NEWS

Due to the Corona pandemic, Hotel Modern has had to cancel performances of Our Empire and Kamp until 1 June 2020. Together with the theaters, we are considering the options of extra shows. Please, check in with your theater or the news section on this website.

But first, let’s get through this crisis. Stay healthy, take care of each other, and we will see you again soon!

OUR EMPIRE

In Our Empire, Hotel Modern & Arthur Sauer tell stories about the early history of the Netherlands and Indonesia. Check tour dates here.

 The press wrote:
“Vivid imagination of life in the Indonesian archipelago in the 17th century.” (Volkskrant)
“Beautifully crafted animation of extreme colonial violence.” (Theaterkrant)
“It’s incredible how the actors, together with Arthur Sauer’s live sound track, bring this turbulent history to life.” Telegraaf
“The love and attention that has gone into the creation of the puppets and the models, is truly awe-inspiring.” (Movement Exposed)
“Pure magic.” (Elsevier)
“Hotel Modern’s scale models are a wonder to behold and packed with ideas and detail.” (Parool)
“Our Empire is a cry of dismay, a pointing finger at our colonial past. ‘Look! This is us!” (Leeuwarder Courant)

AWARD FOR HOTEL MODERN’S ENTIRE BODY OF WORK
In september 2019, Hotel Modern was the laureate of the Wim Meilink Oeuvre Award, awarded by the NVP-UNIMA – the Dutch division of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette.

In the words of the judging panel (excerpt):
“Award for the entire oeuvre of the theatre-making trio of Hotel Modern: the giants of the small-scale”

“Hotel Modern’s Herman Helle, Arlène Hoornweg and Pauline Kalker have built up an utterly stunning body of work made up of memorable plays-in-miniature that bring far-reaching stories within reach. Hotel Modern has become famous for its wayward, light-hearted and profound choreography of objects, film and illusion. The actors create animated films live onstage, and the audience is able to watch not only the film being projected on a screen, but also the players carefully creating each scene and moving among the miniature sets. Two already legendary works are The Great War and Kamp, in which the horrors of, respectively, the First and the Second World War are brought to life using finger-sized cameras in a miniature world populated by tiny figures fashioned from wire, fabric and clay. Other memorable images from their work include the skyline of fridges in City Now and humanity portrayed with shrimps in Shrimp Tales. Hotel Modern do us the service of transposing the big, grown-up world into the small-scale realm of the everyday. Our deepest fears and desires are brought into the manageable domain of make-and-do, a world in which your own imagination and feelings are free to roam at will. How improbably everyday and grand is that? All praise to them. All praise and deep respect.”