"I want to believe that the thesis we often hear about how our society is in the terminal phase of decay is really true this time. I hope this is the last no:Bitef before the real Bitef returns home," says Anja Suša, participant of no:Bitef
On Sunday, September 20th, not:Bitef will mark the 60th anniversary of Bitef in Belgrade. It will be celebrated throughout the city, in 60 places, on 60 micro-stages. There will be more than 100 participants who, over the years, have enabled Bitef to be Bitef, avant-garde, open, brave and progressive, to be a benchmark of the contemporary theater scene.
Anja Suša is one of them - Bitef coach, award-winning director with a series of directors in Europe, director of the "Duško Radović" theater for many years, Belef selector, has lived in Sweden for years, where she teaches theater direction at the University of the Arts in Stockholm.
She responded to the invitation of the ne:Bitefa team in addition to other current engagements. Why?
"Because I deeply believe that this is the place where I have to be at this moment. There is no more important artistic and life project at this moment than not: Bitef", he says for "Vreme".
Tim no:Bitefa describes the festival as a guerilla endeavor, and the public perceives it in the same way. About the fact that Bitef's values, what he is, must be
realized outside the institution, Anja Suša says that "everyone is clear to what extent the official institutions are occupied - I'm sorry to have to use such a difficult word, but I can't think of any less aggressive one at the moment", which led to the no:Bitef.
"Institutions that have been completely devastated for years have become a breeding ground for political cadres, who, to put it mildly, know nothing about the work they do, and what's worse is that they are not even interested in the work itself. The profession is on its knees and does not ask for anything. Political reprisals are being carried out against artists who disagree with the current government and who engage in activism. The budget for culture, which began to decrease while I was leading cultural institutions in Serbia, is getting closer zero. So, when it comes to Serbian culture, we have been in steep decline for about fifteen years. I want to believe that the thesis that we often hear about how our society is in a terminal phase is really true this time.
Anja Suša says that "there is no doubt that no:Bitef is 'the Bitef'. The very fact that such a broad anti-hierarchical initiative can be organized so quickly and with such high quality, with the presence of a large number of top international artists and the explosion of the imagination of microstage curators, says a lot about the status of the original Bitef and that it is much more than a place and an office - this year the whole city and its citizens will become Bitef".
"Honestly, I don't know of any other example of decentralized curation of a theater festival that was organized so quickly. I read these days what all the people choose as the theme of their microspaces as well as in which locations the events take place, and I think it's very impressive. I wish I could see literally everything. I'm sure that very soon no:Bitef will become part of the official Bitef narrative, and that this official Bitef will be understood as an anomaly within a programming and of the ethical continuity of this festival. And I am especially pleased by how many people responded to the invitation - which disproves the thesis that Bitef was never really understood or accepted. To paraphrase Borut Šeparović from the interview he gave me - the fact that Bitef is taking place this year further confirms the idea of rebellion that has been the essence of this festival."
For no:Bitef, Anja Suša chose to present the program platform of Bitef dedicated to the post-YU region (2006-2016), as a reminder of the introduction of the regional platform into the main selection of Bitef during her mandate (in cooperation with Jovan Ćirilov), through conversations with Borut Šeparović, Oliver Frljić and Ivan Sajko.
Anja Suša now assesses "that it was a very wise and deeply grounded decision that proved to be valuable in the long term. Opening the festival according to regional artistic practices, while at the same time presenting productions from the rest of the world, is a completely normal way of programming a festival in the new millennium."
He says that "instead of fragmenting their own cultural identities, we tried to create a platform for their consolidation and visibility beyond local spheres. And it worked. So many post-Yugoslav artists who presented their work at Bitef got international visibility precisely because of this." "Unfortunately, we suffer from an inferiority complex - which is shown by the slightly dusty, if you will, post-colonial idea that real art is somewhere else and that ours is, therefore, less valuable. I have always thought completely differently. It should also be added that this concept has been harshly criticized in the media and in certain cultural circles who have defined it as the provincialization of Bitef, and today, on this very occasion, we have the opportunity to see that many microstages are dedicated to artists represented within that selection".
In the second part of the program that he will curate, there is a conversation with FDU students about their view of the past of this area, which they know from the stories of older generations.
Anja Suša hopes for "two-way communication in the true sense of the word. The idea is to question the thesis put forward by the philosopher Mark Fischer about how the past is resold to those who have learned nothing from it. I am less interested in talking about Bitef's past and far more interested in hearing how new generations of artists who will be future Bitef participants or audiences see the past from which Bitef comes, and with the experience of the previous two years of student protests."
No: Bitef and the Niš Film Festival are examples of resistance to the abuse of culture in
political purposes. The guardians of real culture do not have the power possessed by those who would
is molded into its borders. Who will win?
"He will win as well as always - we just don't know when yet. There is something very powerful in the strength of a community that has lost patience because it previously lost everything else, above all human dignity. I am more interested in what will happen after the victory and how we will build together again. Not only Bitef", concludes Anja Suša.
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