On Losing and Finding

As part of the »Lost and Found« project, people from Hamburg and the surrounding area spent several months exploring the themes of loss and hope. In this interview, the artistic directors – Kian Jazdi (music), Aram Tafreshian (direction) and Susanne Brendel (video) – offer insights into their work with the project ensemble.

The project is called »Lost and Found«. What sort of things can you lose? And conversely, what can you find, or rather, rediscover?

Susanne: We wanted to find out what was on the minds of the people who signed up for the project. To do this, right at the start we asked a number of questions: What do you miss? What do you absolutely not want to lose? A whole range of things came up: from very personal stories about the loss of loved ones to more abstract themes such as the loss of one’s homeland, language and culture, or the loss of democracy. But we also discovered that loss can sometimes be liberating and create space for something new. What are you glad to have lost? What would you like to lose? We explored all these facets of losing and finding – which are, after all, very closely related.

Kian: Perhaps straight to the finding: one participant said that, through the project, she had rediscovered music for herself.

Aram: And in a way, the participants have also found a connection with one another – people from several generations, with different life paths, experiences and opinions. We got the impression that this incredibly valuable exchange is also increasingly being lost in society. With »Lost and Found«, a real community has emerged from this.

At »Lost and Found«, people from all over Hamburg and the surrounding area come together to put on a performance at the Elbphilharmonie. How does it work?

Aram: What makes this project special is that it’s actually being developed by everyone together. We in the artistic direction team didn’t lay down a pre-determined concept; instead, we started from scratch and worked together to find out what people were interested in. To this end, we held an open call beforehand, following which just under 200 people applied to take part in the project. From these, we selected 50 people; around 40 of them will be on stage for the final performance in the Recital Hall of the Elbphilharmonie.

Susanne: The project ensemble is divided into three groups: the first, led by Kian, is responsible for the music; the second, led by Aram, for text and acting; and the third, led by me, for the video projections. Within these groups, we first gathered and sorted themes in smaller circles before presenting them to the whole ensemble. As there was quite a lot of overlap between the groups, the selection of themes was finalised quite quickly. This resulted in a wealth of texts, scenes and short films, for which the music group then found the right sounds. Together, we then looked at which elements went well together and combined them into a performance.

Kian: It’s interesting how everything comes together in the end. In the performance, one art form always takes the lead: sometimes the music is at the forefront, then it accompanies a scene or a film. Another important question for us was: how do we showcase the individual within the group? One participant, for example, has developed their own fantasy language, which will be heard at one point in the performance. The fact that the various elements ultimately fit together harmoniously is also thanks to Selina Pilz and Viktoria Holenok, who, as musical assistant and assistant director respectively, have played a major part in the project.

What surprised or impressed you the most? 

Kian: It’s amazing how quickly these different personalities came together to form a group that is developing this project as a team whilst still retaining their individuality. Musically, this is reflected in a variety of genres, ranging from pop music to traditional Persian music and European classical music. The line-ups are also completely different: there are tutti compositions, pieces for smaller ensembles, music with vocals, purely instrumental music – a huge range in which the participants’ individual strengths and preferences come together.

Aram: I sensed a great deal of open-mindedness and tolerance. I was very impressed by how people with different backgrounds, experiences and opinions came together here and discussed – sometimes very personal – topics with great empathy: How do we deal with loss, and with death? What can we talk about, and what not? What role do these issues play in our lives and in the media? What does that say about us, and what does it say about our society? But also the mindful way we treated one another, the great dynamic and the courage to try new things. We improvised a lot – that’s something you have to pluck up the courage to do if you’ve never done it before. Some fantastic texts emerged from this.

Susanne: I can only agree. I was also very impressed by the creativity and the enthusiasm for trying new things. The video group includes people ranging from their early 20s to their mid-70s, with completely different levels of prior experience. Some grew up with mobile phones and have been taking photos and making videos all their lives, whilst others haven’t. Still others have already gained semi-professional experience in these areas, having worked both in front of and behind the camera and been familiar with editing software. It was lovely to see how everyone developed together. All the videos shown during the performance were produced entirely by the participants themselves – right down to the final edit. That really is an extraordinary achievement.