The project explores the phenomenon and practice of communities collectively observing moments of silences together. It delves into the longstanding tradition of  moments of silence, which are used as a gesture of respect or reverence, particularly in mourning recent deaths or commemorating tragic historical events. In these moments public life and the diverse lives of a community come to a standstill for a moment.

The most well-known historical example is King George V’s appeal on the occasion of the first anniversary of the armistice, published on 7 November 1919  in nearly all major newspapers of the British Empire.

Today, in societies facing crisis and in times of new wars spreading in all parts of the world alongside rearmament, this practice has taken on renewed importance However, in recent years, these commemorative moments have increasingly been challenged and put in danger. 

Consequently, at national and international events, a moment of silence is often replaced by discrete and continuous applause, or it is cut short after a few seconds—both strategies intended to prevent individuals from disrupting the collective act of contemplation.Impacted by the influence of social media and experiencing identitarian issues on both parts of the political spectrum, it seems as though contemporary crowds have become unable to practice this simple moment of consensus and (comm)unity.

Building on the potent history of the moment of silence and its recent transformations, David Weber-Krebs examines how individuals temporarily merge with the collective by engaging in shared silence, focusing on the dynamic tension between individual and collective experiences. Do the current forms of moments of silence indicate a growing inability for individuals to connect with a larger collective? What do these evolutions mean for societies experiencing deep crises and wars?

The project consists of two interrelated works with distinct temporalities and forms: 

1. An ongoing performative format unfolds within various public and semi-public contexts, invoking the ritual of the moment of silence and exploring its potential with different audiences. The idea is to infiltrate various public and semi-public events in the city of Mannheim: a football match, the annual meeting of an association, the weekly pétanque tournament, a church service (…), and propose to the people assembled to perform a moment of silence together. Instead of being commemorative (thus directed toward the past), this moment of silence will be anticipatory (thus opening a space for reflection and responsibility toward what is yet to come).
   
2. A  lecture-performance presented in a theater setting that provides insights into the history and contemporary challenges of moments of silence, as well as documentation and testimonies from aforementioned performative events.

The first version of The Moment of Silence will take place in September 2025 as part of the Live-Art festival Wunder der Prärie – theatres of war(s), organized by Mannheim’s artists’ center Zeitraumexit.