FFT Düsseldorf

FFT Düsseldorf was established in 1999. In 2004 Kathrin Tiedemann became its artistic director. It functions as a platform for the professional independent theatre scene in and around the city of Düsseldorf, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. As an institution, it does not only provide a space for the free arts, but also actively shapes them and creates continuous artistic exchanges. Its program aims to do more than just present: art, research, and education are FFT’s fields of action, and social discourses are negotiated and discussed here. In this context, FFT focuses on themes including democratization, post-colonialism, transcultural questions, networks, and the digital age.

Continuous collaborations with artist collectives and international production series that have thematic focal points shape the program as much as the support of young artists, the cooperation with schools and universities in the region, and the exchange with agents in the city. FFT is a partner in the network of production houses and theatres, both in the region and in an international context. Art projects with adolescents and an advanced program for young people have, from the beginning, been a cornerstone of its profile.

The FFT took the move to a new venue, which opened in November 2021 in the former main post office at Düsseldorf’s main railway station, as an opportunity for interdisciplinary research into the future role of theatre in urban society and in a globalised, digitalised world. In addition to the extensive opening project Place Internationale, with which urban, artistic, discursive and activist practices were set in relation to each other, “The Digital Foyer” plays a special role. In this project, the FFT, together with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, is testing digital spaces between institution, internet and urban public sphere.