10. INTERNATONAL
NON-FESTIVAL
27.7. – 31.7. 2022
So now that our community has been undermined not only by economy, but the epidemic as well, when polarisation is tearing apart family, friendly and neighbourly ties and the funding for culture is drying up, when the competition for getting your own single square metre has no happy ending, while the walls and virtuality dividing us are handicapping our hearts, it’s time for a meeting of determined people at THE 10TH ANNUAL NON-FESTIVAL OF THE THEATRE OF THE OPRESSED.
WORKSHOPS
My Image: Theatre by Jacques Lecoq method
28.-29. 7. 2022, 10.00-13.00 and 16.00-19.00
Body as a prop, a building material, source of poeticism and an obstacle. My body as a bridge. My body as a narrator. My body as a mirror. My body is my image.
Participants will undergo a basic process of theatre exercises from the stacked arsenal of the French pedagogue and choreographer Jacques Lecoq. In the second stage they will search for new characters, images of their inner and/or outer feeling based on physical action. In the end they will use this to prepare a short Non-cabaret.
Mentor: Anja Bezlova
Final production: 29. 7. 2022
From media mess to messing with media
28.-30. 7. 2022, 10.00-13.00
Using Boal’s classical 11 techniques of Newspaper theatre in order to lie to bring out the truth of things. An approximation. We will play and improvise, analyse and dichotomize. Leaving it up to the audience to fill in the blanks and bridge the gaps.
Mentor: Birgit Fritz
Final production: 30. 7. 2022, 20.30
(In)visible stories and documentary theatre
28.-30. 7. 2022, 16.00-19.00
The basic premise of documentary theatre is that it is based upon documents (hence its name) which are then either quoted word for word or integrated into performative practices in some other way. This puts it in a specific relationship to reality and bestows upon it the commitment to constant observation and reflection of this very relationship.
Contentwise we will focus on narratives which are largely overlooked in the wider society. We will consider the strategies of ethical research, particularly when we go into the ‘field’ and interact with individuals or communities. We will explore the potential performative procedures and strategies of documentary theatre and raise questions about representation – how to represent real people and their stories on stage and how to be inclusive at the level of performative strategies. Participants will conceive and develop their own scenes as well as train in observation and giving feedback about the scenes of other participants.
The workshop is intended for grownup theatre makers
Mentor: Tjaša Černigoj
Final production: 30. 7. 2022
Marxist mindfulness workshop
27. 7. 2022, 16.00-18.00
The Marxist mindfulness workshop will be an attempt at co-opting the psychological concept of mindfulness for the purposes of a revolutionary praxis. With the Marxist theoretical apparatus, from the perspective of the historical and material positioning into the society, we will consider how we can transform the concept of mindfulness from an accommodationist tool into an instrument which enables us to reflect on our class position. If the psychological concept of mindfulness is based on an isolated, autonomous self that is only secondarily – if at all – placed into the social and historical materiality, our attempt at Marxist mindfulness will mean the exact opposite: being mindful of the world around us and our position in it. In doing so, we are explicitly taking a perspective – of the exploited in the relation labor – capital, since only from this standpoint are we able to discern certain social relations and mechanisms that generate class inequalities.
Facilitators: Ana Cvelfar, Marja Zakelšek
FOREST BATH
31. 7. 2022, 10.00-13:00
Simple. Calm. Sensoric. This is the forest bath.
After a short introduction we head towards the forest. This is not a botanic/herbal stroll. It is a walk during which we give ourselves to the forest and to our sensations. It comprises several invitations to sensoric activities. And it ends with a tea ritual. The tea is usually brewed from ingredients picked during the walk itself.
The stroll will be guided by a certified guide of forest therapy according to the standard sequence of the leading ANFT (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy) organisation from California, USA.
Mentors: Amanda Kladnik and Maja Žerovnik (zeliscnavas.si/sl/zeliscna-vas/)
TEA PARTY
30. 7. 2022, 10.00-13:00
A simple cup of tea. So small, yet hiding so much inside itself.
At our tea party we will all prepare herbal tea together, according to our special procedure. During the process you learn the secret to preparing a perfect cup of home-made tea. Plus we can share a witty local story or two with you.
Relax and let your thoughts go. Give yourself entirely to the herbal tea, its stories and to all of your senses.
Mentors: Amanda Kladnik and Maja Žerovnik (zeliscnavas.si/sl/zeliscna-vas/)
Herbal Incenses
27. 7. 2022, 16.00
Smell is the sense that brings back memories and stimulates yearning.
At the workshop we will learn which herbs people used to make incense from, their meanings and stories.
Mentors: Amanda Kladnik in Maja Žerovnik (zeliscnavas.si/sl/zeliscna-vas/)
THEATRE PLAYS AND PERFORMANCES
Grannies
27. 7. 2022, 20:30
The documentary performance is based on the testimonies of poor elderly women who are forced to collect plastic bottles in order to survive. In Croatian cities you can see them everywhere. But who are they? What are their life stories? What matters most to them in life and what gives them strength to endure? How do they contribute to society, even though it does not see and recognize this? This is a performance about work, dignity, youth and old age, survival and the life of women over 65 years old in Croatia. And about all of us.
Authors: Sendi Bakotić, Ana Marija Brđanović, Anja Sabol, Vanda Velagić, Tjaša Črnigoj, Director and dramaturg: Tjaša Črnigoj, Researchers and performers: Sendi Bakotić, Ana Marija Brđanović, Anja Sabol, Vanda Velagić, Social anthropologist: Vanda Velagić, Personal stories shared by: Albina, Ljudmila, Marta, Suzana, Set design: Paola Lugarić, Costume design: Tanja Blašković, Music: authors and Sun Matt, Technical support: Matijas Kozić, Sound design: Sebastijan Tomažin, Visual design: Oleg Morović, Co-production: Kolektiv Igralke (Rijeka), Savez udruga Molekula (Rijeka), KUD Transformator, Financial support: Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture, Student Cultural Centre Rijeka and JSKD.
some like it fake
28. 7. 2022, 20:30
0 = gold
Gold = 0
0 and 1 = data
Data is gold
And gold is manure
We are living in the Information age. Data is the new gold. The one who controls the data, holds the gold in their hands. Human behaviour and reasoning analysis tell us that we are not as rational as we would like to be, and the technological evolution handed us over the smart-mega-phone.
When does the news become fake? Who craves it, who wants it to be fake? Why do we condemn the sin, but praise the sinners? Why is there no fake news about fruits and veggies?
Devised performance on the topics of media, reporting and manipulation is giving out a packet of data and information. The audience has to separate the wheat from the chaff by themselves.
Actors: Leonardo Erjavec, Alja Jeršič, Davorin Juhart, Timotej Kresnik, David Marn, Eva Nađ, Jan Podbrežnik, Nina Slanič, Kaja Vajdetič, Patricija Županovič, Mentors: Barbara Polajnar, Jaka Andrej Vojevec
PANDORA’s Box
29. 7. 2022, 20:30
The devious Prometheus screwed over Olympus and brought fire to the people. He made them human and was severely punished for this.
Pandora opened her box from which all ailments, diseases, wars, and even death itself escaped, with only hope remaining at the bottom.
The alter musical combined contemporary theatre approaches, original music, dance, acrobatics, contemporary circus, and stories of activist battles throughout the history of humankind. Pandora endeavors to spark and rekindle the flame of hope and resistance passed from generation to generation in their search for justice. Society is still unjust, rebellion is still relevant. Except for our Ministry of Culture, that is.
When people have nothing left but hope, this is when rebellion starts.
Director: Jaka Andrej Vojevec, Dramaturg: Barbara Polajnar, Concept: Jaka Andrej Vojevec and Barbara Polajnar, Authors and performers: Teja Bitenc, Jan Franc Podbrežnik, Barbara Polajnar, Zanda Priedite, Jurij Torkar, Danijela Zajc, Choreographers: Naja Podbrežnik, Nina Vombergar, Video: Urša Rahne, Costume and set designer: Katarina Zalar, Conductor and original score: Pia Skušek, Quire: Feminist Quire Z’borke, Produced by: KUD Transformator, Društvo ZIZ, Barbara Polajnar – self-employed in culture, Co-organisers: Narodni dom Maribor, Plesni teater Ljubljana
Project is financially supported by Municipality of Maribor and Municipality of Ljubljana.
The performance received the ZIZ Prize for most provocative performance of 202
Ramona’s Story (performance for children)
30. 7. 2022, 18:00
Ramona’s Story – a world of multiple worlds was made by the team prstovsto. It tells the story of the small girl Ramona and how aborigines won their freedom with the help of a network of justice, equality, and friendship.
The performance was initiated by the idea to prepare a program that would address children from our community on the occasion of the visit of a Zapatist delegation. We considered it important to present their story of colonialism, exploitation, and the Zapatist struggle for autonomy to the youngest generation.
It is very hard to condense the history and present situation of the native inhabitants of Chiapas into one short presentation. However, we were guided by the idea of the universality of the eternal struggle for justice. Even though there are many things that separate us from the Zapatists who live far away from here, across the wiiiide sea called the Atlantic Ocean, it is the desire to live free that connects us all. And we can only make it come true through a network weaved from friendship and the struggle for justice and equality.
A short prelude to community/collectivity
30. 7. 2022, 15:00
In our research process, we seek to see how within the material capitalist social context, we can build a community of solidarity between the performer and the audience and create a relationship that rejects identity markers and binary, hierarchized roles. We strive to explore how to build relationships that we can enter as degendered, deobjectified, and decommodified–relationships where experiences are shaped by radical solidarity, openness, and dialogue rather than projections of normative expectations that the disciplined body puts on, knowing that it is being observed. We presuppose that in the process, a crucial role will be played by the audience themselves: we trust them to collaborate with us in the creation of the communal space enabling an embodied coexistence beyond rigid social categories. That said, we are aware that utopias are out of reach. Therefore, we see the purpose of the prelude being the process itself: a process that is doomed to fail, but actively brings awareness to the limits of social categories and (hopefully) makes them more fluid.
Preluding: Ana Cvelfar, Dijana Džamastagić, Zala Mojca Jerman Kuželički, Kaja Vajdetič
DISCUSSION
Thematic Assembly: Community – foundation for resiliance and resistance for social changes
27. 7. 2022, 18:00
Duration: 90min
The dominant society and its capitalistic ideology pushes people into an individualistic way of life, which often increases feelings of helplessness and forces people into exploitative relationships. This is one of the reasons why many anarchist theories seek an alternatives in the balance between an alienated society – where the influence of the individual is easily lost; and individuals overly concerned about their own comfort; in communities, which should enable the participation and influence of all involved on the one hand and allow sufficient individual freedom on the other.
Community is a very broad concept, but it narrows down a bit when we talk about radical communities that are able to bring changes in the lives of those involved and broadly. This is why anti-authoritarian movement, among other things, advocates for organizing collectives and the communities around them, as well as further networking based on the principles of anti-authoritarianism, self-organization, autonomy, etc. regardless of the nature of our activity (cooperative, housing commune, comunal farming, interest group, …), as the way of organizing ouselves itself is supposed to create pockets of alternatives to a dominant society and sow the seeds for future radical social change.
At the thematic assembly, we will discuss the politics of “non-political” communities, the relationships between the individual, the community and society; and the importance of stable structures, such as e.g. collectives, to develop resilience to destructive social processes and to build their own political power.
