Nomination for Grand Prix Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award 2019
Your hatred of Mondays is a hatred of capitalism, and precariat is the caries (cavity) of capitalism. The word ‘precariat’ was formed from two words: ‘precarious’ – unprotected, and ‘proletariat’ – working class. Guy Standing called this socially unprotected group ‘the new dangerous class’ and divided it into three types: the poor, migrants, and freelancers without permanent income, including artists. All of them are being exploited and all of them are starting to unite.
Caries of Capitalism is a performative platform for presenting and funding the projects addressing the issues of precarity and exploitation in the theatre industry. The performance was born out of joke about the similar pronunciation of the words ‘caries’ and ‘precarious’ (in English, one mostly speaks of ‘cavity’; in Russian, it is ‘caries’) in a lunchtime conversation, during a week-long BlackBox Residency at the Meyerhold Theatre Centre in Moscow, unpaid and providing no food and accommodation. The project idea was awarded the 2nd prize and a production grant from the Ministry of Culture.
Caries of Capitalism aims not only to share the creators’ personal experience and concerns, but to raise the general awareness of precarity and to mobilise the professional community. Four precarious theatre workers were selected to join the team as performers through the open call process. During the rehearsal month of (modestly) paid work, they designed their projects addressing precarity and exploitation. On stage, they present their ideas to the public, and compete for a quarter of the ticket sales. The winner is chosen by the audience by secret vote. Before and after the project pitches, as well as during commercial breaks, there are lectures, dance routines, and videos about obsessive-compulsive anxiety, impression economy, and the essence of theatre.
Created by Ada Mukhína, Alena Papina, Olga Tarakanova, Daria Iuriichuk.
Performers: Ksenia Anikeeva, Asya Belaya, Natalia Zaitseva, Nu Simakina, Anastasia Kharabiberova, Oleg Sokolov, Elena Kovalskaya Stage design & costumes: Alexandra Alexeeva Media design: Ekaterina Pislari Sound: Leonid Immenykh Light design: Sergey Vasiliev
Caries of Capitalism celebrated its premiere on October 1, 2019, at the Meyerhold Theater Center (Moscow, Russia) and was presented in its repertoire program till January 2021. Nomination for Grand Prix Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Award 2020. Long-list of the most notable theatre productions of the season 2019/2020 by Golden Mask Russian National Theatre Award. Invited to Russian Case, a special program by Golden Mask Festival for international producers.
Publications
Caries of Capitalism: Artistic Statements for Indent (ENG). Written by Ada Mukhína, Alena Papina, Olga Tarakanova, Daria Iuriichuk. Indent: Body and Performative, Issue 02, 2019. New Delhi, India.
Cavity of Capitalism: how much is in the artist’s wallet? (RUS). Written by Tatyana Arefeyva. Vash Dosug. October 2019.
Meyerhold Theatre Center will stage a performance-manifesto against low-wage labor (RUS). Written by Alexandrina Shakleeva. Theatre Journal. September 2019.