How are we to deal with the global crisis?
How are we to deal with the global crisis? The director Wouter Van Looy puts this question in Earth Diver, inspired by two controversial philosophers. According to Peter Sloterdijk we have to change our lives ourselves, without waiting for any god. In his turn, Slavoj Zizek compares our attitude under the crisis to the various stages of the mourning process: from denial and rage to acceptance.
There was a crisis in 17th-century Germany too. Against a backdrop of plague and war, the music of Heinrich Schütz offered the prospect of consolation and eternity. B’Rock and ChorWerk Ruhr meet at the crossroads between Schütz and the contemporary sounds of the composer Nikolaus Brass and the vocal artist Phil Minton. Meanwhile, video images by Wim Catrysse shed a sinister light on the Russian town of Barentsburg. Mining activity in this remote outpost has not paid its way for a long time. God has been swallowed up by the day-to-day struggle with the elements. Yet people still keep on digging, against their better judgement, deeper and deeper, almost to the point of exhaustion.
Production: Muziektheater Transparant, ChorWerk Ruhr
Coproduction: Ruhrtriënnale, Klarafestival, Operadagen Rotterdam, MAfestival, B’Rock, Escautville