International Institute of Political Murder: Hate Radio
Wednesday, August 28th at 8 pm and Thursday, August 29th at 7 pm
Stara mestna elektrarna – Elektro Ljubljana
The frequency of evil
In 1994, in Rwanda, more than a million Tutsis were slaughtered with machetes and sharpened sticks. The local radio station RTML incited listeners to hate and kill months before the actual events started taking place. In between pop music, sport broadcasts, and biased news, three extremist Hutus and a news presenter of Italian-Belgian descent, cold-bloodedly called for hate and slaughter. The documentary performance Hate Radio is a precise reconstruction of this same radio. In an airtight and sterilized studio, everybody is in an excellent mood, but the outside world is filled with blood and the pain of the innocent. How does racism work? What’s the role of the media in this respect? How can people be convinced to become murderers? The Swiss-German group, The International Institute of Political Murder, was founded in 2007 and focuses on various artistic genres and a reconstruction of historical events. In one of their performances, they staged the final hours of Elena and Nicolae Ceaucescu, whereas their project The Moscow Trials – inspired by the Pussy Riot trial – triggered a debate this year in Moscow between anti-religious and pro-religious proponents.
Script, direction: Milo Rau
Dramaturgy, conceptual managment: Jens Dietrich
Set and costume design: Anton Lukas
Cast: Afazali Dewaele, Sébastien Foucault, Estelle Marion, Nancy Nkusi, Diogène Ntarindwa (Atome), Bwanga Pilipili
Video: Marcel Bächtiger
Sound: Jens Baudisch
Production managment: Milena Kipfmüller
Assistant director: Mascha Euchner-Martinez
Scientific collaboration: Eva-Maria Bertschy
Academic counselling: Marie-Soleil Frère, Assumpta Muginareza, Simone Schlindwein
Production: International Institute of Political Murder
Co-production: Migros-Kulturprozent Schweiz, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) Berlin, Schlachthaus Theater Bern, Beursschouwburg Brüssel, migros museum für gegenwartskunst Zürich, Kaserne Basel, Südpol Luzern, Verbrecher Verlag Berlin, Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre
Supported by: von Hauptstadtkulturfonds (HKF), Migros-Kulturprozent Schweiz, Pro Helvetia – Schweizer Kulturstiftung, kulturelles.bl (Basel), Bildungs- und Kulturde-partement des Kantons Luzern, Amt für Kultur St. Gallen, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F. V. S., GGG Basel, Goethe-Institut, Friede Springer Stiftung
Photo: Daniel Seiffert
105 minutes
The performance is in French and Kinyarwanda with Slovene and English surtitles.