‘This woman is in a league of her own’
Monopol-Magazin
We regret to inform you that the planned Artist Talk with Florentina Holzinger on 13 July at 12 noon at 34OST has been cancelled due to illness. We very much regret the cancellation of the Artist Talk and hope for your understanding. All ticket holders will be contacted by us regarding the refund of the purchase price.
The shows of “Ophelia’s Got Talent” on Saturday and Sunday evening at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus can take place as planned.
Viennese choreographer Florentina Holzinger is currently one of the most influential artists in Europe. In December 2024, Monopol magazine ranked her number one on its list of the 100 most important figures in the art world. At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Holzinger will present ‘Seaworld Venice’ in the Austrian pavilion.
asphalt Festival and Holzinger have enjoyed a trusting collaboration for several years, with asphalt co-producing two of her works: ‘TANZ’ in 2021 and ‘Ophelia’s Got Talent’, which will be performed over three evenings at this year’s festival. Her latest work ‘A Year without Summer’ is also a co-production with the asphalt Festival, which we expect to show in 2026.
Florentina Holzinger will be a guest at the ‘asphalt Artist Talk’ on 13 July. Moderator Elisabeth Luft will talk to her about her artistic work in recent years, her radical aesthetics, and her tendency to think bigger and more freely than many others in the traditional art world. The alleged scandal surrounding her opera production Sancta in Stuttgart will certainly also be discussed. After some audience members reportedly felt unwell during the performance, the tabloid press targeted it as an alleged ‘sex opera’ and it became a media phenomenon. Holzinger and her team were subjected to a storm of criticism, including rape and death threats. How does the choreographer deal with her sudden rise to fame and the new public attention, and what effect does such resistance have on her artistic work and the freedom of art? In the second part of the event, questions from the audience will also be welcome.
Cologne-based cultural journalist Elisabeth Luft reports for WDR and Deutschlandfunk, among others. Her primary focus is on feminist and power-critical perspectives as well as ecologically sustainable ideas in theatre, dance, literature and cultural policy. She hosts the podcast Wozu das Theater? (Why theatre?), edits blogs at theatre festivals, and sits on various juries.
The Artist Talk with Florentina Holzinger will be recorded by WDR Rundfunk and broadcast on ‘WDR 3 Forum’ in October.
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with Florentina Holzinger
Moderator: Elisabeth Luft
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Foto: Apollonia Theresa Bitzan
