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Nederlands

World premiere

The Naked Shit Songs

Huba de Graaff

‘We believe in democratic pictures. That a child can see them and understand in some level, and a person of ninety.’ This is what Gilbert & George said to Theo van Gogh in 1996. Van Gogh spoke to the artist duo in his legendary programme Een Prettig Gesprek (A Nice Chat) at the time of The Naked Shit Pictures exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum. Huba de Graaff, composer of Apera (about the origin of singing) and Pornopera (about the art of moaning), used the interview as libretto. Directed by Marien Jongewaard, actor Xander van Vledder as Theo van Gogh, Nigel Robson and Christopher Robson as Gilbert & George, and a choir sing this ‘retropera’ – about art, sex and religion, Muslims, tolerance, love and death.

dates

Thu June 22 2017 8:00 PM

Fri June 23 2017 8:00 PM

information

  • English

  • Duration of performance unknown (geen pauze)

‘The Naked Shit Songs is about an immense loss. Loss of freedom, loss of a certain era.'

 

That's how Huba de Graaff describes her 'retropera' The Naked Shit Songs, which will have its world premiere at the Holland Festival. De

‘The Naked Shit Songs is about an immense loss. Loss of freedom, loss of a certain era.'

 

That's how Huba de Graaff describes her 'retropera' The Naked Shit Songs, which will have its world premiere at the Holland Festival. De

Graaff was inspired by an interview that Theo van Gogh conducted with the controversial British-Italian artist duo Gilbert & George in 1996. De Graaff decided to use the full text of Van Gogh's interview with Gilbert & George as material.

For the composer, the topics discussed in the interview symbolise an era that no longer exists: an era in which art was able to enjoy a high level of freedom. The end of that era coincided with the brutal murder of Van Gogh in 2004. De Graaff divides the text from the interview up into six scenes and a concluding coda. Van Gogh is played by actor Xander van Vledder; the texts of Gilbert & George are spoken and sung by singers (and brothers) Nigel Robson and Christopher Robson and a choir.

Since the late 1960s, Gilbert Prousch (1943) and George Passmore (1942) have been working together on performances and conceptual art. The two artists are known for their photo montages in which they themselves feature – often naked – and which frequently include sperm, blood, urine, vomit or faeces. An example is The Naked Shit Pictures (1994-95), exhibited in the Stedelijk Museum in 1996, from which De Graaff's 'retropera' gets its name.

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credits

music Huba de Graaff direction Marien Jongewaard dramaturgy, direction Erik-Ward Geerlings cast Xander van Vledder tenor Nigel Robson counter-tenor Christopher Robson lighting design Wilfred Loopstra video design Willem Weemhoff subtitles (arabic) Bakhcha Mohammed electric guitar Wiek Hijmans piano Tim Sabel double bass Vasilis Stefanopoulos drums Onno Govaert keyboard Kristján Tryggvi Martinsson flute Kristján Tryggvi Martinsson vocals Amsterdams Galakoor, reART Wereldmuziek Koor conducted by Yt Nicolai, Peter Dijkstra, Selim Doğru sing-along Jasper Hupkens pre-recorded choir Nederlands Kamerkoor pre-recorded trio Escapada, Bence Huszar, Emma Breedveld, Sebastiaan van Delft set design Juul Dekker costumes Bernadette Corstens hairdressing/grime Nienke Algra intern costume Siebe ten Dam sound technician Vid Ahacic technical management Huub Mars performance leader Janneke Lindner production management Geertje Spaan publicity HubadeGraaff.com Lonneke van Eden/bureau TamTam graphic design HubadeGraaff.com Emmy Visser general manager Britt Verstegen coproduction Huba de Graaff, Nieuw West / Marien Jongewaard, Holland Festival with the support of Fonds Podiumkunsten based on an idea by Jan Elbertse

This performance is made possible by