Nico and the Navigators. La trahison des images

Glasses normally correct vision for distant or close-up objects, thereby sharpening blurred vision. But what if they could make the invisible visible and challenge familiar perspectives? In their project “Verrat der Bilder” (Betrayal of Images), Nico and the Navigators embark on a performative journey to three key locations of Classical Modernism to mark the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus. With the aid of augmented reality glasses, the production explores the reliability of the visible and the potential manipulation of perception. The phrase coined by Walter Gropius, ‘Art and Technology – A New Unity’, is used in ‘Verrat der Bilder’ as a starting point to blur the boundaries between utopia and irony, as well as to challenge our understanding of the history of so-called progress. When you look through the glasses, you see the things behind them differently… for example, the only surviving sculptor’s studio from the 1920s in Berlin. In the spirit of the Bauhaus, Georg Kolbe had this place designed as an ideal space for the fusion of life and work, nature and art, urban connectivity and artistic enclosure, an energetic production site and a light-flooded venue. These connections are explored in the performance, which combines architecture, drama, dance, sculpture and virtual imagery to create a multi-layered, aesthetic and spatial experience. The performers move, in their tried-and-tested manner, between language and movement, whilst also working with a technology that has scarcely been tested in theatre to date. The glasses open up perspectives on the political upheavals and aesthetic contrasts of the Weimar Republic, which, viewed through the lens of the present day, can be read as a historical cross-fade. The result is a project that, using a new medium, works closely with tradition and directly with the future. This site-specific work will be staged not only at the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin, but also at the Meisterhäuser in Dessau and the Saxony-Anhalt State Representation in Brussels. By adapting individual scenes to each location, every venue becomes the setting for a world premiere.

Nico and the Navigators were founded in 1998 by Nicola Hümpel and Oliver Proske at the Bauhaus Dessau. As artists in residence, the ensemble developed the ‘Menschenbilder’ cycle at the Sophiensäle in Berlin – a series of successful productions which attracted international attention with their visually striking language. Since 2006, they have been active in the world of opera and musical theatre with projects centred on Schubert, Handel, Bach, Rossini, Mahler and contemporary music. The ensemble tours worldwide, performing at leading venues and renowned festivals. In 2011, Nico and the Navigators were awarded the George Tabori Prize as an outstanding independent ensemble; in 2016, Nicola Hümpel received the Konrad Wolf Prize from the Academy of Arts.