The Archive of Knowledge

within the framework of JUSTLAB project

https://justlab-online.eu/

English The Archive of Knowlege-3

The Archive of Knowledge is an online platform which presents the laboratory theatre production process undertaken during the creation of the play, The Passage, a key component of the international project, The Paradox of Justice – European Laboratory Theatre Co-production (JUSTLAB).

By sharing our collection of written and visual material from every phase – from inception to wrap-up – of production of The Passage, the Archive of Knowledge serves as a resource for other theatres in Europe and globally, including those working with deaf artists.

On the platform, you will find:

  • A handbook, Strategy of Implementation of Methodologies, focusing on laboratory theatre
  • A video collection which includes:
  • Work-in-progress videos made by each partner
  • Three documentary films:
    • Pre-creative Methodology of the Laboratory Theatre Process
    • Creative Methodology of the Laboratory Theatre Process
    • Paradox of Justice – Reflections on Anthropocentrism
  • A filmed performance of The Passage
  • The Artists Speak – a collection of writings, interviews, sketches, etc. made by individuals involved in the project which documents their reflections and experiences of the creative process.

Materials are available in English, Polish, German, and Serbian, while the three documentary films are interpreted into International Sign Language.

Although JUSTLAB project is coming to its conclusion, we are pleased that learning and sharing from our artistic process can carry on through the Archive of Knowledge platform.  

The Paradox of Justice – European Laboratory Theatre Co-production (JUSTLAB), is a project implemented under the Creative Europe program, and led by PLAVO Theatre, a theatre laboratory from Serbia, in partnership with Theaterlabor Bielefeld from Germany and the Grotowski Institute from Poland. Through knowledge sharing and transnational cooperation and collaboration, the project aimed at promoting values of laboratory theatre, and providing conditions for innovative laboratory practices to develop. It also aimed to increase accessibility and participation of disadvantaged groups to cultural events. The main activities included laboratory work to create a play, The Passage; testing methodologies with local audiences, particularly disadvantaged groups; performing The Passage in all three countries, with interpretation into Sign language and a live stream available; and creating the online Archive of Knowledge.

By triggering a critical reaction to various aspects of injustice in contemporary Europe in audience members, The Passage aimed to raise awareness, enhance dialogue and empathy, and promote societal resilience. More than 50 people participated in the production and performances, including theatre directors, a dramaturge, actors, stage and costume designers, videographers, photographers, interpreters, technicians, a web designer, communication professionals, managers, producers, organizers, and volunteers from the three partner countries. The co-production was performed in Wroclaw, Belgrade, and Bielefeld between February and June 2024, while the livestream has been watched by over 6,500 viewers thus far.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

THE PASSAGE

 

European Laboratory Theatre Co-production within the framework of JUSTLAB project (page of the project on this website)

 April 4, 2024, at 8 PM, Centre for Cultural Decontamination (CZKD), Birčaninova 21, Belgrade

 PLAVO Theatre – Theaterlabor Bielefeld – Grotowski Institute (Teatr ZAR)

 

When we think about justice, we think of some kind of balance. Whether it is human beings seeking a balance with nature and all creatures living on this planet, or the idea of justice in social and political life, or even the general desire for harmony. All of the above touch on one need: the courage to rebel, to change, to go through a passage.

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All of us who are not satisfied with the world we live in and who long for a better one carry within themselves a feeling of a lack of justice. This disturbing momentum in our souls keeps calling for a rebellion. This rebellion, however, can never lead to victory. It is a rebellion that we cannot live with, but we cannot live without it. This paradox is what makes us human in a world where machines are overpowering the spirit and where there is less and less empathy. 

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PLAVO Theatre – theatre laboratory
Directing and dramaturgy Nenad Čolić / Performers Masa Jelic, Dejan Stojković, Marko Potkonjak, Svetlana Ivanov / Costume designer Ivana Čolić / Project manager Dubravka Vujinović / Video and photography Jelena Mitrović, Nikola Mitrović, Anđela Đokić, Anđela Petrovski / Text Franc Kafka, Antonin Artaud, Anna Akhmatova / Music songs of Rosa Balistreri

Theaterlabor Bielefeld
Director Indira Heidemann / Dramaturge Ninke Overbeek / Performers Thomas Behrend, Stefanie Taubert, Alina Tinnefeld / Video and photography Jörn Josiek / Stage designer Ralf Bensel / Project administration: Ralph Würfel (nützlich + schön Kulturbüro) / Text inspired by Frederik Mathias Alexander, Donna Haraway, Richard Wagner

 Grotowski Institute – Teatr ZAR
Dramaturge and director Jarosław Fret / Performers Katya Egorova, Aleksandra Kugacz-Semerci, Mertcan Semerci, Monika Wachowicz / Lights Maciej Mądry / Project manager Jarosław Siejkowski

Photo by: Tobiasz Papuczys

The performance is accessible to deaf spectators through provided translation into Sign language.

Performance The Passage is created as part of the international Creative Europe co-financed project The Paradox of Justice – European Laboratory Theatre Co-production (JUSTLAB), led by PLAVO Theatre – theatre laboratory from Serbia with partner organizations Theaterlabor Bielefeld from Germany and the Grotowski Institute from Poland. The Projects’ main activities include laboratory work in performance creation, testing methodologies with local audiences, particularly disadvantaged groups, performing in 3 countries including a live stream online and interpretation into Sign language, and making an online Archive of Knowledge.

The Paradox of Justice – JUSTLAB

https://justlab-online.eu/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090769350231

https://www.instagram.com/justlab_theatre_coproduction/

 „Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”

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EXPANSION OF LIFE – MANIFESTO

Public presentation of the educational-creative project of inclusion of young people with disabilities „Ode to Diversity 2“

  • Plavo pozorište, Miloša Pocerca street 23a, Beograd 8.12.2023. at 20:00
  • Cultural centre of Zrenjanin, Narodne omladine street 1 , Zrenjanin 10.12.2023. at 19:00
  • Student Cultural Centre Kragujevac, Radoja Domanovića street 12 13.12.2023. at 19:00

Plakat B2

Educators: Maša Jelić, Marko Potkonjak

Participants: Bogdan Bogosavljević, Tašana Dejanović, Dušan Dobrosavljević, Andrijana Jelić, Vasilije Kojić, Vukašin Kuzmanović, Aleksandra Novitović, Jovana Plavšić, Nikoleta Stanišić, Ilija Urošević

Coordinator: Dubravka Vujinović

Design of primting material: Ivana Čolić

Photography: Andrijana Pajović

Technican: Dejan Stojković

Supervision: Nenad Čolić

Partners: Academic Inclusive Association, Cultural Centre of Zrenjanin and Student Cultural Centre Kragujevac

The prezentation „EXSPANSION OF LIFE – MANIFESTO“ was created as a result of educational-creative project of inclusion of young people with dissabilities „Ode to Diversity 2“. Through training in the field of contemporary theatre techniques, young people were given the means to share their thoughts about the world they live in, their rebellions, ambitions, dreams in a creative way.

We found inpiration in avant-gard Serbian art between the two wars, especially in Zenitism, as a space of activism, experimentation, moving boundaries, rejecting rules and conventions, discovering, questioning the meaning of personal and social reality. As in Ljubomir Micic’s zenitist manifesto, also in this creative process everything happens with the goal of contact with immediate life. Maša Jelić

„Our path is only forward – through everything that has been. Down fade traditions, systems and borders! Limits are for the limited! We’re going… we’re going. We travel from chaos to create the act.“ Ljubomir Micić

Пројекат: „Ода различитости 2, едукативно-креативни пројекат инклузије mINISTARSTVO LOGOмладих особа са хендикепом” спроводи: ПЛАВО позориште – позоришна лабораторија финансира: Министарство туризма и омладине Републике Србије.

The views expressed in this work are the sole responsibility of the author and his collaborators and do not represent the official position of Ministry of Turism and Youth and of Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade.

AIA logo BG-osnovnigrb KCZR logo ENG SKC KG LATINICA

 

“I PSYCHI TIS ANTIGONIS” AT GROTOWSKI INSTITUTE, WROCLAW

From October 31 until November 6, 2023, PLAVO Theatre was invited by the Grotowski Institute to travel to Wroclaw, Poland, to participate at Teatr ZAR XX anniversary as special guests within the premises of the Institute.

The Grotowski Institute is a municipal arts institution committed to documenting and disseminating knowledge about Jerzy Grotowski and his Laboratory Theatre as well as hosting events corresponding to the ideas laid down by Grotowski’s creative practice. The Grotowski Institute has four venues and the primary one is the historical home of the Laboratory Theatre in Przejście Żelaźnicze in Wrocław’s Market Square (Rynek), where PLAVO Theatre was honored to perform.

Teatr ZAR is a multinational group that was formed during annual research expeditions to Georgia between 1999 and 2003. During these expeditions, they collected a wealth of musical material, including a core of centuries-old polyphonic songs that have their roots in the beginning of the human era and are probably the oldest forms of polyphony in the world.

The cooperation between PLAVO Theatre and the Grotowski Institute and Teatr ZAR dates from 2001, and it has been realized through participation at different festivals, meetings and conferences, and recently through a mutual international cooperation project.

PLAVO Theatre was honored to perform its latest theatrical production, I PSYCHI TIS ANTIGONIS, on the occasion of Teatr ZAR’s XX anniversary in the historical Laboratory Space and to share it with numerous colleagues and friends. The performance is based on “Three Guineas” by Virginia Woolf and Sophocles “Antigone”. It is an antiwar performance inspired by the ideas of Equality, Justice and Freedom, a performance with an inclusive approach, equally accessible for deaf and hearing audience.

Apart from performing on November 4, during its visit to Wroclaw, PLAVO Theatre realized different meetings and presentations with colleagues from Poland and Germany between November 2 and 5.

The travel mobility was supported byza sajt logoi

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I PSYCHI TIS ANTIGONIS as part of the global campaign “Orange the World – 16 days of activism against gender-based violence”

As part of the global campaign “Orange the World – 16 days of activism against gender-based violence”, which is implemented in Serbia by the EU Delegation, PLAVO Theatre will perform the inclusive performance I PSYCHI TIS ANTIGONIS, which will also mark the International Day of Persons with Dissabilities, on December 4 from 7:30 PM in its space at Milosa Pocerca 23a in Belgrade.

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KONAČNO PLAKAT FACEBOOK.cdr

Scenario and directing: Nenad Čolić

Performed by: Maša Jelić, Dejan Stojković, Marko Potkonjak, Vera Jovanović

Scenery and costume, visual identity: Ivana Čolić

Executive manager: Dubravka Vujinović

Photography: Andrijana Pajović

„U ovom svetu u kojem živimo i koji poznajemo, ili bar mislimo da ga poznajemo, svaki muškarac je na neki način „Vladar“ i svaka žena je u izvesnoj meri „Feministkinja“. Samo je pitanje koliko su to osvestili, ili koliko to žele da osveste. Te dve pozicije su suprotstavljene, stoje jedna naspram druge u odnosu konfrontacije, jer Vladar teži dominaciji, a Feministkinja tome pruža otpor i teži odnosu jednakosti dve ravnopravne strane.“                                                                       Nenad Čolić

 The performance is accessible to deaf spectators using Sign language. Free entrance.

Registration is required due to the limited number of places: plavopozoriste@gmail.com, 061 192 79 09.

https://europa.rs/stop-nasilju-nad-zenama-i-devojcicama/

TWO OPEN WEEKS OF PLAVO THEATRE 2022

Belgrade, September 10-24, 2022

Two Open Weeks of PLAVO Theatre is an international practical and theoretical program for people interested in working inside a theatrical laboratory through the specific methodology of PLAVO Theatre. Our aim is to share with participants the idea of theatre as a place of communication, a place of self-researching, and a space of open mind where some important things about us and the world that surrounds us could be said.

The program will consist of two main programs, and two workshops, and participants will be able to participate in the whole program or in the workshop of their choice.

The program is open to professional and semi-professional actors, directors, other theatre artists, dancers, as well as theatre and dance students but also all other people who are interested in theatre or self-research with the help of theatrical tools.

The program Two Open Weeks of PLAVO Theatre was created out of the need to bring closer laboratory theatre work to international and Serbian participants and to make the theatrical laboratory a place of intercultural communication, theatrical exchange, and development. The program has been realized in Belgrade since 2004, gathering participants from three continents.

LOGO CEIDue to the support of the donors who sustained the program, this year there will be support provided (accommodation and travel costs) for participants coming from the Central European region.

 Program

  • September 10, 20:00  Closed session
  • September 17, 21:00 SHEOL/שאול a guest performance by Monika Wachowicz and Jaroslaw Fret, Poland, produced by the Grotowski Institute, Poland.
  • September 24, 20:00 Presentation, PLAVO Theatre

The program will be held in English.

The additional (evening) program is subject to change.

REGISTRATION

Thanks to the support of the donors who sustained the program, we will provide additional support (accommodation and travel costs) for participants coming from Central European countries:

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Serbia. Special support is provided for participants from Ukraine.

Please contact us for information including additional support, fees, registration form, or any practical information. E-mails:

plavopozoriste@gmail.com / plavopozoriste@hotmail.com

Two Open Weeks 2022 Registration form (download link)

Note: The number of participants is limited. There is no specific application deadline. After sending us the registration form and getting a confirmation from us about their participation, interested participants should pay the fee to our bank account in order to book their place.

HELP PLAVO THEATRE AT A PRECIPICE

Dear friends of art,

Our existence as an independent theatre organization has always been a struggle in a country like Serbia, that does little to support culture out of the mainstream, with a population that can barely make ends meet. From the very beginning, we have been operating in survival mode, shifting from one space to another, like nomads. In the past, we were always able to find a way to patch up our finances, mainly by way of various national and international cultural grants.

However, two unfortunate events have brought us to a precipice.

  1. We have been evicted from the space we had rented for the past decade, as the building we worked in with a host of other independent cultural groups was sold by the government to a private real estate developer.
  2. COVID-19 has literally devastated the cultural scene in Serbia, as it has all over the world.

We found ourselves on the street, without any possibility to continue our work. Quitting was not an option, however, we were very lucky to find a beautiful, but run down house in downtown Belgrade, built at the end of the 19th century, perfect for initiating a new independent cultural community in Belgrade.

This is where we need your help. The house requires a lot of adaptation and renovation work, such as fixing the heating, plumbing, electricity and a new floor in one part of the house. We also need to secure resources such as additional theatrical lighting, audio equipment, seating, and curtains in order to be able to stage our performances.

Without these interventions, it is impossible for us to start our work and the clock is ticking. We are literally living on borrowed time and funds.

Dear friends, we invite you to help us create a new home for our theatre and a gathering place for independent culture, where you and all people who hold the arts close to heart are welcome.

To donate, please head over to our GoFundMe campaign page >>

Initiative – Inclusion – Interaction

Contemporary Theatre for Active Youth

 December 15, 2019 – January 15, 2022

 

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The project Initiative – Inclusion – Interaction, Contemporary Theatre for Active Youth is an international Erasmus+ co-funded project realized by 6 partner organizations from 5 countries – Serbia, Germany, North Macedonia, Poland and Switzerland.

The project is directed towards strengthening of youth through active doing, engagement and exchange using theatre as a powerful tool in social work.

 The project aims at:

  • Raising sense of initiative, engagement and development of active role in society among young people;
  • Contribution to the inclusion of three groups of youth with fewer opportunities – young deaf and hard of hearing youth, young migrants/asylum seekers and young inmates and sensitizing of the majority of population for the needs of those groups;
  • Strengthening capacities of organizations which apply theatrical techniques in the work with the youth.

The project was prepared on the basis of good results of the previous Erasmus+ co-funded project which was undertook by almost all consortium members in 2017 and 2018 titled Theatre – Encounter, Inclusion, Action. New project is a step further into deeper work with young people including youth with fewer opportunities with impacts on local, national and international levels.

The project is in concordance with Erasmus+ Inclusion and Diversity Strategy, as well as with EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 in areas of social inclusion, participation in civil society, education and training and creativity and culture.

Project coordinator isPlavo Theatre – theatre laboratory, Belgrade, Serbia, and partners are Cultural Association of the Deaf of Belgrade “RadivojPopovic”, Belgrade/ Serbia, Theaterlabor, Bielefeld/ Germany, Intimate Theatre, Bitola/ Macedonia, Jubilo Foundation, Wroclaw/ Poland and University of Zurich/ Switzerland.

After a break with project activities from March until December 2020 caused by Covid-19 pandemic, all organizations have continued their local theatrical work with young people since the beginning of 2021,including students, young deaf and hard of hearing people, young migrants/asylum seekers, young inmates and young people in general. Continuous theatrical work in duration of several months will result inperformances which will be publically presented in all project cities in autumn, as well as within Youth Theatre Festival in Belgrade in October 2021. We are looking forward to a working summer ahead of us with two youth mobility exchanges in Belgrade and Bitola in June/July 2021, and a mobility for theatrical pedagogues in Bielefeld in July/August 2021.

Please, visit the web page of the project.

RITUAL OF INCLUSION

A project against discrimination of people with disabilities

Podržano od strane logo MOS

Plavo Theatre, in cooperation with The Association of Students with Disabilities, with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Republic of Serbia, in the period from September to December, 2020, realized the project “Ritual of inclusion – project against discrimination of people with disabilities”. The project happened as a natural continuation of the cooperation with ASD, which started in 2019, through a six-day workshop in which the participants were students with disabilities and young people without disabilities. The result was a mutual desire to continue this kind of work.

The goals of this project are to contribute to the inclusion and improvement of the quality of life of young people with disabilities, as well as young people in general, to their active participation and greater visibility in the cultural and public life of the community.

The entire project is designed so that the use of contemporary theatre techniques creates conditions for a deeper interaction of young people with disabilities and young people without disabilities, which we believe is very important for an inclusive approach of the whole project. Through this kind of work and thematic framework that derives directly from their life experiences and situations, young people, participants in the project, are enabled to find their personal expression. In this way, not only do young people with disabilities have the opportunity to share, in a creative way, their views, problems, attitudes on important topics in their lives with young people without disabilities, but they also have the opportunity to guide through personal relationships and, in some way to educate young people without disabilities on all relevant matters related to the population of people with disabilities. This is what we can call knowledge transfer, and it is in this type of knowledge transfer that we see the core of an inclusive approach to work.

The work resulted in a short inclusive documentary “Ritual of Inclusion”, which enabled greater visibility and accessibility of the project results to the general public. The aim of the film is to bring the life of people with disabilities closer to the general public in Serbia, in an interesting and creative way, in order to educate and change discriminatory attitudes about people with disabilities in a relationship of respect and tolerance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5P9EzUhcs0&t=18s