Dear visitors to Gessnerallee, dear artists
From 5 to 8 February, we will be showing Kursk's ‘Raskrsnice’ (Serbian for ‘crossroads’) at Gessnerallee – a documentary theatre piece about exploitation and labour disputes in borderless capitalism.
In collaboration with Indian migrant workers on a Chinese construction site in Serbia, ‘Raskrsnice’ shows how large corporations prevent solidarity struggles, as they often operate beyond national legal jurisdictions. It also shows how such solidarity struggles can still succeed in cooperation with local trade unions, NGOs and committed citizens. Shortly before the premiere, we asked Timo Krstin, who is part of the performance group Kursk, three questions about the play.
Gessnerallee: With your performance group Kursk, you write, direct and perform plays that often deal with the history and present of the working class. What motivated you to create ‘Raskrsnice’ – and why specifically the stories of Indian workers on a construction site in Serbia?
Timo Krstin: ‘Raskrnice’ is the last part of a trilogy about migrant labour and labour struggles in Europe, with a focus on the Balkan region. During our research in Serbia, we repeatedly drove past a huge, almost militarily sealed-off construction site. Workers from Vietnam, India and other countries were discovered on this site, where the Chinese parent company kept them in appalling conditions. It was clear to us that we were witnessing the most modern forms of exploitation and migrant labour. Of course, we had to tell this story.
How did you organise the process of working with the real workers and the Zrenjaninski Socijalni Forum (ZSF) – a Serbian NGO that supports trade union work and is helping the Linglong workers in their fight for their rights? What challenges did you face?
The language barriers were a major challenge for everyone involved. Many workers only speak Vietnamese or Indian, some of our colleagues at ZSF only speak Serbian, and we at Kursk speak broken Serbian and English. The problems this poses for the development of the play are the same as those faced by trade unionists in labour disputes: how can we organise under such conditions? This is probably the central question in global capitalism.
The play deals with solidarity across borders. What should the audience take away from this work – especially in a time of global inequality?
It's simple: If you tolerate this, then your children will be next.
In addition to Kursk, we are also very much looking forward to ‘Wen Keng We Meet? – On Connection’ by RRRRRR Collective at the end of January. The collective is one of four groups exploring how sound can be staged in Dimitri de Perrot's Open Studio. All performances are sold out. A few remaining tickets are available at the box office.
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