Quivery Heart – A film cabaret by Kirsten Astrup
The exhibition "Quivery Heart – A film cabaret by Kirsten Astrup" tells the musically seductive story of a crumbling welfare society.
Railways, cabaret and social critique
On 20 September, the Museum of Contemporary Art will officially open the special exhibition "Quivery Heart" by Kirsten Astrup (b. 1983). Using papier-mâché characters, drag-queen train attendants, model train accidents and an all-new film cabaret, Kirsten Astrup outlines an alternative portrait of Danish welfare society in 2018.
‘The work is about the changes happening to a welfare society due to political myopia, growing privatisation and the gradual loss of solidarity. All these things manifest themselves as a creaking fatigue throughout the bodywork of the public sector,’ says Kirsten Astrup.
Camaraderie among train attendants
The main hub of the exhibition is the tragic-comic work "Quivery Heart" – a film cabaret featuring eight new pieces of music composed by Kirsten Astrup and a series of satirical lyrics and texts written by Maria Bordorff.
The work is based on interviews with former railway employees and train attendants sharing their concerns about the devastating effects of various efficiency measures and their lack of respect for the professional insights of specific disciplines. They also tell anecdotes about the sketch shows they staged back in the 1990s, making jokes about job conditions, hot dogs, collegiate camaraderie and trolleys making a dash for it through the train.
The cast includes actors Danica Curcic, Rosalinde Mynster and Kenneth M. Christensen, mezzo soprano Nana Bugge Rasmussen and more than forty other performers.
About the film cabaret Quivery Heart
The film follows various protagonists, including a group of train passengers whose journey is interrupted by what is presumably a derailing. We also meet a flock of property developers looking for investment opportunities in an old railway building. And then there are the train attendants, of course, dancing and singing inside an original 1936 train car of the kind used for special outings: ‘Take care of yourself / for society’s sake / We’re all collectivists, right?’
One of the scenes of the film cabaret takes place in the Royal Waiting Rooms at the Copenhagen Central Station. The queen, played by mezzo soprano Nana Bugge Rasmussen, is shown listening to a serious radio programme featuring two guests speaking about welfare policies. They conclude that ‘…we ought to raise our expectations of politics instead, demanding that our political infrastructure becomes far more spectacular.’
The duration of the film is 35 min.
About the exhibition
In addition to the main feature, "Quivery Heart", visitors can also see a model train set that defies the idyllic cosiness usually associated with such models: this one includes a dramatic derailing of a passenger train. A local model train association, Roskilde Model Jernbane Forening, has helped Kirsten Astrup create a train wreck especially for this exhibition.
Moreover, visitors can delve into Kirsten Astrup’s research material and learn more about the artist’s working process. For example, they can watch clips from an original sketch show staged by train attendants as well as range of photographs and other historical objects that unfold the stories behind the work.
Official opening 20 September 17.00–19.00
All are welcome. Free admission.
