SUMMEN DER GESETZE
RUHRORTER
How does the Basic Law sound? Perhaps poetic, promising, threatening? The audio installation “Das Summen der Gesetze” is dedicated to the basic rights that secure the foundation of our coexistence. The Basic Law raises questions about dignity, freedom and personal fulfilment. It establishes what nowadays seems to be taken for granted: all people are equal before the law. The voices of new arrivals in Germany and long-time residents, international legal experts and translators have their say. They talk about the beauty and the problems of the Basic Law, about experiences of justice and injustice. While the Basic Law was written for eternity, they talk about the continuous transformation of society. In 2019, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law, RUHRORTER held a dialogue with the audience at various locations in the Ruhr region in which the effectiveness and limits of fundamental rights were discussed from different perspectives. The resulting original sound recordings, audio documents, atmospheres of everyday coexistence – sounds of fear and dreaming – condense and swell into a hum of laws.
Cast & Credits
Installation: Maximilian Brands & Wanja van Suntum
Sound design: Jan Godde
Production management: Adem Köstereli
Photography: Franziska Götzen
PR: Ann-Kathrin Allekotte
With: Voices of legal experts, activists, translators and refugees from the Ruhr region
About the artists
RUHRORTER has been realising theatre and installation works with refugees since 2012. The performances and installations address the interweaving of urban and migration history in the Ruhr region. The group works continuously in cooperation with the Theater an der Ruhr.
