Michael Fehr. Colors

With Ralf Samens

Saturday November 2, 2024, 6 pm
Performance runs for approx. 1h
Languages: German, English

With the help of the artist Ralf Samens, the Bernese writer, storyteller and musician Michael Fehr has dreamed up for the Fondation Atelier Philippe Grosclaude a stage-world that exists between shadows and colors, mystery and enchantment, making room for a mix of stories and songs. The guitar, used like a percussion instrument, and the big bass drum, along with the lighting design, create a mesmerizing atmosphere that envelops the spoken words in time with the narrative.

Interview with Michael Fehr

You have been visually impaired since birth. How do you perceive the various spaces at the Fondation Atelier Philippe Grosclaude and has that played a role in the staging of your performance?

Through the smells, sounds, the general feel of the space, the light, the shadows, the temperament of Philippe Grosclaude. Yes, obviously I allow myself to be influenced. I like the brightness of the artist’s paintings, his friendly attitude, and the atmosphere of concentration in the studio.

How did you work with Ralf Semens for this event? Is this the first time you have worked together?

No, it isn’t the first time that we’ve worked together. Every two weeks or so, we meet up and discuss the current state of our respective work. So we are in constant communication. We work together quite naturally. As a visual artist, Ralf certainly understands what a figure is. Under normal circumstances, he works with clay or pencils. This time he’s working with me as a figure in space.

How do you choose the texts and songs that you’ll be reciting at the Fondation Atelier Philippe Grosclaude?

Gut feeling.

You are a storyteller and you sing and make music. Could you say something about the importance of the body and voice in reading a text out loud? How do you work them?

I see nothing but the movement of the shadows, the interplay of the colors. Pulse makes me become. And I become breath. And I become voice. And I become articulation. And I become language. And I will understand and I will step into time.

Born in 1982, Michael Fehr lives in Bern. He studied at the Swiss Literary Institute in Biel and at the Y Institute of the Bern University of the Arts. He has since worked as a storyteller. His first book Kurz vor der Erlösung was published in 2013. From 2013 to 2015, he directed the “Babelsprech” project, which supports young German-language poets. Since 2016, he has also been developing projects in the field of music. He has received numerous awards, including the Kelag Prize as part of the 2014 Ingeborg-Bachmann Prize for Simeliberg (2015) and the Schweizer Literaturpreise 2018 for Glanz und Schatten (2017).

michaelfehr.ch / Photos © Étienne Malapert, 2024