Performance and action art in the former Yugoslavia is strongly influenced and driven by political fac-tors. Everyday life as well as the social, economic and political conditions provide the material for artis-tic activities, which evolve in real time and are based on bodily expressions. This is actually nothing new within the history of performance art that developed as a result of the social movements of the 1960s. The wars in the 1990s forced the Yugoslav system to collapse and ‹reality› penetrated the structures and patterns of life - while also manifesting itself in art. For many people, the wars and the ideologies upon which they were founded are the thorn in the side of the current society. Then there are the unfulfilled promises of democracy and prosperity through capitalism. Corruption, shameless privatisation and exploitation are all-pervasive. Can art help to change this situation? Should art become involved in political conflicts? Which form should it adopt and where should it be found?
The symposium will take a diachronic and synchronic look at the question of how performance art is created and how it has developed. It will analyse this topic using the fault line which, in the case of the former Yugoslavia, can be described as an interruption of reality that has altered nature and the ap-pearance of performance.
Bone 16 ‹Performance Art Festival Bern› takes place between 3rd and 7th of December.
In collaboration with BONE 16 - Performance Art Festival Bern
Directed by: Valerian Maly & Seraina Renz
Entrance free
