With their performances, music, agitprop and community actions, Schwabinggrad Ballett & ARRiVATi create unexpected situations beyond ritualised forms of left-wing protest. The book is a polyphonic retrospective of a quarter of a century of protest and action art; it tells of the cacophonous marching band that breaks through police lines with atonal music, of eggs being thrown at the German embassy in Athens, of choirs and dance performances in front of refugee camps and the European Central Bank, but also of negotiations within an ever-changing collective and the challenge of having to endure existing contradictions.
Kadiatou N. Diallo (ed.), Schwabinggrad Ballett & ARRiVATi: Don’t Fuck Up: pdf READING SAMPLE.
‘Punk, rap or jazz? Band, collective, parade? Schwabinggrad Ballett and ARRiVATi cause irritation.’ WOZ – The Weekly Newspaper
“It seems to me that diversity, society and coexistence cannot exist without contradictions, and certainly not without the willingness to endure them. Schwabinggrad Ballett & ARRiVATi expose themselves to both in an honest way – with all the ugliness, unresolved issues, disproportionality and impossibility that goes with it. This is certainly not a “safe space” (whatever that may look like in a diverse society), but perhaps a “real space”.” KAPUT MAGAZIN FÜR INSOLVENZ UND POP (12.03.2025)
Credits:
Kadiatou N. Diallo (ed.), SCHWABINGGRAD BALLETT & ARRIVATI: Don't Fuck Up (2025)
Postdramatisches Theater in Portraits is a publication series by Kunststiftung NRW, published by Alexander Verlag Berlin.
With introductory essays by Kadiatou N. Diallo, Kathrin Wildner and Brother Mwayemudza, interviews with members, numerous illustrations and a current catalogue of works.
Video: 1. Schwabinggradballett/ Sylvi Kretzschmar: ‘stock market alphabet’ (action day ‘Wem gehört die Stadt’ [Who owns the city], Frankfurt 2011) Frankfurter Gemeine Zeitung 2. Schwabinggrad Ballett & Arrivati: ‘Réponds!’ 2016 3. Schwabinggrad Ballett & Arrivati: ‘Chöre der Angekommenen’ (Choirs of the Arrived) 2017
Photos: Frank Egel, Sylvi Kretzschmar, Liz Rech, Kurt Klassen, Schwabinggrad Ballett & Arrivati
Sylvi Kretzschmar has been part of Schwabinggrad Ballett since 2008. She has had a decisive influence on the artistic forms of the group, particularly in the years 2009-2015.
