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Aliveduo

joint partnership of performative and visual artists Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolaev.

gemeinsame Partnerschaft der performativen und bildenden Künstler*innen Alena Starostina und Ivan Nikolaev.

29/03/2026

One more day at Hellerau - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste: tonight "Black Box" by aliveduo.

Then we are coming to Berlin: 9-10 April at Ballhaus OST.

Let's meet 🌚

24/03/2026

Who is aliveduo?

aliveduo is a creative partnership between Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolaev based in Dresden. In 2022, in protest against Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, they emigrated to Germany, having previously been among the leading figures of contemporary theatre in Russia.

In Dresden, they continue their practice in the field of time-based media. In their projects — whether theatre or film — they work with analog material, which they value for its tactile, physical imprint of time. They interweave analog film, performance, sound and its absence.

The visual aesthetics of analog film were central most notably in their previous premiere "Letters Home", also a co-production of aliveduo and Hellerau - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste. In the final part of Letters Home they filmed the audience and developed the footage right on the spot.

Analog filming is also the key element of aliveduo’s next premiere, "Black Box". Experiments with 8mm and 16mm film explore how image quality affects temporal perception and the associations it evokes in viewers.

For "Black Box", Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolaev have filmed material in a music school in Cetinje (Montenegro), Schulmuseum Dresden and 106. Grundschule (School № 106) in Dresden.

The music for "Black Box" (also for Letters Home and aliveduo’s films) was created by Dmitrii Vlasik, a long-time partner of aliveduo and a musician and composer known for his work with experimental sounds and electronic textures. He also performs in "Black Box".

The aliveduo’s most recent film, Trace of a Silent Tear, was selected for the Laterale Film Festival (Italy), RPM Fest (USA), BISFF (China), and AIDFF (Athens). Their performance Letters Home opened “Once We Were Trees, Now We Are Birds” in Berlin, a festival by the Goethe-Institut in Exile and the Martin Roth Initiative.

19/03/2026

Big news ☄️

Following Hellerau - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, “Black Box” will be premiered in Berlin at Ballhaus Ost on April 9-10. Thank you for the collaboration, Ballhaus!

“Black Box” is based on a play by Belarusian playwright Pavel Pryazhko and explores the complex entanglement of past and present in the post-Soviet space.

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Four characters suddenly find themselves back in their school in 1968 — while remaining adults. For some, it feels exciting and strangely comforting; for others, it is far from pleasant.
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It addresses nostalgia, the longing for a carefree childhood, and the disturbing repetition of behavioral patterns shaped by inherited violence and oppression.

Do we truly want those times to return? Or are we simply longing for the illusion of a carefree childhood?..

🎟️ More & Tickets: https://www.ballhausost.de/produktion/black-box/

09/03/2026

A key element of Black Box is the use of analog cameras, i.e. shooting on actual film 🎞📽🎥

Experiments with 8mm and 16mm film explore how image quality affects temporal perception and the associations it evokes in viewers.

Analog film is valued for its tactile, physical inscription of time — it offers a reality that is tangible, verifiable, and materially present. Thus the performers take us back to the 1968.

An important part of the process also involved collecting documentary material: interviews with people who attended boarding schools in the former GDR, as well as graduates from 2016. These personal accounts — descriptions of corridors, rules, and interpersonal dynamics — are integrated into the project and may later be presented in an accompanying exhibition featuring video and photographic works.

Moreover, Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolaev have filmed material for the performance in a music school in Cetinje (Montenegro), Schulmuseum Dresden and 106. Grundschule (School № 106) in Dresden.

BLACK BOX
Premiere
27, 28, 29 March 2026
Hellerau - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste
https://www.hellerau.org/2025-26/black-box

Photo by talented Дарья Чаликова

17/02/2026

Big news — our second premiere in Deutschland takes place this March. Please join the event: aliveduo, Black Box

Following the resonance of Letters Home last year, Black Box will premiere in Dresden on the 27, 28, and 29th of March.

The project is based on a play by Belarusian playwright Pavel Pryazhko and is a collaboration between Hellerau - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste for the Arts and aliveduo, with the participation of Theatre l.o.f.t from Montenegro.

Black Box explores the complex entanglement of past and present in the post-Soviet space. It addresses nostalgia, the longing for a carefree childhood, and the disturbing repetition of behavioral patterns shaped by inherited violence and oppression.

Tickets: https://www.hellerau.org/2025-26/black-box

More details, videos & photos to follow. Funded by Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen and Landeshauptstadt Dresden. Research for the production was supported by the Performing Arts Fund DAKU. Thank you.

16/08/2025

Kürmel

A small performance about small things that might have gotten lost in your pocket, behind your bed, or perhaps at the bottom of your backpack. Small things that are very dear to you- or, on the contrary, things you have long forgotten. Things that remember your touch, things that have accompanied you through many significant events- or perhaps ones you rarely meet, yet share a special attachment with. There is a special word for such things in German – Kürmel.

Kürmel describes things that have no fixed place, which makes it much harder to clean them up, like the forgotten bonbon paper in your bag or the pasta machine you received as a gift three years ago. Even a chestnut.

I would be fascinated to experience an object – its surface, its scent, to hear all the possible ways it could sound. And then, to see only a frozen image. How would memory function in this case? And if the object were to lose its properties – if a cup could no longer hold coffee – our relationship would inevitably come to an end. I would no longer be able to use it for its intended purpose. The crack would need to be sealed. From then on, this cup would remind me of the day I was startled by a loud noise outside, and it jumped out of my hands. Cracks, fractures, chips – they tell stories, but we remain their readers and interpreters.

What is this small performance about? About the imprint that an object leaves – an imprint in our memory. About the opportunity to examine each object more closely, to hear its sound, its voice. To give the audience the chance to create their own story.

The performance took place on August 2nd and 3rd, 2025 at the Käferklause, Dresden.

Thank you so much for coming and being with us during these two beautiful days, your Kürmel will continue their journey.

Many thanks for the support of the project by the Friends of the HFBK Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden / Dresden University of Fine Arts and the Liebelt Foundation.

aliveduo
Jonas Freudenberger
Marlene Unterfenger

Adresse

Dresden

Webseite

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