Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen and Bojan Vuletić give us a summer of the arts for the twelfth time

With the twelfth Asphalt Festival, Düsseldorf is experiencing a summer of the arts at special locations in the city - from the Seebühne am Schwanenspiegel to D'haus Central. The multidisciplinary cultural festival presents theater, contemporary dance, concerts and readings by international and local artists and addresses burning social and political issues. We met the two festival directors Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen and Bojan Vuletić at 34OST, this year's festival center and one of the Asphalt venues in the former Conrad electronics store on Oststraße.

What is the idea and intention behind the Asphalt Festival?
Christof: We open when most institutions close - during the summer vacations. When we started Asphalt from scratch in 2012, our aim was to make a difference in this cultural vacuum. Out of the theater, into the city. We both come from the arts. Bojan is a composer and musician, I'm a theater director and actor. We act strongly on the basis of content, we think artistically, not commercially. We ask ourselves what is currently going on in society and how this can be dealt with in different aesthetics from an artistic perspective. How can we create new spaces for thought and explore scope on the city stage and in a participatory way with urban society? How can we as artists make a contribution? We want to open up new horizons through the diversity of artistic formats and also connect urban architecture with the narratives of the plays.

The Asphalt Festival brings art to unusual places in Düsseldorf. What role do the city itself and its citizens play in this?
Bojan: Asphalt is a multidisciplinary festival at various locations in Düsseldorf. The city is our stage. In addition to premieres by local artists, we present major international and national guest performances and productions that would otherwise not be shown in Düsseldorf. The juxtaposition of different artistic levels, disciplines and languages attracts different audiences. We see a different audience every evening. People don't come because they know the productions and artists, but because they trust us. This often creates a festival frenzy, a state in which the audience becomes open to completely new things. Our central idea is to really include everyone. The more participation and accessibility and the more points of contact with society, the more impact art has. We open up new spaces in the city and integrate a wide variety of people into our productions. Citizens from the most diverse groups and milieus, various actors in the city, a historian as well as a homeless person or church congregations.

What current social issues is the Asphalt Festival addressing this summer?
Christof: Gender images are currently one of the festival's key themes. We always ask ourselves: Who speaks in our society and who doesn't? Who is listened to and who is not? Whose perspective can Asphalt make more visible? This year, for example, we are showing "Aurora Negra", a production by three black female performers who talk about how they fight their way as artists in Europe. In the last two years, we have focused on artists from Ukraine, and we will continue to do so. We are interested in cracks and pain points in society. Many of our productions react to current political contexts and social grievances in a wide variety of countries. Accordingly, it's often about a lot of things.

What criteria do you use to select the performances?
Christof: In addition to urbanity and participation, the sensuality of the plays is important to us. How can topics that hurt be dealt with on stage in a pleasurable way? How can you turn something around, turn it on its head and make the world more comprehensible by playing with transformation? How can art create meeting zones and bring people into dialog? We are interested in movement on different levels. Mentally, emotionally and physically.

What social significance do art and culture have in your eyes?
Christof: Art must remain free. It comes from a different perspective than knowledge. It is an attempt to look at society from a different angle, to lift a curtain or draw a veil over it. As festival organizers, we believe that art can provide spaces for encounters. People meet at a production who might not have met elsewhere and enter into a dialog through the shared experience of the artistic moment. Culture is a cement of society, a remedy against loneliness.

What highlights await us in the Asphalt Festival program?
Christof: My highlight is "Skatepark" by the outstanding Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen, who sees skating as dance. A rousing stage production that manages almost without words and will be performed on the main stage of Central am Hauptbahnhof from July 19 to 21 with dancers and actors from the Düsseldorf skater scene. It examines the character of skating as a community and urban space and the question of the core of the community. For me, the play is a love story. Because the audience falls in love with the feeling of bursting energy and spontaneously wants to be a part of it.

Bojan: I'm really looking forward to the final concert by Brazilian singer/songwriter Bia Ferreira on July 21 at 34OST. An artist with a powerful voice who has made it to the world stage by touring across Brazil with a guitar. Music full of angularity and uniqueness that you hardly ever get to see in this country. She sings against all forms of discrimination and makes great political art. A great live experience and truly a gift.

Which Düsseldorf locations inspire you?
Bojan: We are very spoiled in Düsseldorf with museums for contemporary art. Whether K21 or Langen Foundation, they are all great. But the most magical space for me personally is the KIT. And I've been lucky enough to exhibit there twice.

Christof: We are both cyclists. That means getting around the city differently and seeing it with different eyes. I like taking paths I don't know and discovering new things. Great spots like the Schwanenspiegel, for example. You get stuck, look up, look down. That's something that interests me a lot, takes up a lot of space and never stops, because Düsseldorf is constantly evolving. Of course, we also visit the institutions from Zakk to Schauspielhaus and the Düsseldorf museums. And we really appreciate the fact that there are so many art house cinemas in Düsseldorf.

Info

The Asphalt Festival takes place until July 21. You can experience local, national and international artists at three venues: 34OST, D'haus Central and the Seebühne am Schwanenspiegel. Enjoy theater, parties, readings, dance and concerts.
Further information at asphalt-festival.de.

Text: Karolina Landowski
Photos: Kristina Fendesack
Lead photo: Christof Seeger-Zurmühlen (left) and Bojan Vuletić.
Program photos: Asphalt Festival (see photo credit)