PuSh 2010 Curatorial Statement: KAMP

January 17, 2010

By PuSh Festival Senior Curator Sherrie Johnson

This is one of the most delicate, exquisite and intimate pieces of work I’ve experienced. Set within the confines of Auschwitz, the actors deal with anguish and persecution in the most sympathetic and quiet manner. Their manipulation of the hand-crafted puppet prisoners and executioners is handled with incredible intensity, respect, and tenderness.

Three actors manipulate thousands of tiny puppets, at the same time using tiny eye cameras to project their individual demise and horrific living conditions on a screen mounted on the back wall. The actors move about the camp with such precision and choreography that their presence on stage underscores their power and control over those in the camp. The emotional layering of the hand-crafted puppets, the live actors and the projections creates an evocative world that is gripping and disturbing, at the same time mesmerizing and poetic. KAMP is a wordless piece that is accompanied by a chilling sound score.

While the atrocities of Auschwitz are not a new story, Hotel Modern manages to bring us a piece that is unforgettable and imaginative and deals with one of the world’s great tragedies with grace and compassion.

KAMP is part of the 2010 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and is presented with Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and grunt gallery. Feb 3-6, 2010 at 8pm, Roundhouse. Click here for full details.