate as far from the original context in which the recordings were made as they wish. Familiarity with BERLIN’s work is not a requirement. However, discussions with or masterclasses by BERLIN are possible. Together with the partners and local organisations, we also look at the best way to show the artistic result. This can be online, in an exhibition space, black box, projection space, in the form of a publication, etc. BERLIN follows up and occasionally brings projects into the spotlight. How this is done – bundled during a presentation moment, online or in tandem with own work at certain performance locations – is always considered together with the partner and local organisation. More about this soon on this website.
Not only students but also fellow artists and BERLIN loyalists will have access to the broader BERLIN archive (in addition to the film material that students use, set objects, scripts, music, etc. can also serve as a source of inspiration for new artistic work). Within this section, there are already three projects in the making: One Day I Will Make The Onion Cry, Sehnsucht and On Boat Sides.
YouTurn wants to propose a different way of storytelling, building on each other’s experiences and visions, deprivatizing an archive and in doing so also exploring the notion of repertoire and how to deal with it. YouTurn wants to stimulate exchange by bringing different artistic languages into dialogue with each other. We look forward to being inspired by many other voices and stories.
In residentie On Boat Sides
01.04.2024 – 01.04.2024
BERLIN itself is initiating the first project YouTurn project. For its performances, BERLIN would sometimes use Swiss author Max Frisch’s poetical/philosophical questions [published in Fragenbogen] as a source of inspiration while working on interviews/scripts.
Questions such as:Do you have a good sense of humor when you’re alone?If you forget what you have to say and say what you think, what is your answer?According to you, how deep is your property? Where does it end in the ground?
The purpose is to apply a selection of these questions on large freight ships, providing us with a canvas to reach and astonish an extensive range of people (and to break out of the performance space BERLIN’s work is usually presented in). We’re looking at continental and intercontinental shipping lines.
Because these ships are only sometimes in sight range, we would also capture them on film, leaving the port and/or arriving at their destination. We are currently in the process of searching for shipping companies willing to realize this art project together with us.
In residentie Sehnsucht
01.10.2024 – 01.10.2024
Hannes d’Hoine (music) and Stijn Grupping (video) delved into the BERLIN archive and set to work with footage filmed for the show Bonanza. Sehnsucht is a film tableau for which Grupping revisited a short excerpt from Bonanza. Grupping plays with time and perception in such a way that the landscape gradually transmutes and even seems to dissolve. In Sehnsucht, image and sound reinforce each other organically. D’Hoine started composing after watching the archival footage several times. He was inspired by the lives of the remaining inhabitants of the almost abandoned mining town and the vast, mysterious landscape that surrounds them. Sehnsucht suggests that, besides the stories covered in the performance, more lies hidden in the footage: unexplored secrets that hide just below the surface.
Sehnsucht is the first in a series of tableaux for which D’Hoine and Grupping will work with archival material as part of YouTurn. The project may take different forms as it progresses.
In residentie One Day I Will Make The Onion Cry
04.10.2024 – 04.10.2024
During One Day I Will Make the Onion Cry, you will have the opportunity to participate in a one-on-one ritual by and with Barbara Raes for a week. In her practice Beyond the Spoken, Raes, artistic director at NTGent, has been creating tailor-made rituals for years. Hidden forms of loss are given a place in this way. Now, for the first time, Raes is integrating her private practice into a theatrical context.
One Day I Will Make the Onion Cry gives space and form to the grief that accompanies solastalgia, the loss of something that has not yet been lost. The grief is already presenting itself while the real farewell has yet to come.
Together with visual artist and BERLIN scenographer Manu Siebens, Raes is transforming various spaces in De Expeditie into a poetic landscape in which the connection becomes tangible between the overproduction of onions, tears for what will change, and the interpretation of our tears. A place where you can embrace grief for what will one day disappear.
One Day I Will Make the Onion Cry is a creation in the context of YouTurn. Raes and Siebens give the onion machine from the BERLIN performance Land’s End (2011) a new life.
The renovated installation will be open to the public from 4 to 10 October 2024. During the day, it will be the setting and route for a one-on-one ritual with Barbara Raes. At other times, Victoria Deluxe will further explore the questions and emotions that the installation evokes.
In residentie WeTurnTwenty
04.10.2024 – 04.10.2024
In the context of 20 years of BERLIN, BERLIN presents WeTurnTwenty in NTTent, a concert that brings the music from the performances back to life. A seven-piece band takes you on a trip through two decades of music. With four musicians who played in previous BERLIN productions, led by house composer Peter Van Laerhoven and special guest Hannes d’Hoine (DAAU, among others). Expect a dynamic mix of original compositions and innovative reworkings. A festive evening with music that goes straight to the heart and occasionally also aims for the legs.
In residentie Recharge XL
03.04.2025 – 03.04.2025
During the opening weekend, you can escape the hustle and bustle of the city on Friday and Saturday in NTTent with Recharge XL, a renewed and upscaled version of the Recharge installation. This installation, developed by Belgian artist Dries Depoorter, known for his provocative work around privacy and technology, and BERLIN scenographer Manu Siebens, now accommodates 40 participants instead of just one. Recharge XL transforms the mini-arena from Ramble Song, a BERLIN production, into a space where your phone only charges if you close your eyes, under the watchful eye of AI. This work is part of YouTurn, a project celebrating 20 years of BERLIN, encouraging artists to create new work using archival material. Experience a collective moment of digital disconnection and walk out recharged!
In residentie We Lost Time To Gain Theatre
03.04.2025 – 03.04.2025
Two decades ago, BERLIN embarked with Jerusalem on a journey along the border between documentary and theatre. Known for its interdisciplinary approach, in which video plays a key role, BERLIN creates hybrid artistic projects that blur the boundaries between performing arts, film and visual arts. The visual archive was opened up and the hard drives unlocked to extract the most telling images and stories. The publication We Lost Time To Gain Theatre is an invitation to (re)discover BERLIN’s unique view of the world and the encounters and stories it has collected over twenty years.
The publication will be presented on October 4 at NTTent at 9:30 PM, followed by the concert WeTurnTwenty.