Dušan Jovanović – Cultural Terrorist

Scientific symposium marking the publication of a monograph on Dušan Jovanović, edited by Diana Koloini and designed by Danijela Grgič. Chapter authors taking part in the event: Sebastijan Horvat, Hrvoje Ivanković, Drago Ivanuša, Blaž Lukan, Milan Mađarev, Aldo Milohnić, Saša Pavček, Draga Potočnjak, Alja Predan, Tomaž Toporišič, Gašper Troha and Dragan Živadinov.
Production: Slovenski gledališki inštitut (Slovenian Theatre Institute) and Cankarjev dom

Dušan Jovanović (1939–2021) occupies a prominent place in the history of the late 20th-century Slovenian theatre. He played a key role in the modernisation of Slovenian theatre, as well as in maintaining the vigour, the ideational and artistic relevance of Slovenia’s performing arts. His creative oeuvre – carving out multiple careers – is vast, complex and highly varied, invariably approached with authorial acumen and high professionalism. Jovanović was a pre-eminent theatre director: from the avant-garde beginnings with the Študentsko aktualno gledališče (Student Relevant Theatre), and later the Eksperimentalno gledališče Glej (Experimental Theatre Glej), which he co-founded, and Gledališče Pupilije Ferkeverk (Pupilija Ferkeverk Theatre) to mature, in many cases magnificent, even groundbreaking productions in virtually all Slovenian theatres, often in the area of the former Yugoslavia.  
In these theatres, he distinguished himself with his original and committed stagings of classic plays, both foreign and national, as well as with his discoveries of contemporary texts. Noteworthy are the first performances of contemporary Slovenian authors, whom he often encouraged to write for the theatre, and the stagings of his own works. His playwrighting output was extensive and varied, including theatre of the absurd and ludic plays, as well as socially critical and intimate dramas and dramatisations, TV and radio plays, and film scripts. He was an outstanding artistic director who played a decisive role in the formation and growth of the Mladinsko Theatre, thus transforming the landscape of Slovenian theatre; he was also a co-founder of the KPGT, an important Yugoslav collective at the time. He was a writer, a poet, especially in his later years, as well as an insightful essayist and journalist. He wrote for various newspapers and magazines and published several books of essays; in the early 1990s he and his colleagues launched an ambitious (and unfortunately short-lived) project, the international magazine Euromaske. He took part in important international associations (Bonner Biennale) and in numerous international festivals and conferences. As an educator and professor, he was a driving force at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television – AGRFT, an inspiring voice at workshops abroad (USA, France) and local playwriting workshops. In every respect, a great artist and the prime mover of Slovenian theatre.

"Jovanović's productions toured all major festivals in the former Yugoslavia, often internationally. His plays were translated into all the languages of the former Yugoslavia, as well as English, German, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, etc. His plays were staged in Europe, the USA, Australia and Mexico. He received numerous prestigious awards and accolades in Slovenia and Yugoslavia, including the Obie Award in the US for his play The Liberation of Skopje. He received the Prešeren Prize and the Gold Order of Merit of the Republic of Slovenia in recognition of his lifetime achievements.

Dusan Jovanović was the subject of numerous, varied, in-depth analyses and critical essays, as well as all genres of journalistic writing. His work continues to invite reflections. The most important writers who followed and studied his entire body of work, Andrej Inkret, Taras Kermauner, Lado Kralj, Dragan Klaić, Borka Pavićević, Dalibor Foretić and some others, have unfortunately passed away. However, they are indirectly present in what we are writing today, seeking to shed new light on Jovanović’s work. I remain confident that the theatre of Dušan Jovanović will continue to be the subject of all forms of writing also in the future."

Excerpts from the editor Dr Diana Koloini's introduction to the book Dušan Jovanović 

Symposium programme

10.00 
Welcome addresses – Barbara Rogelj and Gašper Troha

10.10 session 1 – moderator Gašper Troha
Tomaž Toporišič: Jovanović's Theatrical and (No Longer) Dramatic Oeuvre as an Aesthetic Revolution
Draga Potočnjak: Dušan, Father of Mladinsko Theatre
Saša Pavček: A Letter to the Citizen of Eternity

11.10 discussion 
11.20 coffee

11.40 session 2 – moderator Aldo Milohnić
Alja Predan: I Want to Get Everything Out of Life
Drago Ivanuša: Dušan Jovanović – Theatre, Music and Me
Dragan Živadinov: The Art of Dušan Jovanović’s Stage Direction 
Gašper Troha: The Liberation of Skopje Phenomenon 

13.00 discussion

13.30–15.00 lunch

15.00 session 4 - moderator Barbara Orel
Blaž Lukan: Live, Today's Reading of Jovanović's Dramatic Oeuvre: Comments
Aldo Milohnić: The Return of Tragedy in Jovanović's Anti-War Trilogy
Milan Mađarev: Dušan Jovanović in Serbian Theatres
Sebastijan Horvat: Dušan Jovanović as the First Conceptual Slovenian Director

16.20 closing discussion

The symposium has been organised by the Slovenski gledališki inštitut (Slovenian Theatre Institute) and Cankarjev dom in cooperation with AGRFT within the framework of the research programme Theatre and Inter-artistic Research (P6-0376), co-funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS).