In medical terms, APHASIA refers to a condition that robs you of the ability to speak or to find the words to form a complete sentence. APHASIA, the performance, reconstructs an evening in a nightclub, in a post-war region, some thirty years after the war. A woman dancing in the sweaty, partying crowd suddenly recognizes the DJ. She carefully studies his movements, comparing them then and today, and she gradually makes out the face of a war criminal who was never convicted: “the man who kicks the dead”. Together with musicians Alen and Nenad Sinkauz and dancer cum actress Ivana Jozić, Jureša questions the dynamics of polarization, compliance with authority and the lure of group violence. In the setting of a night club, she brings us face-to-face with the absurdity of the collective silence that so often surrounds crime. A central role is set aside here for the bystanders. What does it mean to be a witness? To participate tacitly in violence?
Concept and 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 adaptation: Asa Mendelsohn, based on a monologue by Barbara Matejčić (Aphasia film and film installation, 2019) | Dramaturgical advice: Thomas Bellinck and Sara Oklobdžija | Film archives: Royal Belgian Film Archive (CINEMATEK), Filmarchiv Austria, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Österreichische Mediathek, ZDF archive Berlin | Video concept and editing: Jelena Jureša | Visual effects: Dejan Šolajić | Set design: Stef Stessel | Light design: Stef Stessel, Simon Neels | Scientific advice: Christophe Busch | Technical director: Simon Neels | Technical support: Maxim Maes | Programming: Merel Vercoutere (KAAP) | Project coordinators: Sandra Raes Oklobdžija (ROBIN) & Rolf Quaghebeur (KAAP) | Production support: Kaat Balfoort, Jachym Vandenabeele
Production: KAAP in collaboration with ROBIN | Coproduction: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, ROBIN, De Singel, Workspacebrussels, Hannah Arendt Institute | Developed in Co-laBo | With the support of: Vlaamse Overheid, MOUSSEM, Nomadic Art Centre, Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK), School of Arts of University College Ghent
This performance is developed from the film project APHASIA, 2019
In medical terms, APHASIA refers to a condition that robs you of the ability to speak or to find the words to form a complete sentence. APHASIA, the performance, reconstructs an evening in a nightclub, in a post-war region, some thirty years after the war. A woman dancing in the sweaty, partying crowd suddenly recognizes the DJ. She carefully studies his movements, comparing them then and today, and she gradually makes out the face of a war criminal who was never convicted: “the man who kicks the dead”. Together with musicians Alen and Nenad Sinkauz and dancer cum actress Ivana Jozić, Jureša questions the dynamics of polarization, compliance with authority and the lure of group violence. In the setting of a night club, she brings us face-to-face with the absurdity of the collective silence that so often surrounds crime. A central role is set aside here for the bystanders. What does it mean to be a witness? To participate tacitly in violence?
