Liveartwork Editions: Performance Saga

Performance Saga and Liveartwork have released DVD documentation of the Performance Saga Festivals (Switzerland, 2008 and 2009).

The DVDs also include some of the writing from the Open Dialogues: Performance Saga projects (see here and here).

Image: Esther Ferrer performing at Performance Saga Festival in Lausanne, 2009. Image (c) Performance Saga

About Performance Saga:

Performance Saga transmits and updates the history of performance art and promotes a dialogue between generations. The project includes the conception and commissioning of performance pieces, the publication of video interviews with women pioneers of performance art and the organisation of events.

Performance Saga is a project by the artist Andrea Saemann and the art historian Katrin Grögel, both based in Basel, Switzerland. Three Performance Saga Festivals were held in 2008/2009. The DVDs feature work from both performance pioneers and emerging artists who were featured in the festivals.

About the DVDs

This 4 disk DVD set contains video documentation from 28 separate performances that were presented during the Performance Saga series of festivals that took place in Bern (Dec. 2008), Lausanne (Feb. 2009) and Basel (April 2009), Switzerland.

The DVDs contain over six hours of video documentation including new performance works from some of the leading figures in international performance art. The artists featured are: Alison Knowles (US) & Die Maulwerker (DE), Carolee Schneemann (US), Kate McIntosh (BE/NZ), Irene Loughlin (CA) & Jorge de Leon (GT), Gaspard Buma (CH), Peter Vittali (CH), Wagner-Feigl-Forschung (AT/DE), Martha Rosler (US), Muda Mathis (CH), Annie M. Sprinkle & Elizabeth M. Stephens (US), Sands Murray-Wassink & Robin Wassink-Murray (NL), Tania Bruguera (US/CU), Robin Deacon (UK), Katia Bassanini (CH/US), Stuart Brisley (UK), Monika Günther & Ruedi Schill (CH/DE), Markus Gössi (CH), Simone Rüssli (ES/CH), MIRZLEKID (CH), Andrea Saemann (CH), Esther Ferrer (FR), Hina Strüver (CH), Lena Eriksson (CH) & Varsha Nair (IN/TH). Most of the individual videos are between 10 and 15 minutes in duration.

Each disk also includes additional background information, contact details for each artist and texts from the writing workshops conducted by Open Dialogues in conjunction with the festivals. Curated by Katrin Grögel and Andrea Saemann, Basel DVD production by Christopher Hewitt / liveartwork Total duration of DVD set: approx. 360 minutes Audio: English/French/German with English/German subtitles For full details and to order the DVDs see: www.liveartwork.com/editions/full_saga.htm