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© Emilia Therese Danish playwright and theater director Christian Lollike (1973) was among the participants of Nordic Focus, which was held for the first time this year as part of the New Text Festival. Within the scope of the event supported by the Danish Embassy, Danish Cultural Institute, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Danish Ministry of Culture, Danish Consulate, Consulate General of Sweden, the Swedish Research Institute and the Swedish Arts Council, Lollike's play Cosmic Fear or Brad Pitt's Day of Paranoia  was performed as a staged reading. Lollike is working with stage and installation art in theaters, public areas and virtual platforms. He has produced a comprehensive amount of theatre texts and his texts are being played in and outside Europe. During the last couple of years, Lollike’s work has been dealing more and more with inter-aesthetics and he has made a ballet, an opera installation and a political party. His artistic drive derives from wanting to underst...

The New Text Festival, organized by GalataPerform since 2012 and which is the first playwriting festival in Turkey, was held for the 11th time this year. The theme of the festival, which met the audience between November 26 and December 4, 2022, was “Fear”. Fredrik Brattberg, from Norway, was the first guest of our conversations with the playwrights whose plays were translated into Turkish and performed as a staged reading. The New Text Festival, which has an important place in the field of theater in Turkey by increasing the visibility of new contemporary writers and introducing them to the performing arts sector, had a new section titled Nordic Focus , this year. Fredrik Brattberg, whose play Cantus was performed as staged reading, was among the participants of this section, which was supported by the Danish Embassy, the Danish Cultural Institute, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Danish Consulate, the Swedish Consulate General, the Swedish ...

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists who will perform in Fringe Festival Istanbul 2022. Our last guest is Inez Wolters from LaPiratesse. Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer La Piratesse & Claroscuro Concert Extravagant @ Concertzaal Tilburg  © Chris Heijmans What is the essence of performance in your opinion? LaPiratesse is a live music band, but we call it a performance band as well, because we want to give the audience a different experience than most live bands do. Performance adds elements to the show that gives you more than just a music concert. The character changes and the extravagant, self made costumes, the visuals, the spoken word and the dance add more layers to it. So the essence of performance would be opening up the eyes of the spectator, surprise them, give them something to think about, try to involve them in our journey. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? Almost impossib...

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists who will perform in Fringe Festival Istanbul 2022. Our fifth guest is Joisy Amorim from Giro 8 Cia. de Dança. Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer What is the essence of performance in your opinion? The performance brings the representation of reality to the stage, recreating it and leading the audience to appreciate life itself, as well as existence itself. Dancing through its art helps to establish a man's connection with his most intimate desires and dreams. In addition, it causes a feeling of happiness and fulfillment, making the desire for change grow, allied to the belief in a better future.  Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? Yes. I believe that art promotes reflections and allows new meanings to life's actions. Art is intrinsic to the processes of living. Through it, we can transform ideas and, consequently, people and society as a whole. Wh...

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists who will perform in Fringe Festival Istanbul 2022. Our fourth guest is Rachel Lum from Deca.Dance Co.  Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer What is the essence of performance in your opinion? It is to inspire, express and mostly importantly, connect with the audience. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? YES! Back home, I work closely with elderly communities. I observe first-hand how art and movement can transform a person’s outlook on life. I have even witnessed personality changes for the better through engaging in the arts. When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your pieces? I pull inspiration from the moment in time I am in, whatever season of life, phase, life stage, all that is around, is what I put out as my artistic language. When do you decide to give a title to a piece you are working on if it already ...

In this series of interviews we try to get to know the artists who will perform in Fringe Festival Istanbul 2022. Our third guest is Dana Naim Hafouta.   Ayse Draz, Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Mehmet Kerem Ozel, Writer What is the essence of performance in your opinion? If I have to narrow it down to a title I would say ‘Transcendence’. For me it means a performer is fully committed to whatever is happening to them at the specific moment, and really lets these happenings change and shift them, mentally and physically. I think this commitment, alongside a control you have to have while performing, can bring a ‘Rise above’, a transcendence. But I believe it’s not something you can instruct, people are different (the same but different), and each performer has to look for their own transcending inner escalader. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How?   I really do. I believe it has great power on both aspects - as an art practitioner and as an ...

© Annemie Augustijns The famous opera The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny , in short Mahagonny , with the libretto by Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill, tells the story of a city where, if paid for, there are no rules for entertainment (food, sex, boxing and drink), everything is permitted for entertainment. In this artificial city, people are prevented from realizing that their lives are empty and meaningless by spending their time with entertainment, so much that people are made to forget that they are human by dulling their feelings. So, the plot of the Mahagonny can be read as a critique of American society, so Mahagonny may represent Las Vegas, for example, or it may also describe the corrupted Berlin of the 1920s of the Weimar Republic. Mahagonny, which premiered in Leipzig in 1930, was the culmination of a six-year partnership between Brecht and Weill. Like all cult and timeless works, it was met with protests (organized by sympathizers of the National Socialist ...