Stages Forum 2023 – The theatrical experiment questioned the concept of sustainability in the cultural sectoFrom the theatre — 22. November 2023.
On November 20 and 21, 2023 the Croatian STAGES Forum 2023: When we all fall asleep at COP28 where do we go? was held at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
This ambitious theatrical experiment during the two-day research within the venue of the CNT in Zagreb presented many phases in the work of performative and multimedia artists, workshops, and lectures. The Forum attempted to question the means by which the cultural sector deals with the concept of sustainability STAGES (Sustainable Theatre Alliance for a Green Environmental Shift).
It is our great pleasure that we can realise collaboration with interesting artists through European projects and that we have the opportunity to question significant topics through theatrical processes that deal with sustainability and climate change, said the general manager of the CNT in Zagreb, Iva Hraste Sočo.
On the first day of the Forum the visitors were able to see and participate in the program that included performances and artistic installations. The following day, during the artistic program the visitors saw the performance of Jérôme Bel and Anna Javoran: Jérôme Bel, and the Anthropological Game by Senka Božić Vrbančić and attended the presentation that included the Doughnut analysis of the CNT in Zagreb. The Forum participants were: Arbajt Collective, Group for New Folk Practices, Senka Božić-Vrbančić, Tomislav Cik, Mladen Domazet, Ivona Eterović, Sanja Gergorić, Mihael Giba, Miodrag Gladović, Vedran Horvat, Anna Javoran, Maja Marković, Tomislav Medak and Aleksandra Stojaković Olenjuk. Nataša Antulov, Ana Dana Beroš, Nikolina Rafaj, Sara Salamon and Marko-Luka Zubčić are the authors of the curator's idea, dramaturgy and direction. Set designers are Ana Dana Beroš and Sara Nasić, costume designer is Tina Spahija and lighting designer Bojan Gagić.
STAGES Forum 2023 as an inherent space for dialogue and experiential encounter of multiviews aspires to induce alternative imaginational landscapes in the audience in whose development we all participate, said Nikolina Rafaj.
STAGES is financed by the EU and is realised in ten European partner theatres including the leading theatre network (European Theatre Convention), while 14 theatre organisations joined stage director Katie Mitchell and choreographer Jérôme Bel – two artists famous for incorporating sustainability in their work.