Documenta

Guest editor: Lily Climenhaga, lily.climenhaga@ugent.be

In 2009, Swiss-German theatre-maker Milo Rau stormed onto Western European mainstages with the premiere of the first production of his then recently founded production company, the International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM), The Last Days of the Ceausescus. Since 2009, Rau has gained international prominence for his brand of political theatre: reenactments, actor-specific biographic monologues, conflict zone productions, judicial performatives, and political actions. In recent years, Rau has increasingly shifted his attention towards institutions and institutionalization: In 2018, he was named artistic director of the Flemish city-theatre Nederlands Toneel Gent (NTGent) and later, in 2023, the artistic director of the Wiener Festwochen, one of Western Europe’s most important multi-disciplinary art and performance festivals.

While Rau is known for a boundary-pushing aesthetic, we cannot separate him or his theatre from other contemporary theatre-makers, emergent theatre practices, and existing theatre traditions. The director is frequently looked at in isolation or with only passing superficial references to a specific pantheon of political artists including Bertolt Brecht, Christoph Schlingensief, or Augusto Boal. However, Rau’s directorial work sits among overlapping traditions from various genres of political theatre: documentary theatre, verbatim theatre, socially engaged theatre, theatre of war, court theatre, artivism, artistic activism, adaptation, autoethnographic theatre, and more. While Rau’s work has been widely examined in isolation, a largely unexplored avenue of investigation looks at the director in context, positioning him (historically and presently) within a vibrant, politically engaged, and transformative cultural landscape; asking how can we understand and interpret the director, not as an exception, but within the broader cultural, political, and societal shifts of a larger theatre landscape?

This thematic issue of Documenta seeks to contextualize the work of Milo Rau: his directorial work in theatre and film, his institutional work as artistic director, and his written work as an author and editor. How do we read Rau’s work in parallel with other (past and present) artists and initiators? Where does he fit within larger theatrical traditions such as (but not limited to): documentary theatre, intercultural theatre, postmigrant theatre, court theatre, postcolonial critique, new journalism, etc.? How have other artists explored the same or similar thematic in their work? What artists, traditions, and/or political actors is Rau building upon? What artists, traditions, and/or political actors are building upon Rau? The editors of Documenta invite contributors to reflect on the different frames through which we can consider, situate, parallel, or contrast Rau’s work.

Contributors might consider, but are not limited to:

•           one-to-one parallels of single productions or trilogies/series with that/those of other artists
•           creation processes
•           artist to artist parallels/comparisons
•           genres: documentary theatre, reenactment, (p)reenactment, etc.
•           structural work or institutional dramaturgy
•           festivals and city-theatres
•           manifestos and declarations
•           political actions and activism
•           artist-initiated critical writing
•           broader thematic overlap between Rau and other artists
•           parallel transnational interests
•           historical and/or contemporary parallels with directors or/and institutions

Timeline

            Proposals: October 15, 2025

            First Drafts: February 1, 2025

            Second Drafts: April 1, 2025

            Publication:  September 2025

Format 

Alongside long-form, in-depth articles, we encourage short articles, thoughts, and provocations. As with previous editions of Documenta, we welcome artist pages and other contributions that use distinctive layouts and typographies for our portfolio section, as well as more conventional essays. Informal suitability checks are recommended.

General guidelines for proposals: 

• Proposals should be emailed directly to the edition’s editor, Lily Climenhaga: lily.climenhaga@ugent.be
• Proposals will be accepted by email (Microsoft Word).
• Proposals should not exceed one A4 side (approximately 300 words).
• Please include your surname in the file name of the document you send.
• Please provide a short biography (approximately 100 words) in a separate document.
• Submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

General guidelines for submissions (first drafts): 

• Submissions should be submitted directly on Documenta’s website: https://documenta.ugent.be/submissions/
• Before submitting a proposal, we encourage you to visit our website (https://documenta.ugent.be/site/richtlijnen/) and familiarize yourself with the journal’s citation style (Chicago style). 
• Final drafts should be anonymized 
• Final drafts should contain the following: title, abstract, main text, endnotes, bibliography
• Submissions should not exceed the 8000-word count, notes and bibliography excluded
• Submission of images and other visual material is welcome. Please note that Documenta only publishes illustrations in black and white (unless otherwise agreed). It will be the author’s responsibility to obtain permission for copyright and to use the material in print. Authors may find further information on permissions and copyright here: https://documenta.ugent.be/about/submissions
• The first step upon receipt of the paper will be a preliminary review by our editorial board committee. If the paper passes this stage, it will be sent for peer review.

Documenta currently enjoys an A1.2 status and is VABB-listed. In recent years, there has been a shift in focus as we are increasingly working – not to say exclusively – with thematic focuses. These special issues are entrusted to guest editors who are responsible for recruiting articles, contacting the authors, and providing all the necessary materials.

At Documenta the peer review system is an integral part of the submission and evaluation process. The system of double-blind peer review ensures that published research is rigorous and meets the international standards set by each discipline. We engage in a collaborative refereeing process, which ensures that the work submitted is evaluated by and commented upon by two independent referees selected by the editors based on their areas of expertise. The editors will make the final decision about publication or assess the need for further revision. Feedback is then shared with the author. However, the reviewer’s name is not disclosed.

Select Bibliography:

Bossart, Rolf. “Realistic art and the creation of artistic truth.” The Routledge Companion to Applied Performance. New York: Routledge, 2020. 364-370.

Climenhaga, Lily and Piet Defraeye. Theater, special edition on Milo Rau. 51:2. Durham: Duke University Press, 2021.

Decreus, Freddy. “‘Theatre remains traditionalist and Eurocentric’: About Milo Rau’s ‘Theatre of Crisis.’” Staging 21^st Century Tragedies: Theatre, Politics, and Global Crisis. Ed. Avra Sidiropoulou. New York: Routledge, 2022.

Rau, Milo. Das geschichtliche Gefühl. Wege zu einem globalen Realismus. Berlin: Alexander Verlag, 2019.

Rau, Milo (Ed.). Globaler Realismus – Global Realism. Trans. Lily Climenhaga. Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2018.

Photo: Peter Seynaeve and Dragon. Medea’s Children 2024. Credit: Michiel Devijver/NTGent.