Supported by British Council
後援 ブリティッシュ・カウンシル

CULT is based on writings of Richard Wagner, Kandinsky, Nietzsche and Walter Benjamin and chooses the approach of a “Gesamtkunstwerk” (Total Art Piece). It brings together elements of choreography, sound installation, performance art and opera. CULT is the start of a long- term, large- scale project called “WHAT IS THE NEW SOCIETY?” by Georg Bütow and the Portuguese director Pedro Barreiro, that is a research and performance project about Utopian and optimistic approaches to the future. 
 
CULT consists of three main elements: A speech held in 2015 by the Mexican shaman Pavel Carballido, describing and hoping for a new society in which "each one sees themselves in each other, as brothers and sisters". Element two is a dancing choir in complementary colors according to Kandinsky. This choir, to "heavenly music", dances the Carballido thought in a very beautiful and lyrical manner. Element three is a downfall, an apocalypse, the zero hour of todays "monetize everything“ attitude referring to Walter Benjamin´s essay "Capitalism as Religion", which describes Capitalism as a cult without redemption. Instead of releasing mankind from guilt, it is described as a religion that aims to make guilt universal.

CULT is produced in London, UK with the help of the EXTRA fund of the University of the Arts and was premiered on the International Performance Art Festival in Mainz, Germany. The team will tour England, Germany and Portugal in autumn 2016 with a full- length play and have prepared a shorter live version for the Japanese audience.

Performance for FUTURE SHORTS TOKYO on 19(FRI) & 20(SAT) AUGUST 2016

Director, Concept, Performance: Georg Bütow
Musical Direction, Live Musician and Composition: Francis Botu
Choreography: Martina Conti
Dancers/ Performers: Mathias Otto Werner Berndt, Isbaella Bruno, Óscar Silva
Costumes: Veronica Toppino
Additional sound Engineering and Assistance: Erik Lintunen
Additional Composition: Zeeshan Azad
Live Camera: Xueyang Ni
Production and Technical Supervision: Mathias Bernd, Francis Botu, Georg Bütow