Jérôme Bel / Theater Hora
The theatre is at the heart of the artistic project of Jérôme Bel. He believes it is the best way for him to reveal reality: a place and a time that elude the laws of society and that permit the unspoken to be revealed. His radical critique of performance is paired with a celebration of the theatre: a minimal and demanding theatre, far from illusionism and the spectacular. The notion of alienation runs through all his work. The one that produces capitalism on the body itself (Jérôme Bel in 1995, Shirtology in 1997), on culture through copyright (The Last Show in 1998, Xavier Le Roy in 1999) and the culture industry (The Show Must Go On in 2001). He more recently staged “theatre documentaries” with dancers (Véronique Doisneau in 2004, Pichet Klunchun and Myself in 2005, Cédric Andrieux in 2009) in which he succeeds in linking his interpreters' subjective experience and the political issues that underlie their respective practices. In 2010, he created, with and for Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, 3Abschied based on Mahler's The Song of the Earth. In 2011, the Boris Charmatz Musée de la danse devoted an exhibition to him, Jérôme Bel in 3 sec. 30 sec. 3 min. 30 min. 3h., presented at the Festival d'Avignon.
The Theater HORA adventure began in 1993 in Zurich when the director Michael Elber arranged theatre rehearsals with mentally handicapped people. The idea was to create a space in which handicapped actors and actresses could develop their artistic talents on a professional level. There are now eleven actors who crisscross Europe to present their creations and anchor public awareness with their own viewpoints, as edifying as they are different.
RB, April, 2012