Bitef

24 th SEPTEMBER, 13.00 Parobrod Cultural Institution Bazaart, Belgrade, Serbia ★ VERTICAL AXES Forum Duration: 120’ Vertical Axes is a part of the initiative of the Bazaart Group and partner organisations to link up important subjects in the field of drama and education in Serbia - schools, teachers, activists, artists. decision-makers, researchers, professors, donors - through a project called ISLANDS so as to empower teachers and students, update the educational practices, improve initial education of teachers and modernise curricula and syllabuses. The goal is to link tradition and vision in the artistic work with children and adolescents and emphasize the importance of continuity for the preservation and development of principal values of a changing society, values not restricted by human life span legacy, humaneness, strength of the human body - grounded in the preceding generations and kept, developed and transmitted through our work and deed to the generations to come. This forms the vertical axes which guide us as personalities and as

24 th SEPTEMBER, 17.00 Bitef Theatre Hleb Teatar, Belgrade, Serbia and Ake Ake Theatre. Dunedin, New Zealand ★ SISTERS IN ARMS Essay in motion about World War I Discussion with authors after the performance Duration: 120’ (including the discussion) Second showing: 25 th September, 20.00 Youth Theatre, Novi Sad Text, dramaturgy and direction: Sanja Krsmanovič Tasič Music: Jugoslav Hadžič Performers: Jugoslav Hadžič, Sanja Krsmanovič Tasič, Jessica Latton, Rhys Latton and Anastasia Tasič

The production uses texts by Antonije Đurić, Rebecca West, Kemal Ataturk and the Code of a Japanese samurai from the 14th century Photography: Allen Dove and Jelena Tasič Sisters in Arms is based on the authors’ belief that history is a kaleidoscope made of individual destinies and personal truths and that the theatre has the power to narrate history directly through a joint ritual by the audience and the performers. Its purpose is to heal and in this case to attempt to unmask the war phenomenon in all its complexity. The principal subject-matter is World War I in the Balkans. Through the eyes of active participants - Sofija Jovanovič, Belgradian, fighter and heroine of the Balkan wars, doctor Jessie Scott, New Zealander, the first female military surgeon who attended to Serbian soldiers and many others - we see the war from a different and more personal angle, the angle of a woman-creator, in the hotbed of destruction and death. The stories in the production, which the authors collected after an exhaustive research, cover also the stories of Maori fighters in the Balkans and testimonies of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and Serbian soldiers who took part in the war. This international cooperation includes a number of original songs from remote parts of the world and ancient dances from the Balkans and New Zealand. Supported by Creative New Zealand WWIOO Centenary fund, Otago Community Trust and the Ministry of culture of the Republic of Serbia

a society. An unavoidable part of their development is the encouragement of endowments. To donate to culture and education means to perpetuate values not restricted by human life span and are a part of the universal legacy of the ideas of humaneness and faith in the strength of man’s act. The institution of endowments will be one of the topics at the forum. Editors and moderators: Sunčica Milosavljevič and Marina Milivojević-Mađarev. Project OSTRVA/ISLANDS is financed by European Union within the programme "Support of the Civil Society”. Project is co-financed from the budget of Serbia - Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, Ministry of Culture and Information and Ministry of Youth and Sport,

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Bitef polyphony