SLOVENIAN ceNTRE ITI
NGO PLATFORM
FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
PERFORMING ARTS
NEWS
%20Franzi%20Kreis%20(4).jpeg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:95.24%25/rs=w:365,h:182.5,cg:true)
31 March 2026
56. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
ARTISTIC FREEDOM ON THE LINE:
THEATRE IN POLITICALLY CHARGED CONTEXTS
Round table with international guests
Collaboration between:
Oder Cultural Institute Ljubljana,
Slovenian Centre of
the International Theatre Institute (SC ITI) and Prešeren Theatre Kr
31 March 2026
56. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
ARTISTIC FREEDOM ON THE LINE:
THEATRE IN POLITICALLY CHARGED CONTEXTS
Round table with international guests
Collaboration between:
Oder Cultural Institute Ljubljana,
Slovenian Centre of
the International Theatre Institute (SC ITI) and Prešeren Theatre Kranj
Partners:
ACAR ITI
(Action Committee for Artists' Rights
ITI Worldwide)
Hungarian Centre ITI
Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen)
I Free Republic of Vienna
Prešeren Theatre Kranj and The Week of the Slovenian Drama Festival
are a member of our Partner Network
MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAME
- see the link below
Academy for
Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana
is a member of our Partner Network
THE GUEST HOUSE
A PLATFORM FOR CURRENT INTERNATIONAL TOPICS
The Guest House is a platform where we discuss current international topics through arts, creation, resilience, and humanity, and the venue where we host creators from different communities and real-life experiences. A platform where an open space for debate and exchange is created enables respectful dialogue and opens the perspectives of the artist's roots, work, and struggles.
OUR HOST,
THE PRESEREN THEATRE KRANJ AND
THE WEEK OF SLOVENIAN THEATRE FESTIVAL,
IS A MEMBER OF OUR PARTNER NETWORK
Events
THE GUEST HOUSE
31 March 2026
56. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
ARTISTIC FREEDOM ON THE LINE:
THEATRE IN POLITICALLY CHARGED CONTEXTS
Round table with international guests
The Guest House, a platform for contemporary international topics, will be dedicated to an in-depth discussion of how the current governing polit
31 March 2026
56. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
ARTISTIC FREEDOM ON THE LINE:
THEATRE IN POLITICALLY CHARGED CONTEXTS
Round table with international guests
The Guest House, a platform for contemporary international topics, will be dedicated to an in-depth discussion of how the current governing politics shapes artistic creativity – from censorship, self-censorship, and employment pressures to funding limitations and interference with artistic programmes. With guests from the region, we will be comparing experiences from Serbia (ne:Bitef), Slovakia, and Hungary, and opening a broader contemplation of the freedom of artistic expression in Europe as embodied by the Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen) I The Free Republic of Vienna. Drawing on concrete examples and the experiences of artists in this region, we will consider how to preserve artistic integrity and resilience amid cultural and political challenges.
What, then, creates space for politically engaged, thematically relevant and independent creativity, what is, in essence, a dialogue between artists, audience and the general public, and what are the frames of the communal production field in which the art not only presents itself but actively co-creates the public sphere?
Moderator: Tatjana Ažman, head of the Slovenian Centre ITI and Director of the Cultural Institute Oder/Stage, Ljubljana and the ACAR ITI coordinator
Guests: to be announced
The event will be held in English.
Collaboration between:
Oder Cultural Institute Ljubljana,
Slovenian Centre of
the International Theatre Institute (SC ITI) and Prešeren Theatre Kranj
Partners:
ACAR ITI
(Action Committee for Artists' Rights
ITI Worldwide)
Hungarian Centre ITI
Vienna Festival (Wiener Festwochen)
I Free Republic of Vienna
THE GUEST HOUSE
2 April 2025
55. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SUSTAINABLE THEATRE
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online)
Our starting point of the event entitled SUSTAINABLE THEATRE – A Challenge of
Our Time, was inspired by the book "Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, and Practice" by Iphigenia Taxopoulou,
2 April 2025
55. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SUSTAINABLE THEATRE
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online)
Our starting point of the event entitled SUSTAINABLE THEATRE – A Challenge of
Our Time, was inspired by the book "Sustainable Theatre: Theory, Context, and Practice" by Iphigenia Taxopoulou, a leading expert in culture and environmental sustainability, is currently a foundational work that has been in development for over three decades. The author has approached her research from numerous angles, exploring essential topics such as international perspectives, the climate and environmental impacts on cultural policy, tru artistic leadership, organizational ethics, infrastructure, activities, individual and institutional practices of sustainable creation, education, touring, and international collaboration. She also sheds light on how the climate crisis affects narrative—both on stage and in a broader sense.
What is the role of art at a time when numerous concepts, including creativity itself, are confronting the climate and environmental crisis, the collapse of values, wars, and political upheavals? Why should we even care about the role of the artist and art in the context of global environmental and political changes that increasingly impact the lives of each of us? What is the right balance, what are the biases, and how significant is the challenge of the concept of sustainability? We will pose these and many other questions to seek answers, open up thinking, and support the practice of sustainability in theatre within our cultural space.
Guests:
Iphigenia Taxopoulou (Greece), founder and General Secretary of the European theatre network mitos21, associate at Julie's Bicycle (UK), sustainability consultant, lecturer, and educator
Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, renowned Slovenian climatologist, full professor at the Faculty of Biotechnology, Head of the Chair for Agrometeorology, and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Geneva
Laura Sedgwick (UK), producer at Theatre Green Book and Production Associate with independent producers Smith & Brant Theatricals
Adam Bureš (Czech Republic), sustainability expert at the Czech National Theatre in Prague, lecturer at the Prague Theatre Academy, and member of the sustainability forum within the Opera Europa network
Mike Van Graan (South Africa), playwright and producer in the field of social justice
Tamara Bračič Vidmar (Slovenia), Producer, Head of Public Relations, and Head of Greenstage Project for Slovenian activities
Moderator: Tatjana Ažman, dramaturge, head of the Slovenian Centre ITI and Director of the Cultural Institute Oder/Stage, Ljubljana
The event will be hybrid and conducted in English. The Festival's Web and Social Media pages will announce possible livestreaming.
Collaboration between
Slovenian Centre ITI,
Cultural Institute Stage Ljubljana, and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Kranj
THE GUEST HOUSE
THE GUEST HOUSE
4 April 2024
54. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SALT OF THE EARTH
Panel
(on - site)
This time, the Round Table, entitled Salt of the Earth, will unfold the stories and experiences in the Middle East, aiming to underline the importance of the arts.
Our guests at the venue were
Ofira Henig and Ramzi Maqdisi.
4 April 2024
54. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival
Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenia
SALT OF THE EARTH
Panel
(on - site)
This time, the Round Table, entitled Salt of the Earth, will unfold the stories and experiences in the Middle East, aiming to underline the importance of the arts.
Our guests at the venue were
Ofira Henig and Ramzi Maqdisi.
The talk host was Tatjana Ažman.
Collaboration between
Slovenian Centre ITI,
Cultural Institute Stage Ljubljana, and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Kranj
THE GUEST HOUSE
THE GUEST HOUSE
4 April 2023
53. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
THE VOICE OF THE NEW BELARUS
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online, Streamed Online)
Parallel to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the systematic repression of democratic processes has been happening in Belarus for years. These processes, among other
4 April 2023
53. Week of Slovenian Drama Festival Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
THE VOICE OF THE NEW BELARUS
Round table
(Zoom Event, on-site and Online, Streamed Online)
Parallel to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the systematic repression of democratic processes has been happening in Belarus for years. These processes, among other things, weaken and destroy the working conditions for many artists and intellectuals who have been leaving the country to create new lives for themselves with the hope that they will one day be able to return home. Many truths remain hidden until we start talking about them, writing them down, or documenting them in another way. Such knowledge must circulate in the art world so that it connects and empowers us to implement human rights. One of the projects that have been created with the intent to speak up is Insulted. Belarus. The American John Freedman and his wife, Russian actress and director Oksana Mysina, created the Worldwide Readings Project. They shot the documentary Voices of the New Belarus, based on Andrei Kureichik's eponymous play, and prepared a shorter version called Love is Stronger than Fear, which at the time of the event won the Grand Prix at the 14th Atlantis International Internet Short Film Festival in New York. The event took place in person in Kranj and on Zoom. With it, we wish to open the space for theatre colleagues who, with their work, are keeping their culture and language alive, albeit no longer at home, and support their future efforts.
Program:
- Insulted. The Belarus Worldwide Readings A project was presented by John Freedman, a writer and translator who has worked in Moscow since 1988 and was a theatre critic for the Moscow Times between 1992 and 2015.
- Presentation of the film Love Is Stronger Than Fear - the short version of the film Voices of the New Belarus by Oksana Mysina and John Freedman.
- Nadzeya Luchanok's introduction and a statement dialogue about her father, who has been imprisoned in Belarus since 2021.
Playwright and screenwriter Andrei Kureichik, author of the play Voices of the New Belarus, revealed his experience working collaboratively with Oksana and John and his work and activities in the US.
- FOCUS BELARUS PLAYWRIGT - Contemporary Belarusian author Diana Balyko was on-site. A dialogue with her about her present living and working situation, a presentation of her work, and a focused future.
Collaboration between
Oder/Stage – Cultural Institute for Performing Arts / SC ITI, People's Embassies of Belarus in Ljubljana, the Association of the Belarusian Diaspora in Slovenia, and The Week of Slovenian Drama Festival in Kranj, Slovenia
sc iti PAST ACTIVITIES 2017 - 2022
Sc iti PAST ACTIVITIES 2010 - 2017
31 March 2022
52. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
READING CANKAR
Round table
(Zoom Event, Streamed Online)
Ivan Cankar, the "undiscovered Central European Ibsen," was promoted abroad in English translation. Round table, streamed online.
With: Jure Gantar (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada), Andreja Kovač
31 March 2022
52. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
READING CANKAR
Round table
(Zoom Event, Streamed Online)
Ivan Cankar, the "undiscovered Central European Ibsen," was promoted abroad in English translation. Round table, streamed online.
With: Jure Gantar (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada), Andreja Kovač (artistic director, Crane Creations Theatre Company, Mississauga, Canada), Vijay Padaki (Bangalore Little Theatre Foundation, Bangalore, India), and Kay Brattan (artistic director, Little Lion Theatre, London, UK). Moderator: Tatjana Ažman (Slovenian Centre ITI); coordinator: Rok Andres
Collaboration between Slovenian Centre ITI, International Playwrights’ Forum ITI, Crane Creations Theatre Company (Canada), and Week of Slovenian Drama Festival. Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
MORE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmOF19gu9fc
11 November 2021
51. WEEK OF SLOVENIAN DRAMA FESTIVAL Preseren Theatre Kranj, Slovenija
CREATORS OF CHANGE:
Women Playwrights During the COVID-19
A discussion in an open dialogue about the new contexts women artists worldwide create daily.
With: Simona Hamer (Slovenia),
August Melody Andong (President of Women Playwrights International, Philippines), Rosemary Johns (Vice-President of Women Playwrights International, Australia),
Ximena Carrera (Chile),
Dessa Quesada-Palm (Philippines),
Melodie Reynolds-Diarra (Australia),
Elnaz Sheshgelani (Iran / Australia)
Moderator: Tatjana Ažman (SC ITI);
coordinator: Rok Andres (SC ITI)
Round table, Zoom Event, Streamed Online.
Collaboration between the
Slovenian Centre ITI,
International Playwrights’ Forum ITI,
WPI (Women Playwrights International), and the Week of Slovenian Drama Festival. Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
MORE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmOs0PTBxlo&t=371s
4 February 2020
Cankarjev dom Ljubljana
OLYMPUS FESTIVAL
Dr Constantina Ziropoulou, Professor of Theatre Studies, member of the
IPF was invited to give a lecture to outline the modern directing approaches of Ancient Greek theatre, as viewed within the framework of the current cultural and economic developments in Greece, and presented significant landmarks in the history of the revival of ancient Greek theatre until the present day.
The initiative of Staša Mihelčič,
vice president of IPF,
Secretary General of SC ITI.
In collaboration with Cankarjev Dom Ljubljana, SC ITI, and IPF,
19 – 21 October 2019
Maribor Theatre Festival
4th ITI EUROPEAN REGIONAL COUNCIL
The Maribor Theatre Festival was presented to an open audience, followed by a meeting of the European Centre's representatives. It was co-organized by SC ITI (Staša Mihelčič, Rok Andres, and Tatjana Ažman), European Regional Centre ITI (Fabio Toledi), ITI Worldwide (Tobias Biancone, Chen Zhongwen), and Maribor Theatre Festival.
14 – 16 December 2018
Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana
MASTERCLASS FOR ACTORS
By Apostolos Apostolides (Cyprus)
A complete 3-day program for 25 participants.
SC ITI,
Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists,
Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana.
15 – 29 October 2018
Maribor Theatre Festival
NEAP YOUNG EMERGING ARTISTS EXCHANGE PROGRAM
The Maribor Theatre Festival hosted a Masterclass facilitated by a student from
The Accademia Teatro Dimitri.
Collaboration between the Slovenian Centre ITI and the Swiss Centre ITI.
23 October 2018
Maribor Theatre Festival
THE CHALLENGES OF ARTISTIC FREEDOM
Symposium and Round Table
Prominent specialists and guests discussed current themes of evaluating and treating artistic (or the artist’s) freedom, mainly focusing on various forms of violation, (self-)censorship, or the restriction of activity, creation, and expression. Guest participants Dr. Darko Lukić – keynote speaker (Croatia); Dr Thomas Engel (German Centre ITI and founding member of the ITI ACAR); Dr Thomas Irmer (German Centre ITI, member of the ITI ACAR); Dr Srirak Plipat (executive director of Freemuse); Tomasz Kireńczuk (Poland); chaired by Tatjana Ažman and Rok Andres (SC ITI).Co-organized by the Slovene Centre ITI, the German Centre ITI, the ITI ACAR, and the Maribor Theatre Festival.
6 December 2017
Lili Novy Hall - Cankarjev dom
BODY LANGUAGE:
PANTOMIME - ANDRÉS VALDÉS,
THE PRIZE WINNER AND HIS STORIES
The World Mime Organisation awarded mime and teacher Andrés Valdés for outstanding contribution to the art of pantomime, followed by the reflection on Cuban poetry - interpreted by a Mexican actor, writer, and director Carlos Pascual and the talk with the artists conducted by the dramaturge Staša Mihelčič. SC ITI, World Mime Organisation, Association of Dramatic Artists of Slovenia in cooperation with Cankarjev dom Ljubljana.
14 – 23 July 2017
ITI WORLD CONGRESS
Segovia, Spain
Congress program
of the Slovenian delegation
Guest performance Madam Bovary, directed by Yulia Roschina, Slovenian National Theatre Nova Gorica; Guest performance Gathering of the Birds, directed by
Nina Rajić Kranjac, Academy for Radio, Film, Television and Radio Ljubljana; Participation of the Slovenian member of the UNITWIN, Aleš Valič; Young practitioner representative Lea Kukovičič; Workshop by Alida Bevk;
New Honorable member of the ITI,
Henrik Neubauer.
Sc iti PAST ACTIVITIES 2010 - 2017
Sc iti PAST ACTIVITIES 2010 - 2017
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION 2020 – 2022
INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION 2020 – 2022
INTERNATIONAL ZOOM EVENTS COLLABORATION 2020 – 2022
4 JULY 2020
World Mime Chat No 3
LADIES OF THE STAGE -
PRIDE, PREJUDICE & CORONA
Women artists from around the globe participated in the series of online discussions led by the World Mime Organisation.
August 202O - Online
15th SAINT MUSE THEATRE AWARDS
SC ITI member Tatjana Ažman
was a guest juror for the online festival edition, categor
4 JULY 2020
World Mime Chat No 3
LADIES OF THE STAGE -
PRIDE, PREJUDICE & CORONA
Women artists from around the globe participated in the series of online discussions led by the World Mime Organisation.
August 202O - Online
15th SAINT MUSE THEATRE AWARDS
SC ITI member Tatjana Ažman
was a guest juror for the online festival edition, category Music Theatre.
20 November 2020
NEAP FEST BRASIL ONLINE 2020
GLOBALIZATION:
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES
FOR A DIALOGUE WITH THE ART
Zoom Talk Slovenia - Brasil
The second edition happened between November 13 - 28, virtually: the NEAP FEST gathered artists, theatre companies, and festival producers from different countries and continents from home.
9 December 2020
IAPAR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
PERFORMING ART IS CAPITAL
Zoom Masterclass
The Masterclass theme was finding relevance in art today as one of the most critical challenges. What exactly are transformation and connectivity,
and what are our opportunities?
Conducted by Tatjana Ažman SC ITI.
14 September 2021
3rd Mitambo International
Theatre Festival Online
THE SHOW MUST BE ONLINE: #STAY@HOME,
PANDEMIC PROOFING INNOVATIONS
20 December 202O
MIME ART & EDUCATION FACING CHALLENGES OF TODAY
An online Event was organized by the National Academy for Theatre and Film "Krastyo Sarafov" (NATFA) in Sofia to celebrate 30 years of mime education
at the NATFA.
Supported by the WMO and ITI-WMO Physical Theatre Working Group.
ECHOES FROM THE EDGE
A Virtual Dialogue Space
Invitation for Collaboration
We aim to support
a global dialogue in the arts
We welcome your
LETTERS FROM THE EDGE,
addressing your experiences from the places you come from. You are warmly welcome to contact us via the form on our website (below),
or at
and participate
in a growing worldwide LETTER DIALOGUE.
Photo Credit: R. Maqdisi
ECHOES FROM THE EDGE
ECHOES FROM THE EDGE
A Virtual Dialogue Space
An Opening Project
HERE, EVEN LOVE CANNOT MOVE FREELY, BECAUSE IT IS DIVIDED
BY MAPS AND ROADS
FULL OF CHECKPOINTS
An interview with Ramzi Maqdisi
Radio Slovenia's program
Oder/Stage on ARS, in collaboration with the Slovenian Centre ITI, prepared a one-hour program dedicated to Palestinian artists, featuring an interview with Ramzi Maqdisi.
He spoke about the situation from the perspective of creators at risk, his artistic work, and his struggle. Additionally, a letter from Mohammed Sha'Sha'a, an ITI member who is in Gaza, was read.
The Slovenian Centre ITI extends its gratitude to the authors, Petra Tanko and Gorazd Rečnik, for their meaningful contributions to making this happen. We also express our appreciation to our Palestinian colleagues for sharing their testimonies from the ground with us.
You can find the program in Slovenian on the following podcast link: https://365.rtvslo.si/podkast/oder/175159509.
Watch the trailer -click below!
HERE, EVEN LOVE CANNOT MOVE FREELY,
BECAUSE IT IS DIVIDED BY MAPS AND ROADS FULL OF CHECKPOINTS
Extracts from the interview with Ramzi Maqdisi, a Palestinian actor and director living between Jerusalem and Barcelona,.
If you meet someone you love from the West Bank, you think about it ten times before being together. Moving around is almost impossible. Even love cannot circulate here, because the map is divided, full of checkpoints and obstacles. When you start to ask yourself: Why should I love someone from another place if it’s impossible to see them? — I think that’s the worst level of life we can face. I would love to write a love story, just like anyone else. No soldiers, no checkpoints, no suffering. Just a story of two people who love each other, whether they succeed or fail. That’s my dream.
MY ARTISTIC WORK
I work in cinema and theatre, and I perform in Europe, Palestine, and other locations.
To fight against this stealing, groping machine, we thought we had to make The Land’s Heart is Greater than its Map. The piece was born out of our need to resist in a different way. Protesting in the street is limited and risky, so we bring the narrative and this type of protest onto the stage. It is a way to tell our story, to show what is happening, and to affirm our right to exist. With The Land’s Heart is Greater than its Map, we wanted to expose the attempt to erase us — to say that the land holds our memory, and that our lives are bigger than the maps drawn to control us. The show is built on testimonies, on memory, on the land itself as a witness.
For me, art is not a luxury. In this crisis, art is a necessity. It is part of the struggle. It gives us a voice when we are otherwise silenced, and it creates a space where people can listen, reflect, and connect with what is happening.
Text from the performance
»Did you know that some parts of a city will always remain invisible? Unless you're looking through the right lens or unless you have the right guide.
I want to become that guide for you. I'm here to show you around a faraway city whilst you stand in another.
My city. A bit strange, I know, but what if we went on a little adventure together today? To dismantle the familiar to make space for revelation. Allow yourself to travel in time and space so that what is distant can come near.
Close your eyes for a few moments. Please allow me to take you beyond what the accepted stories and myths have prepared for you. Allow me to take you to the only city that exists twice, once on Earth and once in heaven. To the city I was born and raised in, whose name cannot be spoken.
Before I continue, allow me to ask you one thing. Please do not leave my city like the other travellers before you, without having really discovered it. «
THE STATE OF ARTISTIC WORK IN PALESTINE
Creating theatre in Palestine is very difficult. You cannot go anywhere without crossing checkpoints. A large part of the Palestinian society, for whom we do our work, cannot reach Jerusalem because of the separation wall. We always have to find solutions to move around to show a piece of theatre.
In the cinema, when we want to shoot on the streets of Jerusalem, we can never send the original script. We have to lie and invent a story that makes them feel it is acceptable. Producing art in Palestine is not easy at all. Even with access to European funding, there are restrictions. You are allowed to say some things and not others. They want to focus on specific topics, which may not be the ones we want to address.
When we developed "The Land’s Heart Is Greater Than Its Map," we decided we would never perform it in Germany. We feel unwelcome at the institutions, so we don’t go there.
RADIO
When I was a boy, I used to walk in Jerusalem with my father. He would stop and tell us about the places that used to be before 1948, before the occupation. One day, he showed us the building where the Palestinian National Radio used to be.
When I was 17, I bought a second-hand transmitter and installed it in my parents’ house in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. After three days, the Israeli army arrested me, and I was put in jail. When I was released at 19, I finished high school and returned to the radio. I ran it from 1999 until 2005.
In 2000, during the second intifada, the Israeli army attacked the radio and destroyed everything. I rebuilt it. Later, because it was too risky to stay in Jerusalem, I moved to Ramallah. In 2002, during the invasion of the West Bank, the Israeli army bombed the radio again. Three of my friends were killed.
PRISON
The first time I was arrested, at 17, I didn’t understand why. I was just a boy with a transmitter. All I wanted to do was speak about Palestinian radio. I didn’t want to attack anyone. But that was forbidden. I was accused of terrorism for simply having a transmitter.
I spent two to three months in solitary confinement. Time becomes liquid. You don’t know, you don’t have a clock, and no one tells you anything. You are just kept inside a dark room with very little light.
Later, when we made a film about prison, it was necessary but painful. We had to recreate the prison from our imagination, because when we were moved inside, we were blindfolded and could not see. We tried to reconstruct it from memory: how many steps down, how many steps up, left or right.
Describing this was a horrible experience, but it was necessary because we have to speak about these stories.
FREEDOM THEATRE
I knew the founder of the Freedom Theatre, Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was killed in 2011 in Jenin. Juliano’s idea was to open the refugee camp — a result of the occupation in 1948 — and bring art and theatre to the camp, to take people out of the horrible situation of living concentrated in such a small space since 1948. He wanted to bring institutions there and create art.
I believe that idea killed him, because Israel did not want that to happen in the refugee camp. To confirm this, Jenin refugee camp, where the Freedom Theatre was located, has been half-destroyed by Israel since the start of the genocide. People have been displaced from it. This action confirms to me that the project of the Freedom Theatre was intended to be erased. I hope they can keep going, though I don’t know how, with all the obstacles.
Talk hosts: Petra Tanko and Gorazd Rečnik
Commentaries:
The Land’s Heart is Greater Than Its Map (Shubbak Festival, Barbican 2021) is an immersive theatrical experience in which audiences explore a cityscape wearing headphones, hearing testimonies that trace history, memory, and lived experience under occupation. The Land’s Heart Is Greater than Its Map examines themes of displacement and raises questions about who has the right to claim the history of a place. The production transforms the city into a stage, blending performance, storytelling, and spatial awareness to give audiences a deeply personal encounter with life in Palestine. The work is both protest and preservation — a way to assert memory and presence in the face of erasure.
Ghost Hunting(2017), directed by Raed Andoni, is a documentary where former Palestinian prisoners—including actor and director Ramzi Maqdisi—reconstruct their experiences of incarceration in Israel’s Al-Moskobiya detention centre. Together, they rebuild the prison from memory and re-enact interrogations and daily humiliations, exposing both the physical and psychological scars of imprisonment.
Blending documentary and performance, the film captures trauma, disorientation, and dehumanisation while also affirming resilience and the struggle to reclaim identity. It won the Best Documentary Award at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival and was Palestine’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards. Through memory and imagination, Ghost Hunting transforms spaces of oppression into a collective act of testimony and artistic resistance.
The Freedom Theatre, founded in 2006 in Jenin by Juliano Mer-Khamis, has long been a vital space for artistic expression, youth education, and community resilience in Palestine. Rooted in the refugee camp, its mission extends beyond performance, challenging structural violence, nurturing critical thinking, and preserving Palestinian cultural memory.
Despite years of threats, attacks, and the assassination of its founder, the theatre remains a beacon of cultural resistance. Even after its offices were destroyed during a December 2023 Israeli military operation and key staff, including Artistic Director Ahmed Tobasi, were detained, the theatre adapted by working from temporary spaces and forging local collaborations. In June 2025, it relaunched activities in a provisional venue, demonstrating its determination to endure.
That same year, the theatre elected its 10th Board of Directors, reaffirming its commitment to community empowerment. Its workshops, acting training, and multimedia projects continue to equip youth with the tools to navigate life under occupation and share their stories creatively.
Internationally, the Freedom Theatre amplifies the voices of Palestinians. In September 2025, it toured Portugal with 15 – 16-year-olds… Stories of Children Who Never Grow Up, a production based on the lived experiences of Jenin’s children. Led by Chairperson Abdulrahman Zubeidi, Director Mahmoud Abu Aita, and young performers, the play transformed collective trauma into a powerful form of artistic resistance.
Through persistence and creativity, the Freedom Theatre stands as a testament to the enduring power of art to resist oppression, sustain memory, and inspire hope.
Photo Credit: R. Maqdisi
WORLD THEATRE DAY / INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY
WORLD THEATRE DAY MESSAGE 2026
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY MESSAGE 2025
WORLD THEATRE DAY MESSAGE 2026
Willem DAFOE, USA
I am an actor principally known as a film actor. But my roots are deeply in the theatre. I was a member of the Wooster Group from 1977-2003, creating and performing original pieces at The Performing Garage in NYC and touring throughout the world. I have also worked with Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson and Romeo Castellu
Willem DAFOE, USA
I am an actor principally known as a film actor. But my roots are deeply in the theatre. I was a member of the Wooster Group from 1977-2003, creating and performing original pieces at The Performing Garage in NYC and touring throughout the world. I have also worked with Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson and Romeo Castellucci. Now, I am the Artistic Director of The Venice Theatre Biennale. This appointment, the events in the world, and my desire to return to theatre work have strongly formed my belief in the unique positive power and importance of the theatre.
At the humble beginning of my time with The Wooster Group, the NY-based theatre company, we would often get very little public at some of our performances. Often the rule was if there were more performers than public we could choose to cancel. But we never did. Many of the company were not trained in the theatre but were people of different disciplines that came together to make theatre- so “the show must go on” was not really our mantra, however we felt an obligation to keep our meeting with the public.
We would also often rehearse during the day and, in the evening, show the material as a work in progress. We would sometimes spend years on a show while sustaining ourselves with touring of older performances. Working years on a piece would often become tedious for me, and I found rehearsals somewhat trying, but these works-in-progress showings were always exciting- even if the tiny public was a damning judgment of the level of interest in what we were doing. It just made me realize how, no matter how few people, the audience as witnesses gave the theatre its meaning and life.
Like the sign in the gambling hall says, “YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN.” Shared experience in real time of an act of creation, that may be scored and designed but is always different, is certainly the obvious strength of the theatre. Socially, politically, theatre has never been so important and vital to our understanding of ourselves and the world.
The “elephant in the room” is new technologies and social networking. which promises connection but seems to have fragmented and isolated people from one another. I use my computer daily, even if I have no social media. I have even googled myself as an actor and have also consulted AI for information. But you have to be blind not to recognize that human contact risks being replaced by relationships with devices. While some technology can serve us well, the problem of not knowing who’s on the other end of the communication circle runs deep and contributes to a crisis of truth and reality. While the internet can raise questions, it very seldom captures the sense of wonder that theatre creates. A wonder based on attention, engagement and a spontaneous community of those present in a circle of action and response.
As an actor and theatre maker, I remain a believer in the power of theatre. In a world that seems to get more divisive, controlling and violent, our challenge as theatre makers is to avoid the corruption of theatre solely as a commercial enterprise dedicated to the entertainment by distraction or as the dry institutional preserver of traditions, but rather to foster its strength to connect people, communities, cultures and above all to question where we are going…...
Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to imagine what we aspire to.
We are social animals and are designed biologically for engagement with the world. Every sense organ is a gateway for encounter, and through this meeting, we achieve a greater definition of who we are. Through storytelling, aesthetics, language, movement, and scenography, theatre, as a total art form, can make us see what was, what is, and what our world could be.
Willem Dafoe
Photo: ©Brad Trent
Willem Dafoe, Artistic Director of the Theatre Department at La Biennale di Venezia was among the founding members of The Wooster Group. Based at The Performing Garage in New York (1977-2004) they developed a distinctive approach to avant-garde theatre. He then went on to collaborate with Bob Wilson, Marina Abramovic, Richard Foreman and Romeo Castellucci. In the early 1980s, he also began working in cinema and since earned international acclaim for his versatility across both independent and mainstream films. He has received four Academy Award nominations and was awarded the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. His commitment to theatre continues to shape his artistic vision and performance practice.
WORLD THEATRE DAY MESSAGE 2025
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY MESSAGE 2025
WORLD THEATRE DAY MESSAGE 2026
Theodoros TERZOPOULOS, Greece
Can theatre hear the SOS call that our times are sending out, in a world of impoverished citizens, locked in cells of virtual reality, entrenched in their suffocating privacy? In a world of robotised existences within a totalitarian system of control and repression across the spectrum of life?
Is theatre conc
Theodoros TERZOPOULOS, Greece
Can theatre hear the SOS call that our times are sending out, in a world of impoverished citizens, locked in cells of virtual reality, entrenched in their suffocating privacy? In a world of robotised existences within a totalitarian system of control and repression across the spectrum of life?
Is theatre concerned about ecological destruction, global warming, massive biodiversity loss, ocean pollution, melting ice caps, increasing forest fires and extreme weather events? Can theatre become an active part of the ecosystem? Theatre has been watching the human impact on the planet for many years, but it is finding it difficult to deal with this problem.
Is theatre worried about the human condition as it is being shaped in the 21st century, where the citizen is manipulated by political and economic interests, media networks and opinion-forming companies? Where social media, as much as they facilitate it, are the great alibi for communication, because they provide the necessary safe distance from the Other? A pervasive sense of fear of the Other, the different, the Stranger, dominates our thoughts and actions.
Can theatre function as a workshop for the coexistence of differences without taking into account the bleeding trauma?
The bleeding trauma invites us to reconstruct the Myth. And in the words of Heiner Müller, “Myth is an aggregate, a machine to which always new and different machines can be connected. It transports the energy until the growing velocity will explode the cultural field,” and I would add the field of barbarity.
Can theatre spotlights shed light on social trauma and stop misleadingly shedding light on itself?
Questions that do not allow definitive answers, because theatre exists and endures thanks to unanswered questions.
Questions triggered by Dionysus, passing through his birthplace, the orchestra of the ancient theatre, and continuing his silent refugee journey through landscapes of war, today, on World Theatre Day.
Let us look into the eyes of Dionysus, the ecstatic god of theatre and Myth who unites the past, the present and the future, the child of two births, by Zeus and Semele, expresser of fluid identities, female and male, angry and kind, divine and animal, on the verge between madness and reason, order and chaos, an acrobat on the borderline between life and death. Dionysus poses a fundamental ontological question: “What is it all about?” A question that drives the creator towards an ever-deeper investigation into the root of myth and the multiple dimensions of the human enigma.
We need new narrative ways aimed at cultivating memory and shaping a new moral and political responsibility to emerge from the multiform dictatorship of the present-day Middle Ages.
Theodoros Terzopoulos
Theatre Director, Educator, Author, Founder and Artistic Director of the Attis Theatre Company, Inspirator of Theatre Olympics and Chairman of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics
translated from the original Greek: Yiola Klitou / Cyprus Centre of I.T.I.
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY MESSAGE 2025
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY MESSAGE 2025
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY MESSAGE 2025
Mikhail BARYSHNIKOV, Latvia/USA
It’s often said that dance can express the unspeakable. Joy, grief, and despair become visible, embodied expressions of our shared fragility. In this, dance can awaken empathy, inspire kindness, and spark a desire to heal rather than harm.
Especially now—as hundreds of thousands endure war, navigate politic
Mikhail BARYSHNIKOV, Latvia/USA
It’s often said that dance can express the unspeakable. Joy, grief, and despair become visible, embodied expressions of our shared fragility. In this, dance can awaken empathy, inspire kindness, and spark a desire to heal rather than harm.
Especially now—as hundreds of thousands endure war, navigate political upheaval, and rise in protest against injustice—honest reflection is vital. It’s a heavy burden to place on the body, on dance, on art. Yet art is still the best way to give form to the unspoken, and we can begin by asking ourselves: Where is my truth? How do I honour myself and my community? Whom do I answer to?
THINKING AND RETHINKING BALLET
In 2021, the Slovenian Ballet Artists' Association and the Slovenian Centre ITI launched a web page section, and talks streamed on YouTube with guests from around the World. This exceptional ongoing cooperation between the two organizations fosters the dialogue between art and society with its diversity and international reach.
Team of producers:
Tomaž Rode, Nataša Berce, and a host, Tatjana Ažman.
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia supports them.
27. 5. 2021
ROBERT DEKKERS (USA)
Choreographer, Artistic Director, and founder of the Post: Ballet Ballet Ensemble (USA).
27. 9. 2021
GEORGETTE GEBARA (LEBANON)
A Lebanese legend and Prima Ballerina, the Ambassador of Arts in Lebanon, a Pedagogue, and the founder of professional ballet education in her country. Mrs Gebara is one of the first ITI members to receive the "Honorary Member" title during the Xiamen Congress 2011. She served as Secretary of the International Dance Committee of ITI and was a Technical Advisor for the Executive Council.
16. 2. 2022
MIHAELA DEVALD ROKSANDIĆ (CROATIA)
Croatian Ballerina, Principal Dancer of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
7. 3. 2022
CHASE JOHNSEY, an American ballet dancer from Florida (USA), an awarded dancer (Dance Magazine 2008 – 25 to Watch, English National Dance Awards 2017 - Best dancer), founder of Ballet Barcelona.
15. 6. 2022
ALASTAIR MACAULAY (UK), the leading critic of the Financial Times, the leading dance critic at Times Literary Supplement and New York Times, a contributor to Dance Magazine, Ballet Review, Dancing Times, …, academic teacher (Royal Academy of Dancing, UK), curator (New York City Centre), and book author.
5. 12. 2022
JAŠ OTRIN (SLOVENIA/GERMANY), a former principal dancer in many important European ballet houses and a founder of OtrinArtManagement, a platform for performing and fine arts artists, is presently based in Germany.
23. 1. 2023
JENNIFER HOMMANS (USA), a famous book author, revealed the backstage of her work on a recently published influential book about George Balanchine entitled Mr B., George Balanchine's Twentieth Century.
26. 9. 2023
SZILARD MACHER (HUNGARY), ballet dancer, pedagogue, and choreographer, talks about his experience as a dancer. Still, mainly, he describes the situation in ballet education and pedagogy from the perspective of the present situation in Hungary.
28. 11. 2023
MÁRIO RADAČOVSKÝ (SLOVAKIA) joined the Slovak National Theatre Ballet in 1989, becoming a soloist quickly. In 1992, he received an offer to dance in Jiří Kylián's Netherlands Dance Theatre in The Hague. In 2018, he finished a master's in choreography at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He began to create choreography in 2002 at the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal. Since the 2013 season, he has been the artistic director of The Ballet of the National Theatre Brno.
3. 1. 2024
GABRIELE HASLINGER (AUSTRIA), Gabriele Haslinger was six years old when she was accepted at the prestigious ballet school of the Vienna State Opera, 14 when she received her employment contract to the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and 21 when Rudolf Nureyev (Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer, 1938 – 1993) specifically chose her of all ensemble members as his partner for a series of roles – at a time when she had not even reached her soloist status yet. Gabriele was acclaimed for her virtuosity and elegance, making the most technically demanding roles seem effortless and gracious.
4. 1. 2024
HELEN PICKETT (USA), a California-born choreographer, has created more than 30 ballets, most recently Eventide (Boston Ballet), Games (Ballet West), and Camino Real(Atlanta Ballet, where she is the resident choreographer). We discussed different aspects of her work's beautiful points of her career as a dancer, actress, filmmaker, and pedagogue, as well as how she views the present art community struggles and opportunities
ABOUT ITI WORLDWIDE
We are a proud member of the largest international organization for the performing arts.
ITI was created on the initiative of the first UNESCO Director General, Sir Julian Huxley, and the playwright and novelist, JB Priestly, in 1948, just after the Second World War. This was the beginning of the Cold War when the Iron Curtain divided East and West. The founders of ITI aimed to build a cultural organization for the performing arts aligned with UNESCO’s goals on culture, education, the arts, mutual understanding and peace. It should focus its endeavours on improving the status of all members of the performing arts professions. They envisaged an organization that created platforms for international exchange and engagement in the performing arts education for beginners and professionals alike and using the performing arts for mutual understanding and peace.
acar - Action committee for artist rights
The Slovenian Centre ITI coordinates the ITI Action Committee for Artist Rights
Motion from the working group for Actions against Violation of Human Rights
of Theatre People
Adapted unanimously by the 33rd ITI World Congress 2011:
Considering that
• up to now 117 nations have signed the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression
• the Convention defines as the first guiding principle that cultural diversity can be protected and promoted only if human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression, information and communication as well as the ability of individuals to choose cultural expressions, are guaranteed. No one may invoke the provisions of this Convention in order to infringe human rights and fundamental freedoms as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or guaranteed by international law, or to limit the scope thereof.
• the Convention also asks for active implementation through the participation of civil society (Article 11)
The Working Group for Actions against Violation of the Human Rights of Theatre People appeals to the 33rd ITI World congress of the ITI to increase the emphasis on this issue.
Cases of violation of the rights of theatre artists and the right to free artistic expression can be collected, proved, analyzed and made public.
Additionally, the human rights issue and the right to free artistic expression need to be addressed on a formal political level.
ITI, like other NGOs, should raise its voice by making official statements to political authorities. These statements should be prepared on the basis of the experience and the research of the working group, with broad participation of national centers, and in connection with other international networks and activities.
Actions should be taken on different levels:
• in making cases public by informing the national centres and via other media;
• with official statements by the committee, and,
• with official statements by the President, the Vice Presidents, the General Secretary or the ITI Ambassadors.
Therefore the working group asks the 33rd ITI World Congress to give the existing working group for Actions against Violation of the Human Rights of Theatre People the formal status of an ITI Committee, namend thereafter the ITI Action Committee for Artists Rights, and to encourage the national centres and the Executive Council to support the work of this committee.
Motion submitted by ITI Germany, supported by ITI centres of: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Finland, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, USA, Slovenia and Sweden.
SECTION OF THIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
