PERFORMANCE

Austrian premiere

In specialist medical terms, “aphasia” refers to the inability to speak or to find the right words to formulate a complete sentence. Confronted with the seductive, energizing, and impelling music of Alen and Nenad Sinkauz, the audience immerses into the atmosphere of a nightclub in a post-war region and becomes part of an investigation into complicity with violence. The departure point is an infamous Bosnian war photo that purports to show Belgrade DJ Max kicking the head of a Muslim woman who had been killed earlier by Serb forces.
Together with the musicians and dancer and actress Ivana Jozić, filmmaker and artist Jelena Jureša questions the dynamics of polarisation, conforming to authority, and the temptations of group violence. What does it mean to witness and towatch? To tacitly participate in violence?

This performance is developed from the film project Aphasia, 2019.
Concept & direction: Jelena Jureša | Performers: Ivana Jozić, Alen Sinkauz, Nenad Sinkauz | Choreography: Ivana Jozić and Quan Bui Ngoc | Music: Alen and Nenad Sinkauz | Sound design: Hrvoje Pelicarić | Text: Asa Mendelsohn, based on a monologue by Barbara Matejčić (Aphasia film & film installation, 2019) | Dramaturgical advice: Thomas Bellinck and Sara Oklobdžija | Video concept and editing: Jelena Jureša