New Old Times in the Balkans: The Search for a Cultural Identity

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New Old Times in the Balkans: The Search for a Cultural Identity

OLD NEW FESTIVALS

#5 The coming of the old new time has had its effect on the major theatre festivals as well. Once events that played a crucial role in the future developments of the theatre and political life of former Yugoslavia, the major festivals under the new circumstances had lost their political power and competitiveness. Taking a shift in their direction, some of them turned to their own local constituencies, like the most prominent Sterijino Pozorje of the Yugoslav Drama Festival. Others took advantage of the new setting that opened possibilities for them, as MESS—International Theatre Festival in Sarajevo—did, and transforming itself became challenging meeting places of theatre artists from all of the world. However, some of the festivals tried under the most difficult circumstances to maintain their high artistic standards and international reputation. In that struggle with the unfavorable conditions set by international isolation, the world-renowned Dubrovnik Theatre Festival in Dubrovnik, Croatia, or BITEF Festival in Belgrade, Serbia, or Young Open Theatre MOT Festival in Skopje, Macedonia managed to provide not only a dissenting view of what is going on the other side of the wall, but in spite of all odds to survive as respected artistic institutions in that part of the world. It is interesting that, as in many countries in Europe, the cultural landscape in the countries of the former Yugoslavia experienced, in the same period between 1994 and 2004, a remarkable mushrooming of theatre festivals. Almost every town founded its own local or international theatre festival of various types and prominence. And while some of them were of modest and local significance, the World Theatre Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, in its third year now, has introduced the most innovative theatre created recently, becoming a place of real prestige.

THE SIGNATURE OF WOMEN

Paradoxically enough, as everything else is so paradoxical and unpredictable in this dismembered part of the world, along with the process of the coming of age of the generation of young theatre artists, discussed earlier, a group of talented women playwrights and directors secured a distinctive place on that barren landscape. For an entire decade many impressive cultural, humanitarian, and artistic initiatives were headed and made possible by engaged women. There were vigils and protests against the war organized by groups like “Zene u Crnom” [Women in Black] in Belgrade in the mid-nineties, or anti-war actions led by “Bedem Ljubavi” [A Wall of Love] movement in Zagreb, or many other events organized by brave women all over former Yugoslavia. All these events and actions protested their regime’s policies of nationalist aggression, rape as a tool of war, ethnic cleansing, or human rights abuses. These humanitarian activities came very often from female writers, directors, and critics of various generations actually fostered the appearance of a mode of creating called “Zensko pismo” or “women’s signature.” This movement may be considered one of the most remarkable offerings that appeared in the countries of the former Yugoslavia during the last decade.
The work of DAH Theatre (dah means breath or breathing), founded in Belgrade at the beginning of the war, in 1991, and led artistically by Dijana Milosevic and Jadranka Andjelic, seems to be a paradigmatic example of the women’s wave that so profoundly entered the theatre and cultural space. At the same time it can also be seen as a practical example of the new creative landscape based on the female principle that Snajder dreamt of in his Snake Skin. From its very beginning DAH Theatre tried in myriad ways—organizing street and bus performances, anti-war performance events, workshops—to address what they believe are the fundamental or essential questions of theatre. “What is the role and sense of theatre?” “What is the responsibility and duty of the artist in ‘dark times’?” These questions became the creative sparks and raison d’être behind their work. The answers were their performances, such as This Babylonian Confusion, based on the anti-war songs of Bertolt Brecht. The play was performed outdoors in downtown Belgrade at a time when talking about involvement in the war was a topic forbidden by the Serbian government. A few other performances that expressed their beliefs were The Legend about the End of the World, which addressed possibilities of building new life on the ruins, and Travelers or Maps of Forbidden Remembrance, which dealt with extensive emigration and brain drain from that part of the world. For an entire decade and more, DAH Theatre offered an imaginative and engaged theatre. As the members of DAH Theatre declare in their mission statement, it is of paramount importance for them that “today, in the contemporary world, we can and we have to confront the destruction, violence, and evil by creating meaningful theatre and a meaningful world.”6F In that way their strong voice became one of the most clearly articulated expressions of discontent that war and disintegration brought to the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

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6. DAH Theatre http://www.cyberrex.org/dah/.

AuthorNaum Panovski
2018-08-21T17:23:09+00:00 April 14th, 2007|Categories: Essays, Literature, Blesok no. 53|0 Comments