Video and Performance

-2024-

In Dortmund’s newly opened council chamber, Christian Jankowski transformed the space into a gymnasium for the video Sportstunde. Students from the Wilhelm-Röntgen-Realschule took part in a physical education lesson staged here to reflect on human behavior, teamwork, and its connections to politics. Under the direction of Professor Kai Kirbschus, the students engaged in various group activities, including a warm-up exercise, competitive team sports with balloons, and small-group “pyramid” formations performed for their classmates. These exercises allowed the students to collaborate and create a striking contrast to the usual political discord that unfolds in the council chamber.

The activities also shed light on the potential of conflict resolution through teamwork. During the warm-up, students ran through rows of council desks while the narrator observed their cooperation. In the next exercise, teams of different colors-each representing a political party-competed with balloons, striving to outperform one another and reflecting the competitiveness of political parties. In the final exercise, the students formed “pyramids” in small groups, demonstrating the strength achieved through unity.

Replacing the usual classroom subjects like math and science, the students instead showcased their strengths through physical activity, echoing how politicians might set aside routine tasks to represent their ideals. Through Jankowski’s vision, the council chamber becomes a symbolic gymnasium where students and politicians alike act out their drives for performance and dominance. Through this lens of childlike enthusiasm, we glimpse at the potential for unity and shared purpose within us all.