Precious memories are to be gathered locally in the country where the performace takes place and transformed through a poetic process into a performance for the stage. "Execution of Precious Memories" began in Berlin in 1994.
Since then, it has been continued in several places:
Tokyo, Osaka and Buenos Aires in 1995.
Stockholm in 1998
Yaoundé (Cameroun) 1999
London, Meltdown Festival 1999, review by Anna Clare McDuff
Neu Delhi, 1991
Cracow 2001
It is conceived as a project which will ultimately span the world.

This project is based on fundamental thoughts arising from the work on texts undertaken by Friedrich Georg Jünger, Julian Jaynes, Elliot Weinberger and Plotin. This world-wide work with and on memories - which are individually regarded as precious - is being carried out under the theoretical premise of the fictionalisation of memories. An old Chinese proverb tells us, "memory paints with a golden brush". From this we can see that memories are not just the result of an impartial recording of sensory perceptions. Alone the recording of one's sensory impressions falsifies reality to a certain extent, depending on the individual's specific preferences and interests. The processing of perception in one's memory increases these occurrences. As the Chinese proverb says, what we have perceived becomes fictionalised but as a process of beautification on a picture or text - and only then does that which we term memories come into existence, only then do these memories become precious.

Performances

Documentary of the performance in Cameroun

From 21.1.99 to 31.1.99 Goethe Institute(centre for the promotion of German language and culture) Yaounde, Cameroun Nsimalen International Airport-Hotel-Restaurant-Hotel-Goethe Institute-Hotel-Restaurant-Hotel-Anders' house -Hotel -Goethe Institute -Restaurant-Hotel-Goethe Institute-Hotel-...-...- ...Tour of the town-Helen's house -Anders' garden-(Club)-Hotel-Restaurant-Hotel-Nsimalen International Airport: that was the schedule for 10 work-filled days in Cameroun's capital city Yaounde, where Blixa Bargeld, invited by Peter Anders, director of the Goethe Institute, performed "The execution of precious memories".

Mr. Ali in the garden of the Goethe Institute.

We started work in the air conditioned Goethe Institute building in Avenue John F. Kennedy in the centre of Cameroun's capital. (It's very difficult for central Europeans to acclimatise to Cameroun's equatorial climate even in the dry season). The first stage of the work was to read the responses to the questionnaires: we spent three days reading and selecting. The answers to many questions were very detailed. What struck us was the severity of childhood punishments, strong religiousness and reverence for mysticism, the concept of nature which completely differs from ours, the discretion about sex and the recurrent pleasure in storytelling. Some fabulous stories were told.

The choice of the first texts led onto rehearsals with the speakers. As the texts were read out loud the final decisions about the texts and their sequence was made. This was later put together with the musicians. The atmosphere of the childhood stories, memories about nature, religion and love were translated into restrained music played on traditional African instruments. On the day of the performance we moved onto the stage in the garten.

The performance took place on 29.1.99 in the garden at the Goethe Institute. Photos Music and sounds from Francois Essindi and MC Etienne Olanguena, sounds, conductor and speaker Blixa Bargeld, speaker Hélène Beleck and Eshu. And everyone sings together.

Documentation of the performance in New Delhi, India

The Execution of Precious Memories was performed at Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi on September 24th and 25th.
Speakers: Maya Krishna Rao, Arjun Raina, Blixa Bargeld.
Musicians: Rohit Anand (Flöte), Radhe Shyam Sharma (Pakhawaj), Hari Mohan Sharma (Tabla), Vijay Kumar Sharma (Tanpura), Dharminder Katha (Harmonium).



Peter Sewitz, programme director of the Max Mueller Bhavan (the name of the Goethe Institute in India), invited us to perform the project Die Vollstreckung kostbarer Erinnerungen (The execution of precious memories) for a second time between 15.09.99 and 26.09.99. As soon as we arrived, we started to read the completed questionnaires and to select the texts. There was far less response than in Yaounde for example. Our questions were often met with the answer that it is not common practice to talk about such private matters in India. As usual we had to elaborate a script for the performance from the material available. Childhood memories were predominant in the answers in New Delhi, as in all other places.

Maya Krishna Rao, Video 2,4MB

Arjun Raina, Video 704 KB

practical requirements

The place where a performance takes place is at the same time the place where material for that performance will be gathered and processed. For this purpose certain preparations must be carried out at each location in advance. The questionnaire on which the memories are recorded will be translated into the relevant languages. The questionnaire must then be widely distributed in the place or country where the performance occurs. This work can be done directly via the Goethe Institute, through announcements in the press, or by word-of-mouth. It is hoped that a number of the people who answer the questionnaires will be in the audience during the performance. To carry out this work productively, between 80 and 120 completed questionnaires are required. The anonymity of the respondents is of course guaranteed when distributing and processing the questionnaires. The 50 questions to be answered are targeted at precious memories from various areas of one's personal experiences, such as from nature, childhood, sexuality and so on. Special considerations should be given to sensory perceptions within these memories. The material gathered during this process will then be translated into German by teachers and language students from the Goethe Institute. This will then be evaluated by Mr Bargeld together with translators and volunteers over a period of a week. The material will not be evaluated from a statistical point of view and no attempt will be made to achieve some kind of representative result. Instead these precious memories will be organised as literary texts in terms of content and according to formal criteria. Fragments of memories will be assembled into new texts and reworked for the live performance. Stereotypical expressions will be extracted, compiled and assembled as speech-loops during the performance. Each performances will take place in the language of the country or place where it is performed.

logistics

A computer is required for the processing and evaluation of the material, preferably an Apple Macintosh. While presenting the performance, Mr Bargeld will need an interpreter with him on stage, or else a speech trainer who is responsible in advance for training pronunciation, etc. of the relevant foreign language. In addition, one or two local presenters will be required to actively take part in the performance.

For the performances - which can run for between one and three nights in each place- a suitable venue is required with the following technical equipment:

• a small music/PA system;
• multiple microphones
• two DAT recorders
• mixing/control desk; and,
• lighting facilities