NAVID RAZAVI
 SURFACE, 2022 |  Ghost in the Machine, 2025 |
Theater meets light and sound art
November 26 to 29, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Kultur Kubus, Josef-Haubrich-Hof
As part of COLLUMINA V, KulturKubus, Haus der Architektur, will present an interdisciplinary theater media installation by Navid Razavi in cooperation with the Schauspielschule der Keller drama school and director Lily McLeish. The performance will be shown at two different times in the evening, 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (registration required, free tickets via Eventbrite).
“Ghost in the Machine” is a transdisciplinary experiment between theater and new media. Media artist Navid Razavi combines his multidimensional installation SURFACE with texts from different centuries on the subject of AI and ghosts, curated by director Lily McLeish.
SURFACE is an immersive, kinetic audio-visual installation that explores how materials can be synthesized into sound and sounds into images. Alternative dimensions are created in a dialogical play with students from the Der Keller drama school. Between performances, visitors have the opportunity to interact with the light-sound-movement installation.
Navid Razavi is a transdisciplinary media artist who focuses on the development of new media projects with an emphasis on immersion and interactivity his artistic approach consists of forensically deconstructing materials and merging their components into hybrids of audiovisual performances and interactive installations. He uses techniques of creative coding, 3D design, real-time rendering, lighting design, and generative video and sound synthesis in multi-channel setups.
Lily McLeish is a British-German director and curator who works in the fields of theater, dance, opera, light and media art, film, video installation, and podcasting.
She mostly works at intersections; her works and productions explore hybrid forms, an exploration of the unknown, and often include projections as part of the concept.
The DER KELLER e.V. Cologne drama school is the most traditional private drama school in North Rhine-Westphalia and one of the oldest private schools for drama training in Germany.
The cast includes Hannah Marie Bahlo, Viona Canoska, and Maximilian Sassinek.