The Latest at Goethe

The foundation stone has been laid, but what’s the next step for Christoph Schlingensief’s opera house in Burkina Faso? You probably won’t encounter Wagner there, the artist says, but yourself. In the interview Schlingensief talks about Africa, operas and misunderstandings.

Mr. Schlingensief, what does Africa mean to you?

You are entirely faced with yourself here; I already felt that many years ago in Zimbabwe. I don’t want to play the tourist or the afro-fanatic, but I become incredibly calm here. All of those motorized, hectic disturbances that you have around you in Germany are gone. I tell this to everyone who comes here: don’t expect to encounter Wagner or Mozart at the opera village, but expect to encounter yourself. For that, you need time.

How did you choose the site for the opera village – about an hour’s drive outside Ouagadougou?

We looked at plots in the city centre, but we did not want to compete with the theatre and arts scene here or play the big daddy.

The name “opera village” causes misunderstandings.

Yes, that’s true. There happen to be people who always eye everything with mistrust, who warned me about the circumstances here, who know it all better. I chose the name opera village deliberately, after Manaus and Bayreuth; I am romantic and I’m also kitschy. I know something about the poetic force of words...

...the poetic force of the word opera?

Yes, definitely. But, the children are more important. The school we are building in Remdoogo is the most important thing of all.

”The Flying Opera House” – Schlingensief in Africa

You need the Flashplayer to watch this video

You once said that Bayreuth made you ill. Is Africa the cure?

You always need a balm for your sadness. Sometimes it’s religion. I also think here of Epidaurus, the ancient Greek theatre, where the people went for healing. Our architect Francis Kéré will build a day hospital in Remdoogo, a ward where all possible operations can be carried out. That is part of the contract with the cultural ministry.

You’re not planning regular productions?

It will be a village, a model house settlement – a model. My illness has made me understand that it has to be done now. Africa has stability in its spirituality and we need that for our future. We simply must create a place here; it doesn’t have to carry my name and I don’t plan to be buried here. It is a dream. Otherwise we always turn in life to precisely the thing that harms us.

You would hardly manage without the architect Francis Kéré who is from Burkina Faso.

It wouldn’t work without him; I would have cancelled it all. Peter Anders from the Goethe-Institut brought us together and we’re a wonderful team.

The interview was held by Rüdiger Schaper from the Tagesspiegel