Rimini Protokoll: City as Stage is the first US museum exhibition of the Berlin-based artist collective Rimini Protokoll, formed in 2000 and composed of Helgard Kim Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel. Their work focuses on continuously developing the tools of theater to allow for unusual perspectives on our reality. Interested in bringing individuals from various backgrounds together to navigate overlooked or hidden aspects of the world, Rimini Protokoll’s projects, which sometimes take place in unconventional locations (such as hospitals, cargo trucks, or corporate meeting rooms), invite “real people” rather than professional actors, into semi-scripted situations to explore political and social issues of everyday life.

Opening just months after a contentious US presidential election, this exhibition investigates some of the dominant structures in our society today that influence how human populations are represented. At a time when polls, statistics, and various data-driven technologies increasingly separate us into numbers and categories, Rimini Protokoll’s works delve into the complexity and multidimensionality of human experience. They raise questions that include: How reliable are the sources of information that attempt to define who we are as a population? How do you measure culture? What factors make us feel a sense of belonging in our community?

100% City is an immersive video installation that extends from a series of the artists’ past performances held in 28 cities around the world. In these performances 100 citizens of each city are selected based on criteria that reflects the city’s demographics. On stage they express their views on diverse themes including aging, war, migration, and relationships. They share stories and secrets, expressing alternative demographies that cut across traditional geographic, cultural, and political divides.

Home Visit USA is a series of participatory performances that take place in private homes throughout Santa Barbara. Small groups of people gather around a table to play a game about the ever-changing ideas that define our country, focusing on issues that include identity, values, and borders. During the game, which follows the format of a political process, alliances begin to form, judgments are made, and things get competitive as teams vie for the biggest slice of cake. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Exhibition curated by Brooke Kellaway

Rimini Protokoll’s work has been presented and toured around the world, commissioned by major festivals, and has often appeared in public spaces, renowned theater venues, and museums, including Festival d’Avignon, FR; Singapore International Festival of Arts, SG; Territory Festival Moscow, RU; Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF), Cairo, EG; Luminato Festival, Toronto, CA; Melbourne Town Hall, AU; Arko Art Center, Seoul; KR; PACT Zollverein, Essen, DE; Walker Art Center, MN; and Brooklyn Museum, NY. They have received numerous prestigious awards including Faust Theatre Prize in 2007; Silver Lion of the Biennale for Performing Arts in Venice in 2011; Excellence Award of the 17th Japan Media Festival in 2014; and the Swiss Grand Prix of Theatre in 2015. The artists have been in residence at Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) Berlin, DE, since 2003.

Production credits:
Concept / Script / Direction: Helgard Kim Haug, Stefan Kaegi, Daniel Wetzel. 100% City: video concept & realization by Marc Jungreithmeier. Home Visit USA: Dramaturgy: Katja Hagedorn; Interaction Design: Hans Leser, Grit Schuster, Mirko Dietrich; Artistic Collaborator Tour: Anton Rose; Setting: Belle Santos, Lena Mody; Production Management: Juliane Männel, Anna Florin; Technical Direction: Sven Nichterlein. Home Visit USA is a production of Rimini Apparat. A House on Fire commission / coproduction with the support of the Cultural Program of the European Union. The project was supported by Capital Culture Fund Berlin.

Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) exhibition and education programs are generously supported by Paseo Nuevo Shops & Restaurants, The Andy Warhol Foundation; Susan E. Bower Engagement Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Nordstrom; Ann Jackson Family Foundation; Towbes Foundation; Montecito Bank & Trust; Gardner Grout Foundation, Mosher Foundation in honor of Barry Berkus; Santa Barbara Foundation; The City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, and contributions from our Board of Trustees and many generous individuals. Additional significant support is provided by The James Irvine Foundation; Getty Foundation, and California Arts Council.

Home Visit USA marks MCASB's ongoing commitment to performance via our On Edge Performance Art Series and is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.