How can digital technologies make historical crimes tangible? KISD graduate Katerina Sideri has developed 3D reconstructions for “VIANNOS – SPÄTE STIMMEN” (VIANNOS – LATE VOICES), an immersive theatre performance by the Cologne-based collective DIPHTHONG. KISD Professor Lasse Scherffig and Jens Fehrenbacher provided advisory support for the production, which addresses the Nazi massacres on Crete while also raising questions about new forms of remembrance. The world premiere will take place on 11 December 2026 at the NS Documentation Centre in Cologne.
In September 1943, the German Wehrmacht killed more than 500 civilians in the Viannos region of Crete. The massacres rank among the most serious Nazi war crimes committed in Greece, yet remain largely unknown in Germany. Today, white stone figures at the memorial in Amiras, Crete, are among the tributes commemorating the victims.
With “VIANNOS – SPÄTE STIMMEN”, the Cologne-based collective DIPHTHONG brings this chapter of German-Greek history into focus. Directed by Andrea Bleikamp and Nikos Konstantakis, the production combines documentary theatre, live singing and digital scenography to create an immersive space of remembrance. The audience is placed at the heart of the action: beginning in a Greek living room, the world of Cretan life unfolds, with its stories, its beauty and the traces of violence.
KISD graduate Katerina Sideri (M.A.) developed 3D reconstructions for the production. Jens Fehrenbacher and Professor Lasse Scherffig from the “Digital Cultural Memory” research unit, part of the DFG-funded research initiative “Erinnerungskultur in der Krise” (Remembrance Culture in Crisis), were involved in an advisory capacity.
The production is based on extensive research conducted on Crete. Under the academic guidance of historian Dr Iassonas Chandrinos, the team examined historical archives, studied personal mementos and interviewed eyewitnesses and descendants of the victims. For Cretan director Nikos Konstantakis, the subject also has a personal dimension: stories told by his grandmother provided the initial inspiration for the project.
The research has resulted in a multi-voiced mosaic of historical events, personal memories and contemporary perspectives. The performance raises questions that extend far beyond confronting a single war crime: What might new forms of collective remembrance look like? How can the suffering of the victims be made visible? And how can reconciliation be achieved?
Dates and Tickets
Premiere: Friday, 11 December 2026, 7:00 pm
Further performances:
- Saturday, 12 December 2026, 7:00 pm, followed by a discussion with the audience, the management of the Holocaust Museum Viannos and the production team
- Sunday, 13 December 2026, 3:00 pm
- Sunday, 13 December 2026, 7:00 pm
Venue: NS Documentation Centre Cologne, Appellhofplatz 23–25, 50667 Cologne, Germany
Tickets: Available via Rausgegangen
Production
DIPHTHONG.art e.V. in cooperation with the NS Documentation Centre of the City of Cologne and TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, as part of the DFG-funded research initiative “Erinnerungskultur in der Krise”.
Credits
- Concept, Direction & Devising: Andrea Bleikamp & Nikos Konstantakis
- Dramaturgy: Nele Beckmann
- Historian: Dr Iassonas Chandrinos
- Acting: Robin Berenz, Karina Syndicus, Nikos Konstantakis
- Vocals: Chara Bitzaraki
- Music Production: Benedikt Fuchs
- 3D Reconstruction Technology: Katerina Sideri in collaboration with KISD
- Digital cultural memory advisers Prof. Lasse Scherffig / Jens Fehrenbacher
- Costume & Set Design: Eleonora Pedretti
- Technical Direction & Lighting Design: Daniel Swoboda
- Graphic Design: Studio Dornbach
- PR & Public Relations: Laura Vennes
- Outside Eye: Stephanie Felber & Stawrula Panagiotaki
- Local Expert: Despoina Iniotaki
- Translation: Katerina Daifoti
- Production Management: Anita Nindl
- Photography & Documentation: Alice Bleistein
Photos © Alice Bleistein