Photo — Leo van Velzen
Photo — Ralph Prins
Photo — Herman Helle
Photo — Herman Helle
Photo — Leo van Velzen
Photo — Leo van Velzen
Photo — Leo van Velzen
Photo — Herman Helle
$20 — 20 years old and younger
25 % discount for students
MIDI 50 Tickets
A major work of contemporary theatre, KAMP offers a striking re-creation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp through an extensive scale model. More than 3,000 handcrafted miniature figures, made of clay and wire, portray prisoners and guards in a meticulously recreated landscape.
At the heart of this setup, three performers enter like war reporters, filming the model with micro-cameras. Without words, and carried by an immersive soundscape, the performance reveals the mechanics of the Nazi extermination with unsettling precision. Rather than seeking to shock, it questions how images are constructed, document events and shape collective memory.
The Dutch company Hotel Modern delivers a performance of rare intensity, combining object theatre and digital projections to question how horror can be represented. Created in 2005, and presented around the world to widespread acclaim and numerous awards, KAMP stands out as an essential experience. It turns theatre into a space for vigilance, inviting us to face History head-on in order to better understand the present and reminding us that memory remains a deeply political act.
Hotel Modern combines puppetry, music, video projections and performance to create unique theatrical experiences. Scale models are central to the company’s work. Entire miniature worlds, complete with hundreds of characters, are recreated to give audiences the opportunity to grasp these worlds on a larger scale.
The horror of war is a recurring theme in the company’s creations. KAMP offers a theatrical portrait of Auschwitz, while The Great War depicts the First World War through the eyes of soldiers. With Our Empire, the company turns its attention to the early years of colonization in the Dutch East Indies.
Hotel Modern was founded in 1997. Its members are performers Arlène Hoornweg and Pauline Kalker, along with visual artist and performer Herman Helle. Composers Arthur Sauer and Ruud van der Pluijm regularly collaborate with the company.
The company has received numerous awards, including the Erik Vos Award, the European Prize of Coppet, the VSCD Mime Award and the Wim Meilink Award for its body of work. Hotel Modern is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and performs around the world.
(Source: Usine C)
KAMP is a major work of contemporary theatre created by the Dutch company Hotel Modern. The performance offers a striking re-creation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp using a giant scale model and more than 3,000 figurines made of clay and wire. On stage, three performers film the model live using micro-cameras. With no spoken language and accompanied by an immersive soundscape, the performance explores collective memory and the mechanics of History.
Rather than seeking to shock, KAMP examines how images are constructed, document events and shape collective memory. Taking on the role of war reporters on stage, the creators of Hotel Modern use the meticulous detail of miniatures and video close-ups to convey the industrial scale of the Holocaust. The performance transforms theatre into a space for vigilance and an act of remembrance that is deeply political.
The performance is recommended for ages 14 and up. Given its subject matter (the Holocaust and the horrors of the extermination camps) and its immersive visual approach, KAMP is intended for a mature audience prepared for a powerful and moving theatrical experience.
Hotel Modern combines object theatre, puppetry, miniatures, live video projection and sound design. The performers manipulate thousands of handcrafted figurines in full view of the audience, within a miniature set. The stage becomes a film set where the audience sees both the small-scale manipulation and the resulting close-up images projected onto a large screen.
