TOPIC OF THE BLACK BOX CYCLE | “POLITICS OF MEMORY”
What is our entry point into the great war of February 2022? Are we still in a “traumatized past” or have we emerged from it and entered a “traumatic present”? How did we work with data in art and theater until 2022? The conversation will be about how to “correctly” and “ethically” interpret reality in art/theater today. We’ll delve into the methods of working with victims and witnesses, review various projects and media, and contemplate whether war erodes our ethical values and makes us worse.
07.1. (Saturday) 16:00
Zoe Lafferty “THE ROLE OF THEATER IN UNDERMINING DOMINANT NARRATIVES”
“The conversation will be about how theater can act as an alternative form of storytelling, distinct from mainstream news, by reclaiming narratives and providing a deeper understanding of the immediate experience of invasion, occupation, and oppression.
Based on personal experience and projects, I will reflect on collaborations where people bring their life experiences to the stage. I will also examine different approaches to using testimonies and verbatim text.
I will also analyze how first-hand accounts can be used as a tool of resistance as well as an artistic practice that avoids exploitation and prioritizes the safety and well-being of witnesses.”
Zoe Lafferty is a creative producer, director, and author of theatrical, site-specific works, audio and virtual reality. Her artistic practice intersects with activism, civil disobedience, politics, and community organization, and she works at the heart of issues in the UK, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, and across Europe.
07.1. (Saturday) 18:00
NINA KHYZHNA “NEW DICTIONARY: WARTIME THEATER”
“Since the beginning of the great war, some words that previously denoted feelings, phenomena, and delineated ethical issues have changed or lost their meaning. A large number of terms and concepts have taken on new nuances, finding themselves in the context of mass catastrophic events. Some of them have been profaned, while others have acquired a radical, vital, or destructive significance, which we must be aware of. In the process of creating theater, similar transformations took place, not only at the verbal level but also in body language, movement, visual images, sounds, and other symbolic systems.
This presents theater actors with new challenges, increases the level of social responsibility, and requires a high degree of awareness and adaptability in creative work. Aware of the risks, we have to build our new vocabulary step by step, which will be supplemented, challenged, criticized, and slowly shape our new theatrical reality every day.”
Nina Khyzhna is a director, choreographer, performer, actress, and teacher. She worked with Ukrainian state and non-state theaters in Kharkiv, as well as with theaters and creative groups abroad: Teatr BRAMA (Poland); “Maps of fear/Maps of identity”; “My grandfather dug, my father dug, but I won’t” (Poland/Ukraine); TEATR POWSZECHNY im. Zygmunta Hübnera (Poland); Divadlo Pôtoň (Slovakia); Studio Ninja Guru (Austria); Teatr Współczesny (Poland).
07.2. (Sunday) 16:00
PIOTR ARMIANOVSKYI “HOW THE THEATER ‘TURNS’ PAIN INTO EXPERIENCE”
“After the full-scale Russian invasion, or as they say the “great war,” many Ukrainians are facing grief and pain. It accumulates every day and every night. Theater is one of the ways to transform one’s feelings, quite fast and effectively. For example, after the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014, the Immigrant Theater, PostPlay theater, forum, and playback theaters emerged in Kyiv, where amateurs and professionals played and reflected on various traumatic stories. In February-March 2022, many theaters became volunteer hubs and shelters. However, after some time, most of the teams returned to stage work. And in this difficult time of anxiety and shelling, new theatrical initiatives and productions appeared. Director, playwright, and performer Piotr Armianovskyi will talk about the challenges and meanings of creating plays and documentary performances. In particular, Piotr will share his research on independent Ukrainian theater in the 1990s, his own experience of interventions in Donetsk, projects at the Pereselenetsa Theater, and productions following the full-scale invasion.”
Piotr Armianovskyi (Donetsk, 1985) is a performer, director, and teacher. Piotr works with documentary film, theater, and virtual reality. Armianovskyi has participated in Manifesta 14, the Venice Biennale (2019), and is the winner of the II Biennale of Young Art (Kharkiv, 2019), as well as a laureate of Gaude Polonia (2020). After the Russian occupation of his hometown, he created several documentaries that won awards at various international festivals. Among his latest theatrical works are the play “Agora” at the Lviv Lesia Ukrayinka Theater, a testimonial performance “Coma,” and an audio tour to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
07.2. (Sunday) 18:00
ROUNDTABLE: “THE POLITICS OF MEMORY: HOW TO TALK ABOUT THE THEATER TODAY”
“Ukrainian culture, through the national mass media, is today saturated with clear rules for dealing with death, the deceased, victims, and forcibly displaced persons. These guidelines are understandable, acceptable, and partly therapeutic. However, from the experience of cultural anthropology, we know that it is precisely the rigid framework for dealing with the deceased and the lost that sets apart religious and archaic societies. In secular (modern) society, there are fewer of these practices and rules. In the absence of religious doctrine, rituals of mourning and commemoration can take on various forms. What scenarios of memory does modern theater offer? Archaic or secular? For which audience? How should we assess and evaluate them? Does war make theater worse? Does it become a tool of sacralization, enchantment, for our society?”
Discussion participants: Piotr Armianovskyi, Nina Khyzhna, Zoe Lafferty
Moderator: Dmytro Zaiets