Massimo Furlan & Claire de Ribaupierre

European Philosophical Song Contest raises questions about identity: of the different participating countries and of Europe as a community – especially as Europe is becoming more fragile and notions of what it means are being reassessed. We have given the task of writing texts to thinkers (philosophers, historians, anthropologists). For form, the texts follow the poetical codes of song, that is, a structure including verses and a chorus, which may be rhymed. For content, however, it is not a question of poetry, lyricism or emotions, but rather of considering sociological, anthropological or philosophical aspects of our contemporary world. Our aim is to respond indirectly and with humour to the growing contempt that populist discourse displays toward intellectuals and to the disappearance of thought from the public space in favour of entertainment.


MASSIMO FURLAN’s work often emerges from his childhood memories: he begins from the point of view of his personal life story – he was born in Switzerland to Italian parents in the 1960s – and goes on to touch the collective memory of a whole generation, by producing visual and stage creations that mix burlesque and philosophy, poetic and popular aesthetics. In his stage projects, he invites dancers and other performers to create what he calls “long images”, long shots similar to cinema and installation art. He also invents ingenious procedures and systems for words that he develops for in-situ projects like Madre, Blue Tired Heroes or Les Héros de la pensée. Massimo Furlan taps into the dynamic created by the Numero23Prod. company to tackle various issues around shows, performing arts, installation art and video.

CLAIRE DE RIBAUPIERRE has been a dramaturg and performer in Massimo Furlan’s creations since 2003. She has a doctorate and carries out research in the fields of anthropology, imagery and contemporary literature. She has led a number of collective works on grief and ghosts, the character of the idiot and on anecdotes. In October 2012 with the Neuchâtel Art Centre, she published Les Héros de la pensée, a work covering the 26 hours of performance in Neuchâtel. She has been a research assistant and lecturer at the Valais School of Art as well as at HEAD (Geneva School of Art and Design). She has organised a number of meetings in art spaces that gather together artists and theorists to discuss a specific issue (for example, anecdotes, archives, animals, accidents, excess). From 2008 to 2010, she was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and worked as a researcher on artistic practices in archiving, as well as on a project about improvisation practices with several art, theatre and music schools. Currently, she teaches methodology, playwriting and anthropology at La Manufacture (Haute École des Arts vivants), for bachelor degrees in theatre and dance, as well as for masters in directing.