Bitef

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vene regresije. To je metaforično, a opet vrlo direktno artikulisano središnjom prostorijom, koja se baš i zove Večna Rusija : raskošnom, svečanom, „prestonom" dvoranom, gde se publika stalno iznova vraća posle svih ovih istorijskih lutanja, i u kojoj se menjaju detalji razlidtih ikonografija, u rasponu od carske, preko staljinističke, do putinovske, ali ona sama ostaje - nepromenjena. Ideologije se smenjuju, ali obrasci autoritarnog društva opstaju. Verujemo da će u Srbiji danas ova instalacija, sasvim u duhu Bitefa, ostvariti višestruku političku provokaciju: jednima se neće svideti stav da se Putinov režim nadovezuje na tradiciju autoritarnosti ruskog društva, a drugima teza da neke od najvedh društvenih sloboda nisu zadobijene boljševičkom Oktobarskom revoludjom već gradansko-socijalističkom Februarskom revoludjom.

O PREDSTAVi

Večna Rusija predstavlja kratak pregled nekoliko vekova istorije Rusije. Kuratorka i kritičarka Marina Davidova, zajedno sa scenografkinjom i umetnicom Verom Martinov i kompozitorom Vladimirom Ranevim, razvija performativni parkur nalik instalaciji, koji u prostoru prikazuje vezu izmedu ruske istorije i sadašnjeg trenutka. Projekat pruža kratak ali blistav interludijum političkog, umetničkog I seksualnog budenja koje je nastupilo posle revolucije 1917. godine. Zbog čega te ideje nisu mogle bit! implementirane na duži period? Predstava pokušava da objasni varvarske promene

ration; between social progress and social regression. This journey is metaphorical and yet directly articulated through the central room, aptly called Eternal Russia. It’s a luxurious and festive “throne hall”, where the audience keeps returning after all the historical wanderings. Despite that numerous details of various historical iconographies - from the eras of the Tsar, Stalin, to Putin - keep changing, the room itself remains unaltered. Just as ideologies change, but the patterns of authoritarian society remain. We believe that this installation, which is true to Bitef spirit, will generate provocation in nowadays Serbia in more ways than one: some will not like the idea that Putin’s regime continues the tradition of authoritarianism while others may dislike the thesis that some of the greatest social freedoms were won not in the Bolshevik October Revolution but in the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Eternal Russia is a glance at a few centuries of Russian history. The curator and critic Marina Davydova develops, together with the stage designer and artist Vera Martynov and the composer Vladimir Rannev, a performative, installation-like parkour, which spatially makes accessible the connection between Russian history and the present. The project portrays the very short but bright interlude of the political, artistic, and sexual awakening after the revolution of 1917. Why could these ideas not be implemented in the long run? The piece is an attempt to explain the barbaric change of Soviet socialism, which just ten years after the revolution was transformed into totalitarian dictatorship, skillfully hidden behind Communist slogans. Furthermore, it deals with one hundred years of longing for the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire. An image of the great Russian utopia arises.

THE AUTHORS

MARINA DAVYDOVA, is a theatre critic, historian, and producer. She has held the position of Senior Researcher at the Institute of Art Studies, taught classes on the history of Western European theatre at various universities, and led workshops on theatre criticism at the Russian State University for the Humanities. She is author of Ende einer Theaterepoche (2005), a monograph that looks at Russian theatre in the last ten years, and is editor of the book The History of West