Azadeh Sharifi
Guest Author
Azadeh Sharifi is an independent researcher and author. Her research focuses on post-migrant theatre in Europe, identity politics, theatre and racism and postcolonial studies. She is now starting a new project on artists of color in Europe and their aesthetic work. She recently finished her project "Theatre and Migration. The impact of migration on the European Theatre" for the Balzan Prize Project “The Role of Independent Theatre in Contemporary European Theatre: Aesthetic and Structural Changes,” organized by the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute, Berlin. She received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim. Her dissertation thesis “Theater für Alle? Partizipation von Postmigranten am Beispiel der Bühnen der Stadt Köln” was published in 2011.
THIS AUTHOR WROTE
Azadeh Sharifi is an independent researcher and author. Her research focuses on post-migrant theatre in Europe, identity politics, theatre and racism and postcolonial studies. She is now starting a new project on artists of color in Europe and their aesthetic work. She recently finished her project "Theatre and Migration. The impact of migration on the European Theatre" for the Balzan Prize Project “The Role of Independent Theatre in Contemporary European Theatre: Aesthetic and Structural Changes,” organized by the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute, Berlin. She received her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and Cultural Policy at the University of Hildesheim. Her dissertation thesis “Theater für Alle? Partizipation von Postmigranten am Beispiel der Bühnen der Stadt Köln” was published in 2011.
December 18, 2013
Black artists, indeed all artists of color, are traditionally underrepresented in contemporary German theatre. This paper reflects on the debate on blackface in a broader context. It argues that the criteria used to justify blackface are similar to those explaining the underrepresentation of artists of color in German theatre in general. The three major questions posed are: Who is represented on stage? Whose perspective is shown? And for whom is this art made?