XPLOIT:S - about work, alienation and respect
"I don't know what will happen if I have an accident in Germany. But I'm here to work, not to get sick."
In wealthy Germany, undeclared work, undercutting the minimum wage or wage theft are common practice in many professional fields.
Labor law is often undermined by non-transparent subcontractor chains, contracts for work and so-called "secondments" .
The undercutting competition is often carried out on the backs of vulnerable workers, transforming work into a colonial-like strategy that exploits predominantly foreign or migrant workers.
In her new production "XPLOIT:S", director and author Christiane Mudra focuses on the low-wage sector of the German labor market.
The focus is on workers in the cleaning, food delivery and elderly care sectors. In other words, those service providers who make customers' lives easier on a daily basis, relieve them of unloved tasks and provide them with leisure, comfort and 'me-time'.
During intensive long-term research, Christiane Mudra conducted numerous interviews with the employees themselves, as well as background discussions with advice centers, trade union representatives and lawyers, and compiled a text version from original sound bites and background information.
How does a society measure the reputation of professions? Why are service providers in these essential professions held in such low esteem?
How do workers themselves rate their working and living conditions?
After "SELFIE & ICH" (2022), an evening about mental illness, meritocracy and the terror of happiness, and "HOTEL UTOPIA" (2023), an interactive social game about borders, bureaucracy and the value of passports, "XPLOIT:S" is the third part of Christiane Mudra's trilogy entitled "How much am I?", in which she deals with the de facto evaluation of people in the "community of values".
We would like to point out that the performance on 29.11.24 will be filmed for documentation and advertising purposes. By attending the performance, you agree to the publication of the footage on which you may appear.
Concept, research, text and direction: Christiane Mudra
with Ivona Baković, Sebastian Gerasch, Kathrin Knöpfle and Edith Konrath
In the video: Daniela Gancheva, Lea Geszti, Gabriele Graf, Melda Hazırcı, Waki Meier, Murali Perumal
Stage: Julia Kopa
Costume: Sarah Silbermann
Lighting design and technical direction: Peer Quednau
Research collaboration: Agata Kaplon-Marx
Production: ehrliche arbeit - freelance cultural office
Production and evening technology: Uli Zentner
Assistant director: Luca Lehnert
Graphics: Jara López Ballonga
PR: Simone Lutz
Social Media: Casey Tower
Option promotion of the City of Munich
Contact: xploits@ehrlichearbeit.de