Parlament der Dinge, Tiere, Pflanzen und Algorithmen

Seraina Dür and Jonas Gillmann turn theatre and art spaces into a testbed. For this purpose, they create performative settings designed and played by human and non-human participants. In their parliament of things, animals, plants and algorithms, they engage in narratives promoting future, less anthropocentric interactions. They are working with five pigeons to create a cross-species theatre company focused on narratives that blur the boundaries between nature and culture, thus creating spaces that give you the feeling of being intertwined with the environment we live in.

«Parlament der Dinge, Tiere, Pflanzen und Algorithmen» is a multi-part project created in collaboration with Theater Neumarkt, Zurich. To date, the following projects have been created: «Theater als Taubenschlag» (Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, 2019), «Theater als Agilitypark» (Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, 2020), «Taubenzimmer» (Helmhaus Zürich, 2020) und «Rough Love, Erzählen mit Tauben» (Theater Basel, 2021).

Rough Love. Erzählen mit Tauben

In January and February 2021, the five pigeons, Seraina Dür and Jonas Gillmann will live and work at the Alte Billettkasse at Theater Basel. There is a flap so that the pigeons can fly into the city, meaning that they can sometimes bring their friends back with them. The animals, Seraina and Jonas will be regularly visited by artist Nicole Schuck. In her project «Geschätzte Tiere» (valued species), she focuses her research on the pigeons: Sketches are created on site which are shaped into drawings, printed onto material and then set up as flags in the urban space to flutter in the wind. 

Nicole Schuck draws and creates narratives about wild animals in natural environments and urban living spaces. Her way of working explores the intersection between art and science. The various perspectives offered from these two areas inspire her to shine an artistic light on nature conservation, climate change and value economy.

The architecture of the room is being designed in collaboration with artist Anne Linke. Taking as a starting point the idea of a city acting as an urban ecosystem, she is interested in the relationships between humans and animals as well as feminist perspectives of architecture and space. Her short film «PIGEONS AND ARCHITECTURE» was acclaimed at the European Media Art Festival 2020.