Sophiensæle is located in a building rich in history—a history told by the ceiling decorations, cracks in the walls, and drawings on old doors, as well as by the intangible spirits and memories that inhabit this building. The walls, stairwells, and columns also reveal much about the evolution of labor over the 120 years of its existence—and about emancipation, resistance, democratization, and self-organization, as well as the violence, coercion, and exploitation that manifested within and alongside it.

Building on the format of the Historical house tours regularly offered at Sophiensæle, three Berlin-based artists are developing new site-specific performances as commissioned works for the festival.

Rest is a vital practice for good health. It has anti-inflammatory effects and helps alleviate chronic pain, high blood pressure and burnout. However, for rest to work its magic, it matters not only how we rest, but also where we do so.

In Never Rest, Angela Alves explores the spatial limits of rest. She asks whether rest is even possible in work and healthcare spaces characterized by pressure, control and expectations.

Conceived as a guided tour, she leads the audience through the rooms of Sophiensæle on a historical quest for traces of non-rest: from the Eastern European laborers of the Nazi regime, who were forced to work and sleep in what is now Sophiensæle’s Festsaal in the 1940s, to the sleepless nights of dancers in the theater, to the long-term bath patients of the sanatoriums and nursing homes of early modernism, who had to find rest in the bathtub and sometimes even spend the night there.

The installation, as part of Never Rest (After Work Tours #2), is free to view on the 3rd floor and is open at the following times:

19.06.: 18:30–20:30
20.06.: 18:30–20:30
21.06.: 18:30–21:00