THEATRE AS A WAY OF HEALING - Festival And Conference
Belgrade, 23 - 27. May 2003

IN NATIONAL THEATRE, CULTURAL CENTRE REX, BITEF THEATRE, DAH THEATRE RESEARCH CENTRE

The Festival and Conference "THEATRE AS A WAY OF HEALING" will gather an international group of artists and theoreticians that deal with the questions of healing and transformation of difficult experiences using theatre techniques.

These are particularly important questions for our country at this time, but also for the international community, considering the recent experiences in our world. During this Conference and Festival we will explore such questions as the role and power of theatre and art in dealing with themes of healing and reconciliation, the power of art in confronting crimes committed in our name, the ways of healing "wounds" still present from our region's recent sufferings, and the experiences of artists and people from other countries. The Festival will seek possible answers to these questions through its programs. The invited participants represent insightful, yet different approaches to these important subjects. It is also an opportunity for artists from our country, other countries and the audience to dialogue with one another, as well as witness one another in performance.

"Rituals and the practice of shamans are the roots of theatre. Herbs, the knowledge of cosmos and stars ,and the ceremonies of healing were the precedents of contemporary medicine. Art, and with it much of the theatre that we know today, has parted from these earlier practices, just as modern medicine and many aspects of our lives have also.

Our world is marked by a separation of different areas of knowledge and art but also there exists an inclination for them to connect and blend again. Contemporary theatre increasingly takes on the role of spiritual disciplines and its healing role is more and more evident.
In some way we are returning to the beginnings.''
Jadranka Andjelic

With this Festival and Conference we also wish to mark the beginning of the work of the DAH THEATRE RESEARCH CENTRE in their new space at Maruliceva Street No. 8 in Belgrade.

About the participants and the program
Program of festival