[in]operabilities  – Opernlandschaft 

During their residency, the collective [in]operabilities explores the “Aesthetics of Access” in music theatre. Focusing on Beethoven’s Fidelio, they investigate new forms of multisensory music-making and encounter – between libretto, score, and sign language. What does opera mean for people with visual or hearing impairments? What role can it play in society today? The collective will be in residence at the L.I.K. Laboratory for Inclusive Culture by Un-Label in Cologne for two weeks in October 2025.

About the residency

Since 2021, the collective [in]operabilities has been exploring the concept of “Aesthetics of Access” in music theatre, searching within the canon and cosmos of opera for multisensory forms of music-making and encounter – for collective and individual “opera-abilities”. Based on the assumption that accessible provisions in opera houses are still primarily conceived as “inclusion services”, the collective visits and examines the opera during their residency, gathers insights, initiates critical, artistic, and multisensory dialogues, and thus creates a multi-perspective evaluation: How does the total work of art that is opera affect people with visual or hearing impairments? What does society expect from opera, and what can opera be for society?

Under the title “Opernlandschaft”, the team takes a close look at opera as an institution and, in doing so, reflects on their own forms, engages in experimentation, and develops new approaches. Using the opera Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven – who became Deaf later in life – they refine and deepen their practice of “multisensory music-making”: How can the rigid format of libretto and score be conveyed in sign language in a way that becomes more than a mere translation – rather, a work of art in its own right? How can the poetics and aesthetics of sign language, in turn, be made accessible to a blind audience? And what remains of Beethoven in the process? [in]operabilities aims to pursue these questions – between canon and creation – as part of the residency and map out their own “Opernlandschaft”.

The residency is part of the upcoming production “Fidelio”, a production by [in]operabilities in co-production with Kampnagel Hamburg, Gare du Nord Basel, Radialsystem Berlin and Un-Label. The project is supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg, and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.

Showing / Open Studio

Artist collective

[in]operabilities

[in]operabilities is an interdisciplinary music theatre collective based in Hamburg, Berlin and Zurich. Through music theatre productions and workshops, they explore how opera as an art form can be made more accessible, focusing on the “Aesthetics of Access”. Within the canon and cosmos of opera, they look for new forms of multi-sensory music-making and encounters – searching for both collective and individual “opera-abilities”. The team in this residency includes actress Athena Lange, author, performer, and arts and literature educator Gunda Schröder, singer Marie Sophie Richter, director Benjamin van Bebber, dramaturg Franziska Henschel, curator, dramaturg and cultural producer Jeanne Charlotte Vogt, dancer and choreographer Sophia Neises, audio description expert Caro Jüngst, composer Leo Hofmann, and theatre-maker Emil Leske.
https://inoperabilities.net/

Bildcredits: Robin Hinsch

About the residence programme by Un-Label

Un-Label’s artist residencies provide artists with disabilities with the opportunity to realise their own creative projects while receiving targeted support. The Labor für inklusive Kultur (L.I.K.) in Cologne serves as a central space where artists with disabilities can connect, collaborate, and work in an inclusive environment. In addition to financial, personnel, and logistical support, the residencies focus on interdisciplinary and intersectional collaboration. Un-Label also partners with cultural networks to establish accessibility and long-term support for artists with disabilities within the arts sector.