Dijani Milosevic, artistic director BREATH OF THE TEATER and professor at the Institute for Artistic Dance in Belgrade, on Thursday in Lisbon, the Helen Vaz de Silva special award for the defense and promotion of European values and culture was presented. This award to Dijana Milošević was awarded for the first time to a citizen of Serbia, and for the first time to an artist of the independent scene.
Helena Vaz de Silva is a Portuguese journalist, writer, activist and politician, and the award named after her was established by the Portuguese government in 2013 with the aim of raising public awareness of Europe's cultural heritage. German film director Wim Wenders, Turkish writer and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and Italian writer Claudio Magris are among those awarded so far.
"The right to freedom, to free opinion, to free speech and the right to diversity" are European values that Diana Milosevic singles out.
"All these values are threatened in our country and in the world. The same applies to the right to a safe life and the right to education. These are the values that we at the DAH Theater promote through all our performances, projects, festivals, ever since we were founded 31 years ago. I consider that to be our artistic mission."
The description of the award states that it is awarded for the defense of European values. From whom should they be defended?
"From all right-wing people, from those who claim that all people are not the same, from those with fascist tendencies. It is important that we understand once and for all that rights once won are not won forever. Reality constantly reminds us of that."
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo do Soza joined the ceremony at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation via video link, and the Portuguese Minister of Culture, Serbian Ambassador Ana Simić, members of the international jury, including Irina Subotic, president of Evropa Nostra Serbia, were present.
Dijana Milošević particularly points out the "presence of artists from the Portuguese independent scene", who "were delighted that with this award, for the first time, recognition was given to all those who are not tied to institutions and are therefore less visible".
"I don't know what else we need to do so that our work is valued in the same way as the work of colleagues in institutions," says Diana Milošević, talking about the life of the independent art scene in Serbia, and mentions that the DAH theater, as well-known in the world as Bitef, for example, "It doesn't even have a building, even though it has a repertoire and even though we organize international festivals." The state probably thinks, given that we've been working for nothing all these years, that we don't even need anything."
Thus, the introduction to the "Art and Human Rights" Festival will be held in Belgrade at the beginning of December, in which female artists from Iran will also participate.
In Lisbon yesterday, Diana Milošević called for hope in her speech on the occasion of the award.
"What could sustain us is the ability to imagine different situations, different futures." And this is what we can get through theater and culture - the ability to imagine and consciously decide not to accept what is happening. Consciously choosing hope over despair would be the first step toward the transformative action we need today."
How does he react to the domestic attitude that the success of an individual abroad is the success of the whole of Serbia?
"The award is a merit of the DAH Theatre. But we are from Serbia. And the values we promote and stand for are civilizational. There are no boundaries or self-control."
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