Dino Mustafic, director of Festival MESS, describes this year’s Festival as conquest for happiness and hope. Mustafic, one of the most important theater directors in the region, adds that the theater in the Balkans is “struggling to survive.” Over the last five years, Festival MESS’s budget was slashed by 73 percent.
Tag: Balkan
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Logo of MESS Sarajevo (Medunarodni teatarski-festival MESS) at Bosnia and Herzegovina " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/medunarodni-teatarski-festival-mess_preview500.gif?fit=431%2C232&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/medunarodni-teatarski-festival-mess_preview500.gif?fit=431%2C232&ssl=1"/> -
Detail: Skull in Ĺ˝eljko Zorica’s “KroaTisch-Amerikanische Freundschaft” | Photo by Randy Gener " data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/img_2222.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/img_2222.jpg?fit=750%2C750&ssl=1"/> Edible diplomacy | U.S. and Croatia political relations served in food installation
A food installation from Croatia, cumbersomely entitled “KroaTisch–Amerikanische Freundschaft,” directly alludes to important events in the history of Croatian-American political relations.
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Igor Josifov in “2-Dimensional” in NYC | Photo by Randy Gener " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/img_2268.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/img_2268.jpg?fit=750%2C750&ssl=1"/> Slideshow | How to walk over a Balkan performance artist
Want to see how they built Igor Josifov’s “2-Dimensional”? Click on my slideshow. In this unusual performance, the artist is an observer as much as he is observed while the spectator becomes a performer.
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Igor Josifov inside “2-Dimensional” | Courtesy of Queer New York International Arts Festival " data-medium-file="https://i2.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/queer11.jpg?fit=594%2C445&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i2.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/queer11.jpg?fit=594%2C445&ssl=1"/> Walk over me | Stepping over Balkan performance artist Igor Josifov is both a work and a walk of art
In “2-Dimensional,” an unconventional performance installation, the young Macedonia-born artist Igor Josifov lies underneath a plexiglass structure. Starting 8 pm Tuesday June 12 to Thursday June 14 at Abrons Arts Center Gallery, “2-Dimensional” invites the audience to walk over him.
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“Puls” (Netherlands), staged by Jolika Sudermann, at MESS Sarajevo 2010 | Photography by Vedad Divović " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/1444.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/cultureofoneworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/1444.jpg?fit=750%2C503&ssl=1"/> Randy Gener serves as American juror for Sarajevo International Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina
SARAJEVO —  Randy Gener — the Nathan Award–winning editor, writer and critic — will serve the U.S. juror in an international jury European artists, top editors and prominent critics for the 51st edition of the MESS Sarajevo International Theater Festival  in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the oldest international theatre festival in the Balkans. This year’s MESS Sarajevo International Theater Festival takes place from September 30, 2023 until October 9, 2011, presenting 32 performances from all over the world in six festival categories. Established in 1960 by Jurislav Korenic as the Festival of Small and Experimental Stages, MESS was one of the best theatre events promoting modern theatre expression in the former Yugoslavia. “MESS” stands for Small Experimental Stage. Today, MESS (MeÄ‘unarodni teatarski festival Mess) is the most significant annual celebration of theatre art in South-East Europe and takes place in Sarajevo in the second part of October. This festival is produced by the National Theatre of Sarajevo, famously known as the Bosnian theater where Susan Sontag staged a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in the midst of the Siege of Sarajevo in 1993. Sontag’s production drew so much attention to the city’s plight that many Bosnians believe it helped end the war. A square outside Sarajevo’s national theater is dedicated to the U.S. writer and activist who died in 2004. Click here if you want to download the entire 2011 program. MESS also organises MEMORY MODUL, a project aiming to investigate the way artists deal with the experience of genocide and destruction. Here is a promotional video created for the 2010 MESS Sarajevo edition on YouTube: Background and History: Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is also known as the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This country is located on the Balkan peninsula, which allows beautiful views, access to water sports and secluded mountainous resorts. Bosnia and Herzegovina is …