Marta Navaridas / Alex Deutinger (AT): YOUR MAJESTIES

20. 9.,21:30 @ performance (50′) @ &TD big hall

In Your Majesties, Navaridas & Deutinger present President Barack Obama’s Nobel Lecture, held at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo. The performer Alex Deutinger recites the legendary speech of the President of the United States. From behind the audience, Marta Navaridas performs as a gesturing puppeteer, manipulating and guiding his movements. The President´s speech is revived, a piece of World History is updated and the techniques of political rhetoric are laid bare in a surprisingly clear and simple way. A fascinating dance about war, peace, and hope.

Marta Navaridas (San Sebastián, Spain) studied Translation at Pompeu Fabra University Barcelona, Choreography at ArtEZ University Arnhem and Mime at HKA Amsterdam. Alex Deutinger (Salzburg, Austria) studied Translation at Karl-Franzens University Graz and Contemporary Dance at the Institute for Dance Arts (IDA) of Anton Bruckner University Linz.

They have been developing text-based performance works since 2007. They are based in Graz, Austria.

Concept and performance: Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger

Text: Barack Obama and Jon Favreau

With the support of Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark and Bundeskanzleramt. Tour in Zagreb is part of apap- Performing Europe 2020 project, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Part of Austrian Artists´ Focus with the support of Austrian Cultural Forum in Zagreb and “DANCE ON TOUR AUSTRIA-a project by Tanzquartier Wien in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs”

 

1.What would you say Goodbyeto in the social and political context of your own city and country?

When commissions or boards are configured according to their political affiliation rather than according to their actual expertise in a given field, we face the problem that people take decisions on how to regulate practices and events within a field that they know little about, while those people who are most affected by their decisions or those who would actually know about the specific field are not in any way made part of the discussion.

I would say Goodbye to that.

I would say Goodbye to finance experts deciding on artistic development strategies, male politicians deciding on abortion laws, circus acrobats deciding on tax regulations, kindergarten children deciding on labour regulations, Catholic priests deciding on sexual education, ethnic majority representatives deciding on ethnic minority laws, giant corporations deciding on environmental standards…

2.What would you say are good (positive) practices of cultural politics in your city and country? What impact did the implementation of these practices have on the cultural scene in your city and country?

In my hometown San Sebastián, Basque Country (Spain) there exists an institution called TABAKALERA, it used to be tobacco factory and since 2015 it is a public cultural venue subsidised by the three local and regional governmental institutions. The building contains exhibition halls, a multi-purpose plaza, a multi-purpose hall, a cinema theatre, a creation library, media labs, spaces for art creation, a cafeteria, a residence for artists, and a four star hotel. It also hosts the headquarters of several local cultural institutions. What is remarkable about this institution, is that  it has not only become a new home for art and creation in the middle of the city, but it has successfully managed to create a dialogue between the art and the local citizens by keeping the doors always open to its interior, keeping the facilities free of charge, reducing the prices of the events to the minimum and inviting all kinds of audiences to every event. The visitors of this new multidisciplinary art center are not only artists, curators and art-interested audience but also teenagers that look for a place to talk and spend the afternoon, family with children who look for a place where they don’t have to consume to be able to stay, old people who might not know the name of the author of the exhibition but are happy to walk and discover, as long as they don’t have to pay. When it rains, it’s a perfect place to be, too. This institution has proven that art and culture can be a concern of many citizens if the place where it takes place is accessible and the price for its visit is affordable. They made a CULTURAL PLAZA where people are interested in art and art is interested in the people.