 | ||
Andrés Neumann (born 1943) is a polyglot professional in the performing arts and the creative and cultural industries, born in Bolivia, raised in Uruguay and established in Europe.
Contents
The beginning in Latin America
Andres Neumann was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1943, from central European parents. His family moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, when he was age five. His mother tongue was German, and he learned Spanish, the official language of Uruguay, only at elementary school. He developed a specific interest for the arts and culture very early, and specially so for film and theater. At age 21 he married Betina Camacho, age 15. Together with his wife he joined the theater company from the Alliance Française in Montevideo, directed by Bernard Schnerb, a professor from the institute.
Andres Neumann quickly became active in the cultural life of Montevideo, working professionally for theater, dance and music events held in the main venues of the city: Teatro Solis, Teatro El Galpon, Teatro Circular, among many others. He had the opportunity to cooperate with artists such as Omar Grasso, Carlos Manuel Varela, Luis Cerminara, Roberto Restuccia, Teresa Trujillo, Carlos Carvalho, Hugo Mazza, Jorge Carrozino and Carmen Prieto, Eduardo Mateo, Diane Denoir, Bernardo Bergeret, among many others. During the same years Andres Neumann made frequent trips to Europe and the US, where he got acquainted with the avantgarde movements of the time. In 1970 he received the award for "Best Soundtrack of the Year" conferred by the Theater Critics Association of Uruguay and in 1972 he received, jointly with Jorge Carrozino and Carmen Prieto, a commission from the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (MNAV) to fit out an important anthological exhibition of paintings and artwork by Rafael Barradas.
The relationship with France
The Alliance Française in Montevideo was central to the cultural life of Montevideo in a critical moment for the country and the continent. A new and modern building had been specially commissioned and constructed in Calle Soriano 1180, including a theater venue with a capacity for an audience of 200. For this institution Andres Neumann, Jorge Carrozino and Carmen Prieto (CPN) created several theatrical audiovisual environments (inspired by the French Son et Lumière): Figari, Picasso 90 and 73 Dias. Thanks to these performances the trio received in October 1972 a grant from CUIFERD, sponsored by Jack Lang (future Minister of Culture of France), to work for the Festival Mondial du Théatre de Nancy. This invitation came at the right time, because the arts and the artists started to be persecuted by a deteriorating political system. Military dictatorships were in the making in Chile, Argentina, Brasil and Uruguay. The departure of Andres Neumann won rightwing newspaper headlines suspecting him of leaving the country in order to be trained by the French government in urban guerrilla. In the meantime Andres Neumann had married his second wife Lily Salvo, an important painter and artist belonging to the Taller Torres Garcia. Lily Salvo was part of the active cultural life in Latin America, including Pablo Neruda and Ernesto Sabato. From their marriage a girl named Mara was born. Andres, Lily and Mara left Uruguay in October 1972 and settled in Nancy, France, for the next two years. The Festival Mondial du Théatre de Nancy was at the time the world center for experimental theater, and in general for the research of new languages in the arts and culture. There Andres Neumann met personally Tadeusz Kantor, Bob Wilson, Meredith Monk, Augusto Boal, Peter Schumann, Pina Bausch and Dario Fo among many others. Andres Neumann has been active member of the staff of the Festival until 1978, appointed to curate the artistic delegations of various Scandinavian and Eastern countries as well as Italy, where he settled with his family in 1974.
The relationship with Italy
In 1974 Andres Neumann, encouraged among others by Luigi Nono, Italian avant-garde composer and member of the central committee of the Communist Party, settled in Florence while continuing his cooperation as artistic curator of the Italian delegation to the Festival Mondial du Théatre de Nancy. The role of curator had put him in connection with the Italian theater world and in particular with the Teatro Regionale Toscano (now: Fondazione Toscana Spettacoli). He was soon engaged by this organisation to curate a special section dedicated to exprimental theater at Teatro Rondo di Bacco, a venue placed in the left wing of Palazzo Pitti. Andres Neumann curated three seasons at Teatro Rondo di Bacco in Florence, inviting among many others The Bread and Puppet Theater, Bob Wilson, Meredith Monk form the US, Tadeusz Kantor with the Cricot 2 from Poland and Roberto Benigni from Italy. As talent scout Andres Neumann promoted internationally the work of Italian theater artist and companies such as Magazzini Criminali and Pierluigi Pieralli from Florence, and Remondi & Caporossi and Memé Perlini from Rome. After his engagement in Florence he was commissioned by Carlo Molfese to create for Teatro Tenda (Piazza Mancini, Rome) a Festival under the name of Rassegna Internazionale di Teatro Popolare, where artists such as Marcel Marceau from France, Vittorio Gassman and Gigi Proietti from Italy, Teatro Campesino from the US, Tadashi Suzuki from Japan, Robert Serumaga from Uganda and Jango Edwards from Netherlands, among many others, were presented. During this activity in Rome Major Carlo Giulio Argan and Secretary for Culture Renato Nicolini invited Andres Neumann to develop for the City of Rome a Special Project dedicated to cutting edge performing arts. A long and close working cooperation with Renato Nicolini to enhance national and international cultural exchange programs in the arts and culture between the City of Rome and other important Italian and world cities was put in place. Part of this program was a production of a performance directed by Richard Foreman with the Ontological-Hysterical Theater from New York City, guest performances of Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théatre du Soleil, of Peter Brook, Terry Riley, and the National Theater from London, the projection of the film Napoleon by Abel Gance with live orchestra directed by Carmine Coppola (father to Francis Ford) in front of the Roman Colosseum to the presence of Jack Lang and Danielle Mitterrand.
Andres Neumann International
In 1979 Andres Neumann did curate at the same time two major international theatrical production projects for two important stage directors in two different cities. Wielopole Wielopole for Tadeusz Kantor in Florence, and Place and Target for Richard Foreman in Rome. In the same year a private presenting and production Company was established: Andres Neumann International. This move was inspired by the advice of Franco Camerlinghi, at that time Secretary of Culture for the City of Florence. The first client of this Company were the brothers I Colombaioni, the clowns who had worked with Federico Fellini for the film The Clowns (1970). For them, and during the following years, an international tour in more than 100 world cities has been put in place. Between 1979 and 2000 Andres Neumann International became the center of a wordwide network of cultural exchange projects for the performing arts. Ingmar Bergman from Sweden, Andrzej Wajda from Poland, Luca Ronconi, Vittorio Gassman, Dario Fo from Italy, The Comédie Francaise and Peter Brook from France, The Kabuki from Japan, Pina Bausch from Germany, among many others, have entrusted their work to Andres Neumann during those years. Until 1985 the Company was based in Florence, and after the international coproduction project for Peter Brook's The Mahabharata, the company moved its headquarters to Rome, were it kept operating until the year 2000.
Recent years
In 1990 Andres Neumann bought a country house in Anghiari, Tuscany, where he started to spend most of his time. He undertook a process of transformation in the attempt to find the roots of art and culture through physical and spiritual practices. Thanks to Peter Brook he approached the Gurdjieff groups, thanks to Graciela Figueroa he approached the Claudio Naranjo SAT groups. His interest in theater and dance shifted from the finished production to the practical creative and pedagogical process, thus meeting individuals such as Enrique Vargas, Kristin Linklater and Juan Carlos Corazza. In 2001 his son René was born to Viviana Benci, a school teacher he had met at the Gurdjieff groups. Also the connection to his origins in South America were reestablished, and he started to spend regularly time in both continents.
Building an incubator and archive for the arts and culture in Tuscany
In 2004, together with the Associazione Culturale Teatro Studio Blu, Andres Neumann started to develop a project for the creation of a Cultural Center in Pistoia. This project came to a conclusion in 2009 with the opening of Il Funaro Cultural Center, and the donation to the Center of the Andres Neumann Archive and Legacy. Il Funaro Cultural Center is a venue with 3 working spaces, dressing rooms, office space, a restaurant, a construction laboratory, a library and a guesthouse for 16 people. Andres Neumann Archive and Legacy is being developed in accordance with the Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Arts and Performance of the University of Florence. The development of the Andres Neumann Archive and Legacy project has been entirely implemented by Mrs. Giada Petrone who had previously worked for the archives of Renato Nicolini and Judith Malina. Il Funaro Cultural Center has been internationally recognised as a model of incubator for the arts and culture.
At present
At present Andres Neumann is active as a professional for the Creative and Cultural Industries, coaching, teaching and promoting individuals and entities with a mission in the arts. He also continues his cooperation with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in Italy and in Latin America. He lives in Europe and Latin America.
Honours
Awards
UBU Award for the "Best Foreign Theater Performance in Italy" achieved by the following productions presented by Andres Neumann International:
More awards