Name of the performance: Umetnik je odsutan!
The project was supported by: City of Pančevo, Ministry of Culture and Information, Belgrade Dance Institute
Premiere date: December 5th at 7:30 p.m
Place: Cultural Center Pančevo
Duration of the play: 1 hour
The world has changed. He changed all of us. We all went through the same thing during closures and lockdowns, exposed to restrictive measures, which affected both individuals and society. Darwin stated that the animal species that will survive is not the one that is the strongest, but the one that adapts the fastest. It’s the same with people.
DDT – the creative center for movement had an interesting challenge this season – to combine contemporary dance, conceptual art and theater. The contemporary dance performance Umetnik je odsutan!, follows the daily lives of artists from different branches, from different parts of the world, during the lockdown. The action of the play is led by Nikola and Ena, young artists who, just a few days before the lockdown, invested everything in order to rent a studio apartment and start a life together, going through all the obstacles that a modern closed lifestyle brings.
How an artist can adapt to working from home, online – zoom classes, remote classes, disrupted existence and other challenges is the topic of our performance. Those problems are still present, because art is difficult to fit into an online frame. The contemporary dance expression, along with the numerous choreographic and directorial tools we used and the choice of comedy as a genre, makes it easy to understand the performance.
This performance is also an ironic review of conceptual art, which sells for big bucks in the world today. What should artists do who have been living and working in Serbia for decades, educating young dancers and artists in a domestic environment where, even without a pandemic, existence is impossible?
Choreography and directing: Katarina Stojković, Tijana Malek, Luka Stojković
Video editing: Katarina Stojković and Luka Stojković
Music: Danilo Stojković
Production: DDT-creative center for movement