Studies in International Performance Published in association with the International Federation of Theatre Research General Editors: Janelle Reinelt and Brian Singleton Culture and performance cross borders constantly, and not just the borders that define nations. In this new series, scholars of performance produce interactions between and among nations and cultures as well as genres, identities and imaginations. Inter-national in the largest sense, the books collected in the Studies in International Performance series display a range of historical, theoretical and critical approaches to the pan- oply of performances that make up the global surround. The series embraces ‘Culture’ which is institutional as well as improvised, underground or alternate, and treats ‘Performance’ as either intercultural or transnational as well as intracultural within nations. Titles include: Khalid Amine and Marvin Carlson THE THEATRES OF MOROCCO, ALGERIA AND TUNISIA Performance Traditions of the Maghreb Patrick Anderson and Jisha Menon (editors) VIOLENCE PERFORMED Local Roots and Global Routes of Conflict Elaine Aston and Sue-Ellen Case STAGING INTERNATIONAL FEMINISMS Matthew Isaac Cohen PERFORMING OTHERNESS Java and Bali on International Stages, 1905–1952 Susan Leigh Foster (editor) WORLDING DANCE Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo PERFORMANCE AND COSMOPOLITICS Cross-Cultural Transactions in Australasia Helena Grehan PERFORMANCE, ETHICS AND SPECTATORSHIP IN A GLOBAL AGE Susan C. Haedicke CONTEMPORARY STREET ARTS IN EUROPE Aesthetics and Politics James Harding and Cindy Rosenthal (editors) THE RISE OF PERFORMANCE STUDIES Rethinking Richard Schechner’s Broad Spectrum Silvija Jestrovic and Yana Meerzon (editors) PERFORMANCE, EXILE AND ‘AMERICA’ Silvija Jestrovic PERFORMANCE, SPACE, UTOPIA Ola Johansson COMMUNITY THEATRE AND AIDS Ketu Katrak CONTEMPORARY INDIAN DANCE New Creative Choreography in India and the Diaspora Sonja Arsham Kuftinec THEATRE, FACILITATION, AND NATION FORMATION IN THE BALKANS AND MIDDLE EAST Daphne P. Lei ALTERNATIVE CHINESE OPERA IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION Performing Zero Carol Martin (editor) THE DRAMATURGY OF THE REAL ON THE WORLD STAGE Carol Martin THEATRE OF THE REAL Y. Meerzon PERFORMING EXILE, PERFORMING SELF Drama, Theatre, Film Lara D. Nielson and Patricia Ybarra (editors) NEOLIBERALISM AND GLOBAL THEATRES Performance Permutations Alan Read THEATRE, INTIMACY & ENGAGEMENT The Last Human Venue Shannon Steen RACIAL GEOMETRIES OF THE BLACK ATLANTIC, ASIAN PACIFIC AND AMERICAN THEATRE Marcus. Tan ACOUSTIC INTERCULTURALISM Listening to Performance Maurya Wickstrom PERFORMANCE IN THE BLOCKADES OF NEOLIBERALISM Thinking the Political Anew S. E. Wilmer NATIONAL THEATRES IN A CHANGING EUROPE Evan Darwin Winet INDONESIAN POSTCOLONIAL THEATRE Spectral Genealogies and Absent Faces Forthcoming titles: Adrian Kear THEATRE AND EVENT Studies in International Performance Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–403–94456–6 (hardback) 978–1–403–94457–3 (paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Contemporary Street Arts in Europe Aesthetics and Politics Susan C. Haedicke © Susan C. Haedicke 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-22026-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-30585-8 ISBN 978-1-137-29183-7(eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137291837 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Contemporary street arts in Europe: aesthetics and politics/by Susan C. Haedicke. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Street theater—Europe. 2. Street theater—Political aspects—Europe. I. Title. PN3220.H34 2013 792.094'09051—dc23 2012034813 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 Contents List of Illustrations vi Series Preface ix Preface: Into the Street x Acknowledgements xiii Introduction: Aesthetics and Politics of Street Arts Interventions 1 1 Looking Back: A Socio-Historical and Intellectual Context for Contemporary Street Arts in Europe 22 2 Democratic Performatives and an Aesthetics of Public Space 44 3 Performing Democracy on a Grand Scale 71 4 Trespassing in Urban Places 91 5 Subversive Imaginaries: Performing the Other 125 6 Community Performance: Community Performatives 149 Postscript: Beyond the Street 176 Notes 184 Bibliography 199 Index 220 v List of Illustrations Colour plate section 1 Street arts collage. Designed by Monica Lira 2 Générik Vapeur, Bivouac (Villeurbanne, France, June 2008) 3 Tony Clifton Circus, La Morte di Babbo Natale: Eutanasia di un mito sovrappeso (Morlaix, France, August 2010). Photograph by Abdoul Aziz Soumaïla. Courtesy of Tony Clifton Circus 4 Ilotopie, Les Gens de Couleur (Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France, June 2009) 5 Royal de Luxe, The Sultan’s Elephant (London, England, May 2006) 6 Compagnie Willi Dorner, Bodies in Urban Spaces (London, England, October 2009) 7 Compagnie Willi Dorner, Bodies in Urban Spaces (London, England, October 2009) 8 Jeanne Simone, Mademoiselle (Paris, France, September 2010) 9 Opéra Pagaï, Safari Intime (small town near Aurillac, France, August 2008) 10 Compagnie Kumulus, Les Squames (Paris, France, 2007) 11 Pascal Laurent, Melgut (Paris, France, June 2002) 12 Compagnie Osmosis, Transit (Marseille, France, February 2005). Photograph by Vincent Lucas. Courtesy of Compagnie Osmosis 13 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14 (France, 2008–10) Monochrome figures in text 1 Opéra Pagaï, Les Sans Balcons (St Flour, France, August 2008) 15 2 Stephen Bain, Baby, Where Are the Fine Things You Promised Me? (Rennes, France, July 2009) 18 vi List of Illustrations vii 3 Compagny Teatro Gestual de Chile, Su-Seso Taladro (Béthune, France, June 2011) 48 4 Opéra Pagaï, Mobil-Home Container (Port Saint Louis, France, April 2006) (Courtesy of Opéra Pagaï) 62 5 Desperate Men, Darwin and the Dodo (Chew Valley Lake near Bristol, England, June 2011) 67 6 Royal de Luxe, The Sultan’s Elephant (London, England, May 2006) 82 7 Royal de Luxe, The Sultan’s Elephant (London, England, May 2006) 87 8 Compagnie Willi Dorner, Bodies in Urban Spaces (London, England, October 2009) 100 9 Compagnie Willi Dorner, Bodies in Urban Spaces (London, England, October 2009) 101 10 Lili Jenks, La Mecanista (Ghent, Belgium, July 2010) 106 11 Jeanne Simone, Mademoiselle (Béthune, France, June 2011) 112 12 Jeanne Simone, Mademoiselle (Béthune, France, June 2011) 113 13 Opéra Pagaï, Safari Intime (Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France, June 2007) 119 14 Opéra Pagaï, Safari Intime (Rennes, France, July 2009) 122 15 Compagnie Kumulus, Les Squames (Paris, France, June 2007) 130 16 Pascal Laurent, VitupErrance (Paris, France, September 2011) Photograph by Juliette Dieudonné (Courtesy of Friches Théâtre Urbain) 135 17 Compagnie Osmosis, Alhambra Container (Aurillac, France, August 2008) 138 18 Back to Back Theatre, Small Metal Objects (Sydney, Australia, January 2007) 142 19 Compagnie Kumulus, Les Rencontres Internationales de Boîtes (banlieue near Paris, June 2007) 144 20 Compagnie Kumulus, Les Rencontres Internationales de Boîtes (banlieue near Paris, France, June 2007) 147 viii List of Illustrations 21 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14, Parcours 1: D’Ici-Là! (Paris, France, April 2008) 157 22 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14, Parcours 2: Au-delà du périph (October 2009) 165 23 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14, Parcours 2: Au-delà du périph (October 2009) 167 24 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14, Parcours 5: Un pas de côté (May 2010) 169 25 Friches Théâtre Urbain, Witness/N14, Parcours 5: Un pas de côté (May 2010) 170 Series Preface The ‘Studies in International Performance’ series was initiated in 2004 on behalf of the International Federation for