IFTR 2025
Performing Carnival: Ekstasis, Subversion, Metamorphosis: 9. - 13. June, in Cologne at the main campus of the UoC, Albertus-Magnus-Platz.
When we started to look for a potential theme for an IFTR conference to be held in Cologne, we were looking for a topic that would combine a local reference with a global and transcultural perspective. Carnival soon came to mind as Cologne is widely known for its extensive tradition of this festivity.
The allure of Carnival is a promise: The promise of joy and merriment, the indulgence of sensual pleasures – transgressing necessities and rational measurement.
In this sense, Carnival clearly has a global and transcultural dimension: From antiquity onwards, festivals of masquerade, overabundance, mocking of social and hierarchical structures can be found across regions, religions, societies and historical constellations. It is a genuinely global phenomenon in a plethora of forms. And of course, Carnival has a long theatrical genealogy: The medieval shrovetide plays in Northern Europe, Venetian performances and masquerades, up to traditions of Clowns and jesters in comedy, circus, and puppetry.
Carnival’s hallmark is the temporary dispense of the regular order, leaving behind the gravity of mundane concerns and rationales and strategies. In contrast to literary utopias, Carnival is essentially a physical and sensual experience – thus the performance is its default mode of existence.
