In my artistic-theoretic PhD research project entitled ‘Material Citizenship’ I ask myself how everyday objects and things can be articulated in choreography in order to become part of civic collectives. In close relation to theories of material agency and assemblages by Latour, DeLanda and recent object-oriented and new materialist philosophy I speculate about choreographic ontologies and question the socio-material performance of things. Concretely, this research departs from contexts of social protest in which things leave their conventional place to actively collaborate in the renegotiation of shared ways of being and living. If umbrellas become revolutionary agents with which protesters can protect themselves against pepperspray or tear-gas in the streets of Hong-Kong or toilet brushes are turned into makeshift mockery utensils for peaceful protest, does this not also imply a promise of restructuring our relationship to things? And how can new ways of living together be described and experienced as emergent choreographies?

This research is conducted in the frame of the graduate school 'Performing Citizenship: New articulations of urban citizenry in 21st century metropolis” that started on January 1st, 2015. It is supported by a cooperation of the HafenCity Universität (HCU), the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaft (HAW) and two research-led non-academic cultural institutions, the FUNDUS THEATER and K3 – Centre for Choreography | Tanzplan Hamburg.

Excerpts from:

The Book of All Things - BARRICADES AND DANCES
(Layout: Leon F. Lechner)

From ''The Book of All Things' (2015)
Layout by: Leon F. Lechner