In the cellar spaces in the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, located at the address Arcisstrasse 12, the world premiere of “Traces” examines the theme of the Munich Biennale 2022 “Good Friends” in regards to the theme’s ambiguity and ambivalence. A labyrinthine system of passageways leads through the machine rooms and decadent storage and supply rooms of the former “Führerbau,” “The Führer’s Building.” Originally built to protect people’s lives, the air raid shelter was converted into a storage space for hundreds of art works during the period of National Socialism under the “Sonderauftrag Linz” (“Special Mission Linz”) organization.
The music theater tour of the world premiere follows striking paths that suggest the past, and it blazes new trails; the stability of these trails is permanently undercut by intersections, dead ends, and changes in direction. In the labyrinth this seemingly helping, friendly, and protective gesture from a system that promises people affiliation, prosperity, and advancement turns out to be the perfidious maneuver of a terrible, inhuman regime.