“I Want Absolute Beauty” is the opening production for this year’s Ruhrtriennale, a major arts festival in Germany. The festival takes place in the Ruhr region, known for its industrial sites, where beauty is not typically expected to be found. However, the festival aims to allow audiences to discover the sublime in these ruins. The new artistic leader, Ivo van Hove, presents a staged cycle of songs by P.J. Harvey, performed by Sandra Hüller, at a former power station in Bochum. The performance is a mix of music, dance, and theater, with no clear narrative but a journey indicated through song titles and video projections.
At the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker presents “Y,” a dance work that integrates museum artworks selected by the choreographer. The performance lasts several hours, allowing visitors to observe the dancers in various galleries. The combination of dance and visual art creates a harmonious fusion of disparate art forms. Back in Bochum, the German premiere of Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s “The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions” is celebrated for its joyous and affirmative musical theater work. The production celebrates a world history defined by the struggle between queer people and their allies, and the patriarchy.
Another production at a former power station in Duisburg pays homage to Georgian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov. The theatrical piece, inspired by Parajanov’s life and work, aims for monumentality but falls short. The director, Kirill Serebrennikov, infuses the production with visual splendor and committed performances, drawing parallels between Parajanov’s artistic persecution and his own experiences with political persecution in Russia. Despite its drawn-out moments, the production is fueled by passion and creates a powerful theatrical impact during its best moments.
