EXPLORING THE POTENTIALS OF DRAMA AND ITS POWER IN THE NEW THEATRICAL TRENDS AND NEW HARMONIES OF THE REGIONAL COOPERATION

As usual, during the searching for the approach that would express (in the right way) our belief in the drama power, we had a plenty of ideas and solutions, and then we decided to focus on one we are going to explore and discover in it those potentials that conference emphasizes as something that is attentionworthy, worthy of exchange and communal engagemant.

We are going to focus on one big, theatrical manifestation, one festival that has existed for forty years. As it grows and develops, this festival, constantly follows, maintains and explores the newest theatrical trends. As one of the most important festivals on theatre world map and one of the cultural institutions of our country, exceeding political and cultural borders, this festival is both specific intercultural history and the future of theatre.

It is Belgrade International Theatre Festival of new theatrical trends, the festival that is called – BITEF.

This festival in the society in which it was created, represents the untraditional appearance, and for the world, one artistic praxis that with its duration and influences discovers one specific concept of sobsisting through trubulent reality. The festival and our activities through BITEF Poliphony, is going to be the base for exchange of our believes in the drama and theatre power with participants from the whole world of this conference.

BITEF Poliphony is the official following program of the BITEF Festival. It promotes new theatrical and drama trends in education and other social fields, especially focusing on the communal engagement of the artists, teachers and other experts in work with young people. The name – Polyphony, this program inherited from one intercultural project that has promoted the strengthening of the unity in the diversity.

The BITEF Poliphony was held for the first time, during the BITEF Festival in 2000. as a presentation and evaluation of twenty seven projects „Play against Violence“ that are realized as a part of the program „The Art for Social Changes“ of European Fondation for culture from Amsterdam with support of Fundation for Open Society in seven countries of South-eastern Europe. The first BITEF Poliphony was intended for the artist and their role in the work with young people in the conditions of crisis, war and conflicts..The focus is on the strengthening through the theatre. The aim was reestablishing the values and importance of the cooperation and the exchange in the region, and especially towards the space that in this moment is called West Balkan.

Keeping back the name BITEF Poliphony, this program, from the very begining, with its name, was simbolically conected with specific, complex music form that has become and stayed conceptial sign, so according to this, its program (as one big, complex, composional game) is always composed on this principle: through power and strength that is given by multi-voice, multisonority and contrapunt.

And it is not coincidence that this play was followed, from the start, by theoretical thesis that Douglas Hofstadter published in his book „ Godel, Escher, Bach – an Eternal Golden Braid“, discovering his three – part inventions and the power of miracle connections within three, we can say, totally diferent fields Mathematics, Painting and Music.

Three-part inventions of BITEF Poliphony have become some kind of program metafors. With „its strange loops“, and especially with its paradox and dilemmas, that inevitably follow this phenomena. Bitef Poliphony explores the potentials and the power of drama and theatre, exactly in the joints that are created in the contrapuntal with the opposites. BITEF Poliphony, instigated by this game, discovers its three-part inventions that presents structures and processes from three different fields - drama, education and social engagement in always, astonishing and original way. All concepts are explored through three fields and are presented on three levels: through meetings and workshops exchange between young people, through exchange of the experience of teachers and artists, through open plays, presentations and exchange of impressions with spectators.

On the other hand, Bitef Polyphony became one of the three active spaces in region, one power that has been built and has been developed as the part of some new „three-part invention“, through some new harmonies in last fifteen years of crisis, conflicts and transition. Three organizations, Center for Drama Education BiH, Croation Center for Drama Education HCDO and Center for Drama in Education and ART CEDEUM, persistently and continually was promoting drama-theatre in education in its regions. One specific way of simultaneous, although seperated acting in the field of drama (theatre) has been created. Regardless to unfavorable political situations, all three organizations started different projects within they were finding the way to continue their cooperation, links and exchange and to open gradually new spaces for acting and support.

For CEDEUM, Bitef Polyphony became one of the spaces where annualy events, excange of experiences and interactive presentations occurred. For Croatian CENTER for Drama Education that has become annual assembly of the organizations with seminars for teachers, For Center for Drama Education BiH, that kind of connection enabled the annual conference with extraordinary significant bestow international recognition for engegemant in the field of drama and theatre in education.

What has started to happen? Although in different spaces on the real plan, one new common world on the drama plan has been created. Moreover, mutual relations are more like relations between accomplices who are aware of the messages that they are sending and changes that they are making. They are discovering new dimensions and conditions for worthy artistic and life experiences, as the creation of new symbols that leads to new knowledge and insight, others and world in that we should live together and in peace.

That new common world instigates establishing new situations and new relations. and with language and the power of art it makes them visible, recognizable…Not because of shown eternity, but because of the present that is on fire, because of the hidden background and live raveling of the causes and consequences that are created by intense relations.

There is something that should be further discovered.

That is the fact that we should accept that strange loops are great phenomena, which should not exist only in our small region, advertising through its three-part invention, but in some new inventions, trends and harmonies on the wider plan. This conference has opened that kind of space. Maybe, we will be surprised of some new potentials and connections, but in every sense it will confirm the thesis, that is brought out in the invitation letter for this conference: “…there are no such strong boarders that the power of man mind, gathered around one idea can not overcome and with joint forces create new deeds, new energy, new future…”