19. 10. 2009.

Oskar Danon Opens the MESS

A press conference on the occasion of the official launch of the 49^th MESS International Theatre Festival was held this Friday, 16 October 2009, and was hosted by MESS Festival Director Dino Mustafić, the Festival's selector Giorgio Ursini Uršić and the directress of the play Hell on Earth, the Festival’s opening performance, Constanza Macras.

The press conference was an opportunity to present the concept of this year’s Festival opening ceremony, as well as the selection process. Mr. Dino Mustafić announced that the MESS Festival Head Office had decided to launch a campaign entitled “MESS for Mostar”, which will give all Festival participants, who come to the MESS from 13 countries around the world,  the chance to sign a petition and thus react to the government’s poor treatment of culture and cultural institutions of this country. The petition will be sent to all government agencies, from the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the cantonal and city authorities of the Herzegovina- Neretva Canton. In addition, the MESS Festival Office will also address a request to the European Parliament of Culture to issue a resolution regarding the approach of BiH authorities towards institutions of culture. Mustafić also announced that he would use his mandate in the European Parliament of Culture to propose this resolution at the Parliament’s session in Gothenburg, which will be held in December this year.

Mustafić also announced that the common thread of this year’s Festival would be the idea, or rather, the imperative, of freedom. In light of this, the Festival will, in cooperation with the Youth Human Rights Initiative, also host a series of roundtables to discuss the Festival’s key topics, which will also include young social activists from the region. The roundtables will be held at the Hotel Bosna between 20 and 22 October 2009 at 14.00, and will focus on the following issues: Freedom of Identity (guest: Enver Kazaz, Professor of Literature, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo), Freedom of the Individual (guest: Ugo Vlaisavljević, Doctor of Philosophy, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo), and World and Utopia (guest: Sulejman Bosto, Professor of Ontology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo).

This year, the MESS Festival will for the first time present the “Sound of MESS” Award for achievement in stage sound quality, the musicality of expression and functionality of music in a performance. This Award serves to demonstrate the significance of these aspects of theatre, and follows world trends. The Award itself was initiated by Radio Sarajevo, a sponsor and friend of the MESS Theatre Festival. Also announced at this press conference were three workshops for students of theatre from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia: Pentjak-Silat, by Charles E. Renoult of the Netherlands, Composition of a performance: Repetition, duration, development, by British theatre-worker John Freeman of Great Britain, as well as Basics of NO Theatre, led by Masato Matsuura from France.

Starting tomorrow, the MESS Festival will, after each press conference, also host roundtables of theatre criticism, at 12.00 every day of the Festival, moderated, like last year, by Mr. Bojan Munjin.

Festival Selector Giorgio Ursini Uršić stated that the process of selecting the plays to appear at this year’s Festival was not simple, but was a great success in the end. Within each Festival category, BiH Premieres, World MESS, Children MESS and Mittel Europe, there are a number of top plays, which are closely connected to the Festival’s main idea. Ursini also pointed out that it was very important that the Festival had a very strong regional dimension. In addition, Ursini also expressed his belief that next year’s anniversarial 50^th edition will uphold the quality of MESS in the past decades and be in tune with the most current ideas. The selector also announced that his year’s Festival will be opened by an outstanding production of the dance and music theatre troupe Dorky Park, which fits the Festival’s concept perfectly. Its cast, alongside professional dancers, also includes youths from the streets of a dangerous Köln neighbourhood.

Also addressing the members of the press present was the director of the production, Constanza Macras, who spoke about her work with the young people from the streets, and their integration into the professional cast, and also addressed the fact of how these young amateur actors use the play to confront contemporary problems, such as expressing their sexuality, emigration and the search for a place in today’s society.

At the end of the conference, Dino Mustafić announced that the first recepient of this year’s MESS Golden Laurel Wreath is Oskar Danon, one of the founders of the “Colegium Artisticum”, the home of the Otvoreno pozorište (Open Theatre) troupe, known for its avant-garde approach to theatre, which was the antecedent of Sarajevo’s Chamber Theatre ’55- the birthplace of the MESS. In this way, the Festival wishes to express its respect for tradition and avant-garde. The ninety-six-year-old Oskar Danon was also given the honour to open this year’s, the 49^th edition of the MESS Festival. The second recipient of the Golden Laurel Wreath Award will be revealed on 18 October.