{"id":169437,"date":"2026-07-29T13:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/programm\/termin\/other-en-2\/luftmasse-169437\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T13:29:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:29:58","slug":"luftmasse","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/programm\/termin\/performance-en\/luftmasse-169437\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The present seems to be in a state of limbo. China\u2019s ascent is redefining Asia, and with it, Europe. Is the Western-dominated world order under threat? Will a conflict in Eurasia constitute the world\u2019s \u2018last great war\u2019?<\/p>\n

A hundred years ago, Alfred D\u00f6blin described these conditions in his futuristic novel Mountains Oceans Giants<\/em> as a \u2019factual fantasy’: a relentless chain of climate catastrophes and continental drift, as well as crises, pandemics, and global economic crises. In 1924, D\u00f6blin offered a vision of a war between Europe and Asia and Europe\u2019s great exodus to Greenland.<\/p>\n

Now, the Sino-German Paper Tiger Theater Studio has adapted this material for the stage. The performance, co-produced with the festival Theater der Welt Chemnitz 2026, creates a world of images and sound featuring plenty of movement and using means that are both astonishingly simple and sensuous. The visual concept is by China\u2019s most famous contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei. Five dancers, performers and singers from China and Germany work with videography and spatial design. Their bodies, shaped by diverse cultural backgrounds and contemporary discourses, embody the conflicting emotions between bleak visions of the future and the reality of the present. Chinese, German, English and other languages from various cultures interweave to form a multi-layered tapestry of sound.<\/p>\n

The Paper Tiger Theater Studio ensemble exists between worlds. Its productions emerge from a constant dialogue between German and Chinese history and stories. In Berlin, it most recently presented its restaurant project 10,000 Noodles for Kafka<\/em> and, as a commissioned production for the Humboldt Forum, Revolution. The Foe of an Arrow Wound<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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