THE STAFF YOUR DREAMS ARE MADE OF

Cruising is booming! It is the fastest growing tourism industry in the world, and Stockholm is a global player in the cruise industry. In 2022, more than 24 million passengers cruised the oceans worldwide on luxury ships and produced a turnover of over 2 billion euros. This is made possible by cheap labour, which keeps the ships running for eight to twelve hours a day and nine months at a time. The performative film installation THE STAFF YOUR DREAMS ARE MADE OF invites the audience into the otherwise inaccessible world below deck of the giant ships. In the replica of a personnel cabin, five Filipino crew members recall their often bizarre lives on board and pose the question of to whom dreaming is reserved. THE STAFF YOUR DREAMS ARE MADE OF is the second part of a trilogy about realities of life and working conditions on the high seas by the Italian- German artist duo TÒ SU (alias Martina Mahlknecht and Martin Prinoth).

BIOGRAPHIES PERFORMERS / EXPERTS

Gadie Santos worked as a waiter on cruiseships between 2016 to 2020. For Euan – as his friends call him – working on ships was not the first choice. Feeling very attached to his family and hometown, it was not an easy decision for him to leave all this behind. But working on board allowed him to support his family financially and fulfil his own dream of travelling the world. Since 2020 he has lived in Stendal, with his German wife and his 3-year-old daughter.

Manolet Castillo worked as a patissier on the giant ships for a total of 14 years from 2007 to 2021. On the advice of his colleagues in Manila and due to the low salaries there, he first joined a cruise ship in 2007. He started his career on board as an assistant cook and later worked as a patissier on luxury cruises. In 2021 he finally swaped life on board for life in Hamburg, where he now lives with his German husband.

Mary Grace Wesch worked for a total of nine months, i.e. one contract, as a service worker and ship painter on a cruise ship. In order to be hired on board, she first gained 4 years of work experience in a five-star hotel on land; this is the usual procedure if you don’t know a so-called “backer”, i.e. a person who can recommend you for the work on cruise ships. When the Covid pandemic hits in 2020 and cruise ships ar no longer allowed to leave the ports, she decides to move to Cuxhaven together with her German husband, whom she meets as sous-chef on board the ship, and settle down in Germany.

For Maria Marjorie Antigua, who comes from a seafarer family, working on a cruise ship was a long- held childhood dream. She worked as an entertainer and dance instructor aboard cruise ships between 2017 until the Corona pandemic in 2020. Her original dream was to lead the animation team as a cruise director. Today, she lives in Berlin with her German husband, is doing a bachelor’s degree and continues to pursue her passion in Zumba classes and as a model.

Vanessa Fauvel Wippermüller worked as a bar tender and sommelière on cruise ships for a total of 12 years. She gained experience on board various ships of Asian, American and European lines. The biggest challenge with each new employment contract was having to leave her daughter for nine months. At the same time, her daughter was her main motivation to continue working and to brave all the difficulties on board. Today she lives in Kiel with her German husband and her daughter, who is now 14 years old.

 Language:
In English and Tagalog with English subtitles