SARAJEVO: Randy Gener will serve as the U.S. juror of an international jury of leading artists, top editors and prominent critics of the 51st edition of the MESS Sarajevo International Theater Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the oldest international theatre festival in the Balkans.
This festival is produced by the National Theatre of Sarajevo, famously known as the Bosnian theater where Susan Sontag staged a production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in the midst of the Siege of Sarajevo in 1993. Sontag's production drew so much attention to the city's plight that many Bosnians believe it helped end the war. A square outside Sarajevo's national theater is dedicated to the U.S. writer and activist who died in 2004.
This year's MESS Sarajevo International Theater Festival takes place from September 30, 2010 until October 9, 2011, presenting 32 performances from all over the world in six festival categories.
Established in 1960 by Jurislav Korenic as the Festival of Small and Experimental Stages, MESS was one of the best theatre events promoting modern theatre expression in the former Yugoslavia. "MESS" stands for Small Experimental Stage.
Today, MESS (Međunarodni teatarski festival Mess) is the most significant annual celebration of theatre art in South-East Europe and takes place in Sarajevo in the second part of October. MESS also organises MEMORY MODUL, a project aiming to investigate the way artists deal with the experience of genocide and destruction.
Click here if you want to download the entire 2011 program.
For almost two weeks each October, the festival becomes a venue for artists to exhibit their art forms and have the opportunity to work with other young artists in order to explore and nourish artistic creation.
MESS Sarajevo festival aims to present works that integrate creative efforts of contemporary dancers and composers alike. By gathering these artists together and sharing their talents with Sarajevo's community of arts patrons, the festival feels it is making a contribution to the city's evolution.
"This is a festival with a poignantly international character, which helps us defeat ourselves and our environment, that carries the remnants of hard times," says Sarajevo Mayor Alija Behmen.
In fact, MESS Sarajevo had resisted during the seige of Sarajevo, without interrupting its efforts and even staging some historically significant plays, as well as the first film festival entitled "After the End of the World." As a result, MESS Sarajevo has gained a cult status.
In a 2010 address at the National Theatre, Čedo Kisić, one of the initiators and founders of MESS Sarajevo, recalled the words of Ivo Andrić, a Yugoslav novelist, short-story writer and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize. During the festival's earliest day, Andrić was flying from Sarajevo to attend the Nobel Prize Award ceremony in Stockholm.
Kisić remembered: "Reminiscing about the last time he was in Sarajevo, Andrić told me, 'I am pleased that Sarajevo is the host of a festival which has a future and manifold significance.'"
Since its establishment in March 1960 — throughout the days of siege and until today — MESS Sarajevo has remained a cultural and a historical phenomenon. The most important goal of the festival is to promote and advance the cultural particularity of the region, which includes openness to different ideas, views and artists from East and West, North and South.
The artistic director of MESS Sarajevo is Dino Mustafić.
All the plays performing in MESS Sarajevo - International Theater Festival will be subtitled in Bosnia and English. ###
Want to know more about Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Watch this YouTube video tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the informative website Discover Bosnia:
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| Poster of 2011 MESS Sarajevo |
This year's MESS Sarajevo International Theater Festival takes place from September 30, 2010 until October 9, 2011, presenting 32 performances from all over the world in six festival categories.
Established in 1960 by Jurislav Korenic as the Festival of Small and Experimental Stages, MESS was one of the best theatre events promoting modern theatre expression in the former Yugoslavia. "MESS" stands for Small Experimental Stage.
Today, MESS (Međunarodni teatarski festival Mess) is the most significant annual celebration of theatre art in South-East Europe and takes place in Sarajevo in the second part of October. MESS also organises MEMORY MODUL, a project aiming to investigate the way artists deal with the experience of genocide and destruction.
Click here if you want to download the entire 2011 program.
At a press conference in Sarajevo, it was announced that MESS Sarajevo will award Golden Laurel Wreaths Award for theatrical contribution to Catherine Cube, former prima ballerina of the Sarajevo National Theatre (the first non-theater artist to be recognized for lifetime achievement) and to Zarko Mijatovic, champion of the Bosnian National Theatre in Zenica. In addition, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade will receive a Golden Laurel Wreath given to arts institutions.
In addition to Gener, the main festival jury consists of Bosnian actress Goradana Boban, Mexico theater critic Fernando de Ita, director/scenographer from Turkey Nurul Tuncer, U.K. critic Ian Herbert, and editor of Croatian Radio Bujan Munjin.
In addition to Gener, the main festival jury consists of Bosnian actress Goradana Boban, Mexico theater critic Fernando de Ita, director/scenographer from Turkey Nurul Tuncer, U.K. critic Ian Herbert, and editor of Croatian Radio Bujan Munjin.
Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is also known as the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This country is located on the Balkan peninsula, which allows beautiful views, access to water sports and secluded mountainous resorts.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is bound by Croatia to the north, northwest and west — and by Montenegro and Serbia to the southeast, east and northeast. The Adriatic Sea attracts a good deal of tourists to this country's coast, especially the area near Neum.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is bound by Croatia to the north, northwest and west — and by Montenegro and Serbia to the southeast, east and northeast. The Adriatic Sea attracts a good deal of tourists to this country's coast, especially the area near Neum.
MESS Sarajevo – International Theater Festival presents the world's top productions (usually numbering 50 shows) in a variety of artistic disciplines, from several continents each year.
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| Puls (Netherlands), staged by Jolika Sudermann, presented at MESS Sarajevo 2010 | Photography by Vedad Divović |
For almost two weeks each October, the festival becomes a venue for artists to exhibit their art forms and have the opportunity to work with other young artists in order to explore and nourish artistic creation.
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| Life With an Idiot by Ukranian director Andriey Zholdak (Romania), presented at MESS Sarajevo 2010 |
MESS Sarajevo festival aims to present works that integrate creative efforts of contemporary dancers and composers alike. By gathering these artists together and sharing their talents with Sarajevo's community of arts patrons, the festival feels it is making a contribution to the city's evolution.
"This is a festival with a poignantly international character, which helps us defeat ourselves and our environment, that carries the remnants of hard times," says Sarajevo Mayor Alija Behmen.
In a 2010 address at the National Theatre, Čedo Kisić, one of the initiators and founders of MESS Sarajevo, recalled the words of Ivo Andrić, a Yugoslav novelist, short-story writer and the 1961 winner of the Nobel Prize. During the festival's earliest day, Andrić was flying from Sarajevo to attend the Nobel Prize Award ceremony in Stockholm.
Kisić remembered: "Reminiscing about the last time he was in Sarajevo, Andrić told me, 'I am pleased that Sarajevo is the host of a festival which has a future and manifold significance.'"
The artistic director of MESS Sarajevo is Dino Mustafić.
All the plays performing in MESS Sarajevo - International Theater Festival will be subtitled in Bosnia and English. ###
Want to know more about Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Watch this YouTube video tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the informative website Discover Bosnia:
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