Working class heroes

FUNCTIONAL spaces such as a factory and the cleaning department of a hotel will be under the spotlight in the Irish premiere of Parallel Cities as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival from Jun 21-Jul 1.

The focus will be on the workers in these places who will give audiences an insight into their seemingly mundane lives.

This project, which has been brought to various cities around the world, involves eight artists who have each chosen a location in Cork city as an observation station for urban life.

Curated by Lola Arias from Buenos Aires and Stefan Kaegi from Berlin, Parallel Cities looks at the parallel existences of city dwellers all over the world. Arias describes it as a portable project. “We started thinking about what kind of project could be developed and repeated in different contexts, working in spaces which are in every city. We invited artists to develop a project for each space. The artists work in interdisciplinary arts. They don’t necessarily come from the theatre. They’re also from the visual arts and cinema and have the experience of working in the public space.

“The artists have different approaches; some are documentary-like while others are performances. We started the project in Berlin in 2010 and have also done it in Buenos Aries, Warsaw and Zurich. Now, in Cork, we are learning to see the city from different perspectives.”

As well as curating Parallel Cities, Arias has her own project at the Maldron Hotel on John Redmond Street, entitled Chamber Maids. This is for one audience member at a time. The audience member adopts the role of a chambermaid responsible for five rooms per hour. But instead of cleaning, he/she will discover portraits of the cleaning staff through voice recordings, possessions and photographs that shed light on the ‘invisible’ beings who clean up after others.

“Through this project, I’m learning about Cork from the eyes of the foreigners who are working in the cleaning department of the hotel,” says Arias. “They include Polish people as well as people from Ghana, Ukraine, Latvia and the Czech Republic. Their visions of the city are all different. Some came here when their countries became part of the EU. At the time, Ireland was booming. They were full of hope coming here and were welcomed. Now, the situation with work is complicated.”

But for some of the chamber maids, their job is the best work they’ve had. “They had been working in factories or picking potatoes. Now, they have accommodation in a hotel. Cleaning hotel rooms would not be ideal work for most people but for her, it’s the best time in her life.”

As Arias points out, what is unique about the experience is that the viewer is involved in a way that is impossible when sitting in the darkness of a theatre. “In a theatre, you’re just a spectator. But in our projects, the audience is really involved. If you don’t participate, the project is not really happening. In the Maldron Hotel, you have to go from one room to another and find things which are hidden in the room.”

Theatre director Gerardo Naumann, also from Buenos Aries, is directing a project entitled The Factory which takes place in the Barry’s Tea factory on the Kinsale Road. He previously worked on the project in locations such as a crisp factory in Zurich and the Mercedes-Benz plant in Berlin. At Barry’s Tea, the audience will travel through the factory, going from one person to the next, forming an idea as to what goes on in the minds of the workers.

“The audience will get to know six people that belong to the different social layers in the factory. For example, you will meet a tea taster and a supervisor and also, the CEO. The audience meets the workers through microphones and ear phones. They will let the audience know what they do and what their thoughts are. The workers will make the presentations themselves. Hopefully, audiences will discover the universe behind the product.” Naumann says that co-operation from the workers changes from project to project. “In my case, it was difficult. It’s different from other projects in that the workers are being asked to perform during work.

“I had to convince the Barry’s Tea workers to make their presentations because they are being observed not only by the audience but also by their colleagues and their bosses. It’s very sensitive. I treat the workers like actors. I met them initially and interviewed them, trying to figure out how their day is structured. The rehearsals take seven or eight days.”

A ‘privilege’ is how Naumann describes his experience at Barry’s Tea. He says his project aims to discover “the political potential of the cities and the cultures. You have this idea of factory workers being like robots. But each has his own thoughts and ideas.”

Arias says that the hotel workers she approached were initially shy and suspicious about what she was doing. “But when you have the possibility to explain what the project is about, there is something very beautiful about the moment when they open themselves up and say ‘Yes, why not?’ The first time I did the chamber maid project was in Buenos Aries. I told the workers I wanted to do a documentary type project about them.

“They asked what was interesting about them. There’s this idea that they have nothing to say. But then, when you start talking to them, they realise they are interesting and have lots of ideas and thoughts about how people behave.

“They’re not just cleaning a room. Cleaning is a tough job. You need skills to be able to do a room in 10 or 15 minutes. You have to have a system. And it’s also interesting to discover what the cleaners think about the guests in a hotel and how they behave.”

Parallel Cities also includes In the Name of the People which takes place in the Cork Courthouse. This will feature a choir as well as providing the opportunity to see texts from judgements laid down in this building. The First International of Shopping Malls will create a theatrical experience in a shopping mall by way of an interactive radio play where the audience will listen through headphones and will be given instructions on how to behave in the public space.

In Prime Time, Arias will enter a household on Patrick’s Hill and will encounter the lives of the people living in it. On the rooftop of City Hall, the city will be seen through new eyes when a blind musician will share his life and experiences. Parallel Cities will undoubtedly open the eyes and ears of audiences previously indifferent to the countless workers who help make the city function.

* www.corkmidsummer.com