IONIAN ISLANDS ’21 – Anniversary year ‘GREECE ΄21 – DIPETHEK

ONLINE ROUNDTABLE

The artistic director of the Municipal Regional Theatre of Corfu (DIPETHEK), Barbara Dukas, converses with distinguished creators from the theater, in this first online discussion / round

“Vice versa: The Desire for a new ecumenical Identity”

Sunday 21st March 2021 – Time: 18:00 (GMT+2)

The radical director Milo Rau, the pioneers Massimo Furlan & Claire de Ribaupierre, famous all over the world the world for their site-specific performances, Leo Moreira, the new enfant terrible of world theater from Brazil, Athens still remembers his unexpected ‘Odyssey’, Αbou Lagraa, Choreographer and Co-artistic director Company La Baraka/Chapelle Sainte-Marie,and Darko Lukic, an important playwright and theorist from Croatia.

Eleni Riga moderates the roundtable.

Included are contributions written exclusively for the event by the iconic British writer Howard Barker, and the playwright and author Pablo Gisbert co-founder of the group, El Conde de Torrefiel, from Spain.

These specific creators and people of the theater have contributed through their work on issues pertaining to national identity, to the question of what the definition of Greece and Europe is, and what are deemed as European / humanitarian “acquis”.

In a world that is increasingly evolving into an extra-human status, our speakers were chosen to discuss the relationship between the Center and the Region in a “Village that is Global”, to redefine the idea of ‘borders’, under a global pandemic and the role of theater towards the creation of an inclusive and diverse world.

Together they will add their thoughts on the topics: IDEAL STATE / IDEAL EMOTION/ IDEAL PLACE / IDEAL DEATH / IDEAL HOMELAND.

As part of the discussion, online screenings of the works of Milo Rau, Leo Moreira, Massimo Furlan will take place between March 19-21.

Specific links will be provided for the screenings between March 19-21.

Credits

Curator–coordinator of the project: Angeliki Poulou

Sound editing-technical support : Vangelis Pandis

Translation: Ifigeneia Doumi & Stathis Paraskevopoulos

Voice over: Stathis Paraskevopoulos

The discussion will take place in English and will be broadcast live on the FB page of DIPETHEK. https://www.facebook.com/dipethek

THE ARTISTS – PARTICIPANTS

HOWARD BARKER, Dramatist and Poet, (UK)

Howard Barker’s first play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1970. Subsequently, his works were played by the Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Open Space Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and the Almeida. He is currently Artistic Director of The Wrestling School, a company established to disseminate his works and develop his theory of production. His work is played extensively in Europe, in translation, in The United States, and in Australia . He writes regularly for radio, both in England and Europe . He is the author of plays for marionettes and has written three librettos for opera. Howard Barker is the author of two works of theory, and five volumes of poetry. He is also a painter. His work is held in national collections in England (V&A, London) and Europe.http://www.howardbarker.co.uk/

MILO RAU, Director – Author (CH / BE)

Born in 1977 in Bern, Milo Rau is a director, author and since 2018/2019 artistic director of NTGent (Belgium). Critics have proclaimed him «the most influential» (DIE ZEIT), «most awarded» (Le Soir), «most interesting» (De Standaard) or «most ambitious» (The Guardian) artist of our time. Rau studied sociology, German and Romance languages and literature in Paris, Berlin and Zurich under Pierre Bourdieu and Tzvetan Todorov. Since 2002, he has created and published more than 50 stage plays, films, books and actions. His productions have been presented on major international festivals, including the Berlin Theatertreffen, the Festival d’Avignon, the Venice Biennale Teatro, the Wiener Festwochen and Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, and have toured more than 30 countries worldwide. Milo Rau has been awarded numerous prizes, the most recent of which include the European Theatre Prize 2018, the Peter-Weiss-Prize 2017, the 3sat-Prize 2017, the 2017 Saarbrucken Poetry Lectureship for Drama and, in 2016, the prestigious World Theatre Day ITI Prize, as youngest artist ever after Frank Castorf and Pina Bausch. In 2017, Milo Rau was voted “Acting Director of the Year” in the critics’ survey conducted by the magazine Deutsche Bühne. He has been awarded two honorary doctorate degrees, first in 2019 by the Theatre Department of Lunds Universitet (Sweden) and more recently in 2020 by Ghent University (Belgium). Rau is also a television critic, lecturer and a prolific writer. http://international-institute.de/en/news/

Leonardo Moreira, Dramatist – Director (BR)

Playwright and Director of the Companhia Hiato, from São Paulo, he debuted as an Author and Director with the play Cachorro Morto (2008). After that Leonardo Moreira has founded Hiato collective, which is considered one of the most promising and talented theatre groups in Brazil. Over the years they created a body of work winning several awards in Brazil: Escuro (2010 – Best Writing), O Jardim (2011 – Best Writing, Best Direction and Best Scenography), Ficção (2012 – Best Directon, Best Actor, Best Actress), 2 Ficções (2015, co-production with Kunsten Festival des Arts), Amadores (2016, Best Director). In 2018, the company celebrates its 10 years of existence with the play The Odyssey (co-production OCC / Athens and Mousonturm / Frankfurt). This show was nominated, together with Cia Hiato, at the Shell Awards Innovation for its 10 years of artistic trajectory in Brazil and abroad. His shows have been presented in the United States, Germany, Holland, Greece, Poland, Belgium, Romania, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Austria. He is also a screenwriter for films and television. http://www.ciahiato.com.br/companhia-direcao_en.html

MASSIMO FURLAN, Director (CH)

Born from Italian parents in Lausanne on October 8th, 1965, Massimo Furlan, after having followed training at the Beaux-Arts School of Lausanne (1984-1988), initiates an operating cycle centred on the themes of the memory and the forgetting. He exposes regularly since 1987. He’s interested in scenic representation and collaborates with several dance and theatre companies. In 2003 he establishes Numero 23 Prod, pointing out performance and installation. The main thread of Massimo Furlan’s projects is biography. A simple and banal story, the story of a kid born from Italian parents in Switzerland, the story of a teenager like any other. There is no will to speak about himself for himself, as of something unusual. The evoked memories are those of all, at least those of a generation, born in the middle of the Sixties. His work is focused on the memory. The projects arise from memory images. Never bothered by the question of limits between styles, his performances consist of « long images ». They are almost motionless images. With very simple actions (a gesture, a movement, a glance) which remain a long time in front of the spectators, forcing them to enter, to become active, and to make some sense out of it: to build their own story. Christiana Galanopoulou and MIR Festival introduced to Greek public Massimo’s Furlan work in 2018 (site specific performance Travelling). https://www.massimofurlan.com/en/presentation/

CLAIRE DE RIBAUPIERRE, Dramaturg (CH)

Claire de Ribaupierre has been a dramaturg and performer in Massimo Furlan’s creations since 2003. Doctor of Letters, she conducts research in the fields of anthropology, image and contemporary literature. She published The Genealogical Novel. Claude Simon and Georges Perec, Brussels, La Part de l’Œil, 2002, and edited numerous collective works on the question of mourning and the ghost. She worked as a researcher supported by the SNSF from 2008 to 2010 on the artistic practices of the archive, as well as a project on improvisation practices with several art, theater and music schools. Currently, she teaches methodology, dramaturgy and anthropology at La Manufacture (Haute École des Arts Vivants), for the bachelor’s in theater and dance as well as for the master’s in theatre direction. https://www.massimofurlan.com/en/presentation/

DARKO LUKIĆ, Scholar – Writer (HR)

Darko Lukić is an academic, playwright and novelist from Croatia, living in Germany and working around the Europe. He is an expert in Pool of multi-disciplinary experts in The Capacity Building for European Capitals of Culture, and regional coordinator for EURODRAM. As an academic he was tenured professor at Academy of Drama Arts University of Zagreb, guest professor at Faculty of Philosophy University of Zagreb – doctoral studies of theater, film, literature and culture, and a guest professor at Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (Austria) – Institut für Slawistik. As a playwright, dramaturge and a teacher worked in Austria, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, USA, United Kingdom, Taiwan and Venezuela. His professional experience include positions of artistic director of drama theaters like National Theater in Sarajevo, artistic director and manager of Theater &TD in Zagreb, positions of Vice Dean and Deputy Dean at Academy of Drama Arts University of Zagreb, and member of various boards of the cultural institutions in the field of drama, theatre, audience development and international collaboration. His plays and theater adaptation were staged in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Serbia and Spain. Published novels and theatre theory books such as “The War Trauma Drama” and “Introduction on Applied Theater”. https://www.adesteplus.eu/lisbon-summer-school/darko-lukic/

ABOU LAGRAA, Choreographer – FR

Abu Lagraa, French of Algerian descent, was born and studied dance in southeastern France, where he still lives and works in the area around Lyon. The founder of the contemporary dance group, La Baraca, choreographs not only contemporary dance, but integrates hip-hop, the memories of his homeland and the Mediterranean in general, in a constant dialogue with the body, the memory, the gestures and social prohibitions.

He directs the cultural organization La Chapelle, desecrating the site of a catholic church in the small town of Annonay for rehearsal and creation.

Since 2009, he and his wife, also choreographer Nawal Aït Benalla Lagraa, have created the first Ballet Contemporary in Algiers, creating for the National Theater the play “NYA” (meaning “to trust in life” in Arabic).

His works such as: ‘Le Souffle du temps’, ‘Univers l’Afrique’ (tribute to the singer Nina Simone),

El Djoudour (Les Racines), won distinctions and awards around the world.

The group La Baraca and Abu Lagraa, are represented by the Attiki Cultural Society.

https://www.aboulagraa.fr/

El Conde de Torrefiel, Theatre Collective (SP)

The Barcelona-based collective, led by Tanya Beyeler and Pablo Gisbert, began in 2010 with La historia del rey vencido por el aburrimiento [The story of the king defeated by boredom]. Since then, El Conde de Torrefiel presents its work in cities and festivals in Spain and internationally: Festival d’Automne (Paris), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne (Lausanne) Alkantara Festival (Lisbon), etc. The duo’s most recent works focus exclusively on the 21st century and the existing relationship between the personal and the political, the relationship of the personal image with the creation of a collective fantasy, and symbols that can be exploited by the modern form of power, which is not always what it seems. In Greece, they were introduced by Christiana Galanopoulou and the MIR Festival, hosting their work Guerilla in 2016.

EL CONDE DEL TORREFIEL TANYA BEYELER—PABLO GISBERT

THE PERFORMANCES – SCREENING

The Civil Wars (2014)

Milo Rau | International Institute of Political Murder

Screening in French & German

What’s is going on with Europe? What are these times in which we’re living? With “The Civil Wars” Milo Rau stages a four-voice lecture-performance about the premises of insurrection and political engagement. Following the twists and turns of their own biographies, four actors – Karim Bel Kacem, Sara De Bosschere, Sébastien Foucault, and Johan Leysen – question the human condition in Europe at the start of the 21st century.

More info: http://international-institute.de/en/the-civil-wars/

**The Civil Wars’** *photo copyright* Marc-Stephan

The Odyssey

A creation by Leo Moreira (Cia. Hiato) – 2018

Screening in Portuguese

The play weaves and unweaves a multilayered narrative that is both simple and artful in its patterning and composition. Immersing ourselves in the stories we tell may help us reconsider both the origins of Western literature and our infinitely complex contemporary world – the plight of a people who have forgotten their myths and must remember that all we have here is all that we’ve always had. We are still mythical. Grasping the small, tragi-comical details of modern day life intertwined with the Greek Ancient way of dealing with the human condition the experience of Cia Hiato’s The Odyssey is an intimate sharing between actors and audience of powerful feelings as love, sadness and anger.

More info: http://www.ciahiato.com.br/companhia-direcao_en.html

***Oδύσσεια’_*** *photo copyright_Elina Giounanli Ligia Jardim*

European Philosophical Song Contest

Massimo Furlan

Screening in French

Eleven songs written by philosophers from ten European countries and performed by young artists of HEMU University of Music Lausanne in front of a jury of thinkers who will argue to elect the best – tonight, sequins, rhythmic beats and silky voices invite you to a debate.

Song lyrics writen by philosophers: Santiago Alba Ribo / Philippe Artières / José Bragança de Miranda / Vinciane Despret / Mladen Dolar / Leo Engler / Mondher Kilani / Michela Marzano / Kristupas Sabolius / Ande Somby / Jean Paul Van Bendegem

More: https://vidy.ch/en/european-philosophical-song-contest-0

*European Sοng Contest’ photo copyright_Laure Ceillier_Pierre Nydegger*

Howard Barker

Howard Barker is one of Britain’s most original and innovative playwright, director, poet, painter and theater theorist. In 1987, he formed his own theatre troupe with actor friends and directors with whom he stages his own works. His theater, “The Wrestling School” – he call it Theater of Catastrophe (“Theater of Catastrophe”), influenced by Brecht and Shakespeare, seeks to form a modern concept of tragedy, bringing to the fore the problem of aesthetic and moral values which he believes can never be the same, in our post-Auschwitz era.

In Greece we were introduced to his work from performances of “A New Red” (2002) “Und”, “Judith” and “Possibilities”, ‘The dying of today’ by Lefteris Vogiatzis (2009) and ’12 Encounters with a Prodigy ‘by Nikos Sakalidis (2016)

The rugged poetic language, the provocative ideas and his black humor are used to explore the idea we have of a Greece that is always evading us.

Howard Barker reserves the right to remain “angry” and to keep the door closed on the generalized notion of “mass” society and to deny the “accessibility” of everything to everyone. Consequently, he cannot participate in an online discussion, since he does not have a computer or a mobile phone. But he did write to us using his old typewriter especially for the occasion of the Anniversary of the Founding of the Greek State, because he does not believe in “IDEALS”

HOWARD BARKER

FEBRUARY 2021

First, allow me to state the ideal fills me with dread. In every century since the Enlightenment, the agony of Europe has been the consequence of Idealism, in its wildest or its coldest forms. So you might understand whilst as a writer I ban no words, this is one I can hardly bring myself to speak. Might I talk instead of something cleaner and less sordid, such as

thepreferred

the imagined-with-pleasure?

To my preferredfeeling. Unsurprisingly this relatesto the experience of seduction, and it applies equally to the practice of theatre and the act of sexual love. I have got no greater satisfaction from the performance of my own plays than the sense the public – in a state of deep anxiety – is being drawn into a place it would not willingly go, a place where desire kills ideology. Just so, in the seduction of a loved one, conscience is a broken toy when instinct combines with poetry.

My preferredplace is the place I write this now. Here I am not coerced, here my identity is not compromised by the desire to be liked by others. Near here my ancestors dug fields and went to wars. On rare occasions they killed their masters, who were my ancestors also. When visitors arrive from Syria or Japan they say they recognize this place, as if it had appeared to them in a dream. Under these high walls I fell in and out of love. it is the material representation of my soul.

Greece Cannot be Preferred

I imagined Greece before I imagined my own countrybecause the stereotypes are so powerful, and not all stereotypes are lies.

Thus I knew the hoplites and the long-skirted women, and the plain of Marathon – uninhabited but for donkeys and old women – from the engravings of another age, and I could never have written my homage to Greece in my plays THE DYING OF TODAY and DOGDEATH IN MACEDONIA without these images, which of course, I overturned in the normal way of artists.

But Greece now? A place for drunken English louts, for pitiful Germans in search of authenticity, dancing the dances of the Greeks, but so badly, its refugees, its terrible geography?

God help any place which is a
cross-road of cultures

But Greece is a metaphor, as the home of tragedy must be, tragedy which cannot be made to imitate the worthless gestures of didacticism as social realism is condemned to do, but being poetry remains ambiguous.

Greece takes too much pleasure in contradiction to submit to

the solution

and as tragedy always proposes, to the chagrin of the idealists,

nothing is over yet

The theatrical group El Conde de Torrefiel, based in Barcelona, responding to the call of the MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL THEATER OF CORFU, on the occasion of the celebration from the 200 years of the proclamation of the Greek revolution and the opening of dialogue with international artists on the issues of IDENTITY, offered a brand new text, written by the director and playwright of the collective, Pablo Gisbert, outlining an original, powerful statement, on the issues: IDEAL STATE / IDEAL FEELING / IDEAL PLACE / IDADIKI / IDADIKI

The text was first published in the art magazine ACT II (https://act2mag.com) ISSUE O2 – MAY 2021. The translation from Spanish to Greek is signed by the poet Ifigenia Doumi and the English translation by Stathis Paraskevopoulos.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE ‘ EL CONDE DEL TORREFIEL’

Founded by Tanya Beyeler and Pablo Gisbert, the theatrical collective El Conde de Torrefiel began in 2010 with La historia del rey vencido por el aburrimiento (The story of the king defeated by boredom). Since then, presented their work in cities and festivals in Spain and internationally: Festival d ’Automne (Paris), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Théâtre de Vidy-Lausanne (Lausanne) Alkantara Festival (Lisbon).

ΤΕΧΤ ΙΝ ENGLISH

A letter to Pablo Gisbert

Just 21 years from the beginning of the 21st century, we are all sensing the same thing: a sense of being half blood and half digital. Our digital aspect connects us with the idea of virtuality, globalization, pre-planned news, the speed of stimuli, trivial images, fragmented discussions across the globe. But our other aspect, the one which is still made of blood, possibly frightened, annoyed and puzzled by the savage advancement of the digital sphere, wants to rediscover its identity by any means. For the time being, half of the population soothes its ‘blood part’ with diazepam. The desire of certain peoples to return to the idea of identity, whatever form it may take, is not only peculiar to Greece within the context of an anniversary, but a desire that unfolds in every country that once lived, as Warhol had said, its ‘15 minutes of fame’

Already at 38, I realize that some trends always return, from bell-bottoms to totalitarian regimes, thus composing a kind of eternal and turbulent retrofuturism, that neither the hell of cookies nor the smartest meme can stop because, as my friend Juan mentioned the other day, today there is more hatred than joy. I notice that in the face of economic turmoil, the political bipolarity and the poor spirituality we are experiencing, too many European soldiers, each in their own country, unfold, trying to construct an identity, ‘pinching bits’ from here and there, based on traditions and cultures that the media and entertainment platforms speculate on. They think: It does not matter to know who we were, what is important is to imagine who we want to be.

The current state of things makes me ask various questions: Did I decide when I was born what colour my skin would be? Did I decide when I was born which century I would live in? Did I decide when I was born the year I would be born on? Did I decide when I was born the language I would be taught? Did I decide when I was born if I would be a man or a woman or if I would belong to the third sex? Did I decide when I was born how much money my parents would have? Did I decide when I was born how many square metres my home would be? Did I decide when I was born whether I would have siblings or not? Did I decide when I was born how strong my body would be? Did I decide when I was born which gender would define me? Did I decide which city I would be born in? Did I decide on my citizenship when I was born? Did I decide when I was born what currency I would carry in my pockets? Did I decide when I was born the primary religion of my country?

All these random circumstances, therefore, which no one ever chooses, determine a person’s identity until their death, and even after that.

All these random circumstances, therefore, which no one ever chooses, determine a person’s identity until their death, and even after that. And in conjunction with the identity of the individual, they also determine the identity of a country and the era of that country. And so, based on a completely random and coincidental set of concepts, which no one ever chooses, and which are automatically imposed at birth, the individual will organize the time and energy of his/her/their whole life, paradoxically ignoring that all their critical decisions can be more decisive, even those taken at random. And all this party of irrational identity has always been the driving force of the world, the cause for camaraderie but also the defining moment of many massacres. Is this an indication of immense irresponsibility? Finally, I wonder, can someone be accused of defending their religion, their language, their country, if this is all they have? Or have they been driven by others to conclude that this is all they have? Were they ever capable of taking a decision or were they made to believe that they could not take any?

I just wrote something that looks like a poem, not sure if it is relevant, but it goes something like this:

People are built

from the emotional debris of other people.

Squares are built

from the ruins of other squares

Cities are built

from the ruins of other cities.

Borders are created

from the surplus of other borders.

Borders are erased

using the blood of yet another people.

And at every one of these borders there is a signpost that states:

‘The slaughter has been permitted up to this specific point.’

In Bosnia, Mexico or Palestine.

And although an effort is being made to decorate the cities

with parks, boulevards, theatres and bars,

although an attempt is made to hide everything under concrete slabs,

there is the blood buried and the age of those who lived before,

those who never thought of us,

and yet we are so dependent on them.

I still insist on discovering who we decided to be the beacons of life, what kind of narrative makes us think that some of us are, and of what is this huge wall born that stands between people, transforming the world into a board of multifaceted, invisible apartheids. I think that there are commonly accepted realities, made up of small, fundamental human instincts and that these small, fundamental instincts acquired a new meaning to choreograph reality. For example:

From the love for our parents ‒initially instinctive and related to survival‒ the narrative of love for the homeland was legitimized.
From the anguished and melancholy vertigo that a person suffers from when they feel the passage of time, the need for nostalgia for the historical past of a nation was constructed on a national scale.
Just as out of fear of not knowing what our consciousness will become after death, religions emerge, composing global fears and industrializing them, creating both economic power and benefits.
Just as there is a basic need for communication between people, there are mechanisms ‒like WhatsApp‒ that articulate this need (making a lot of money).
Or, finally, from the innate sexual predisposition of a living body, Tinder satisfies this human impulse with relative immediacy (again, making a lot of money).

And thus, the homeland and Christianity and Tinder industrialize and economically transform the primitive and inherent feelings of human existence.

As I write this, additional questions spring to my mind: What words do I remember saying the last time I made love? What words do I remember saying when I found out recently that a good friend of mine had died? What words do I remember saying when I first left my country? What words do I remember saying when I saw the Twin Towers fall? What words do I remember saying on my first day at school? What words do I remember saying when I stood in front of Picasso’s Guernica? What words do I remember saying the last time I felt turbulence on the plane? What words do I remember saying yesterday, other than ‘hello’, ‘thank you’ and ‘good morning’?

I do not remember any word, even though I consider myself a rational being and I spend my life talking. And, of course, I do not remember complete and specific reasons. But, really, do I not remember anything? Without knowing you at all –you, who is reading this text– I am sure that, like me, you have experienced all or almost all of these moments. And I’m pretty sure you do not remember a single word or a single specific phrase. I only have flashes, a lot of emotions, sounds, some colour maybe. Only unrelated images that do their job, as if life is scrolling through Instagram – a bit of text and a lot of photography.

And this is why this application has triumphed, a mirror of the disintegration and of the visual whole of ourselves. All memory is anchored and consolidated in abstract compositions and these narratives define the lives of millions of people.

I feel that access to the centre of the brain is not possible through logic, but through caves of seduction, temptation and love tunnels, decorated with plastic compositions, with elegant forms, and lots of music… as the necessary incessant conversation with a baby. I think that we humans are deep oceans of emotions and that with the boat of logic it is possible to navigate the surface of our brain. But, on the contrary, diving into the depths of the ocean of the brain can only be achieved through artistic tools and other decisions, perhaps global, common to all mankind, can be observed there. The ocean metaphor is rather simplistic, but it fits its purpose. That is why art is both so important and dangerous at the same time, because when one possesses it, perception changes. It constructs the world and the notion of reality. So now, in the year 2021, when we are more lost than a group of vegans at an Argentine diner, we cling to random ideas in order to acquire an identity that will make us feel the joy we do not possess.

That is why art is both so important and dangerous at the same time, because when one possesses it, perception changes.

Even in the Bible, one of the most influential books on the planet for 3,500 years, it states, ‘In the beginning was the word.’ I, who was baptized and have lived Christianity from within, have always been impressed by this phrase. Because, according to the Bible, before the creation of water, land and air, before the appearance of animals, plants, humans, of any reproductive organ, before everything appeared the word. And the fact that the Bible says that the first thing was the word seems funny to me because it suggests that from the beginning there was the ability to story-tell, the ability of invention and with it the ability of manipulation and power.

Because depending on the word chosen, one path or another is followed, as everyone knows. And a bad choice of word can spark a divorce or war. We all also know that the word constructs the world or rather, invents reality. Therefore, if one does not have the firewall of one’s attention activated, it is easy to plant any reality within it.

I notice that all of Europe is contemplating the ghosts of its past, and at this big ‘table’ it has decided to define specific dates in European historiography, dates that are reminiscent of moments of power or victory. And thus to rid itself of other dates that are of no interest and to delete whole centuries of the past. In a poetic explanation, if the whole planet decided to summon the ghosts lost in time, if, I say, we really went backwards and decided to anchor in a common earlier time, we would all stop at the ocean. And even though we knew that three-quarters of the world is water and three-quarters of our body is also water, we decided to direct all our attention to that small part that belongs to us: the earth and the body, that which defines the differences between people. It is very difficult to catch a liquid with your hands; it scatters everywhere. The same is true of the idea we have of ourselves. Who are we? Who do we think we are? I think it is normal to have all these contradictions that we have, constantly wanting to identify with others. When the human gaze should be global and all-encompassing.

As transsexuality helped extend the concept of man and woman beyond what is defined by two simple reproductive organs, as Barack Obama helped extend the idea of what the president of North America should be like in the 21st century, and women like Simone Weil or Malala helped spread ideas to their own religions, as the discovery of thousands of planets living in the galaxy extended the notion of life, in the same way, I say, identity should be extended and not focus on some old, trivial, repetitive and outdated concepts, such as language, colour and nation. Identity should be understood as solidarity. And solidarity among the inhabitants of the planet, beyond random dogmas as I have explained previously, should focus on global aspects, such as the former will to create the ‘often violated’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Can you give me a glass of water, please?

Pablo Gisbert

Translation in English STATHIS PARASKEVOPOULOS

CARTA A PABLO GISBERT

Con tan sólo 21 años de haber empezado el siglo XXI, todos nos intuimos igual: nos sentimos mitad sangre y mitad dígitos. Nuestra parte digital nos conecta con la virtualidad, con un mundo globalizado, con las noticias diseñadas, con la rapidez de estímulos, con imágenes ligeras, con conversaciones fragmentadas en todos los países. Pero la parte de sangre que todavía somos, tal vez asustada, molesta y aturdida por la progresión salvaje de nuestra parte digital, está deseando ahora mismo volver a encontrar su identidad, sea como sea. De momento, la parte de sangre que somos, media población mundial la calma con Diazepam. El deseo de algunas naciones de una vuelta a su idea de identidad, del tipo que sea, no es sólo una particularidad griega en contexto con una efemérides, sino que es un deseo que se está desenterrando en todos los países que algún día tuvieron, como dijo Warhol “sus 15 minutos de gloria”.

Con 38 años ya tengo perspectiva para comprender que ciertas actitudes siempre regresan, desde los pantalones de campana a los totalitarismos, componiendo así una especie de eterno retrofuturismo turbulento, que ni el infierno de lo cuqui o el meme más perspicaz podrá detener, porque, como dijo mi amigo Juan el otro día, hoy hay más odio que alegría. Y observo que, frente al temblor económico, la bipolaridad política y la espiritualidad famélica que vivimos, muchísimos europeos de a pie, cada uno desde su país, se están replegando en una fabricación identitaria, “picando” de aquí y de allá, basándose en tradiciones y culturas suscitadas por formas ultraespectaculares de los medios de comunicación y plataformas de entretenimiento. Piensan: No es importante saber quiénes fuimos, importa imaginar quienes queremos haber sido.

Esta situación actual me provoca varias preguntas: ¿Decidí al nacer el color de mi piel? ¿Decidí al nacer el siglo que viviría? ¿Decidí al nacer el año en que nací? ¿Decidí al nacer la lengua que me enseñarían? ¿Decidí al nacer si sería hombre o mujer o el tercer sexo? ¿Decidí al nacer la cantidad de dinero que tendrían mis padres? ¿Decidí al nacer los metros cuadrados de mi casa? ¿Decidí al nacer tener o no hermanos? ¿Decidí al nacer la potencia de mi cuerpo? ¿Decidí al nacer el sexo que me marcaría? ¿Decidí al nacer en qué ciudad iba a nacer? ¿Decidí al nacer en qué país sería nacionalizado? ¿Decidí al nacer qué moneda tendría en los bolsillos? ¿Decidí al nacer la religión dominante en mi país?

Pues todas estas determinaciones azarosas que nadie ha elegido nunca, es lo que conforman la identidad de una persona hasta su muerte incluso hasta después de su muerte. Y conformando la identidad de una persona, también forman la identidad de un país y del tiempo de un país. Y basándose en conceptos radicalmente azarosos y accidentales que nadie nunca ha elegido, y que al nacer son asignados al instante, una persona edificará todo su tiempo y su energía durante el resto de una vida, obviando paradójicamente que todas sus propias decisiones vitales puedan llegar a ser más determinantes incluso que las asignadas por azar. Y todo esta party irracional identitaria ha sido el motor del mundo hasta hoy, incitador de camaradería pero también el principio de muchas matanzas. ¿Es una irresponsabilidad tremenda? Al final pienso, ¿se le debería reprobar a alguien que defienda su religión, su lengua, su país, si tal vez es lo único que tiene? ¿O es que le han reducido a pensar que es lo único que tiene? ¿Tal vez nunca ha tomado ninguna decisión o tal vez le han hecho creer que no se puede tomar ninguna decisión?

Acabo de escribir algo parecido a un poema, no sé si viene al caso, pero me ha salido así:

Las personas están construidas

sobre las ruinas emocionales de otras personas.

Las plazas están construidas

sobre escombros de otras plazas.

Las ciudades están construidas

sobre ruinas de otras ciudades.

Las fronteras están creadas

por los restos de otras fronteras.

Las fronteras están delimitadas

con la sangre de un pueblo y de otro pueblo.

Y en cada una de estas fronteras hay un cartel que pone:

“Hasta aquí se dejó de matar.”

En Bosnia, en México o en Palestina.

Y aunque se intente decorar las ciudades

con parques, bulevares, teatros y bares,

aunque se intente pavimentarlo y esconderlo todo,

lo que se esconde debajo de todas estas calles

es la sangre y el tiempo de aquellos que vivieron antes,

y que nunca pensaron en nosotros,

aunque nosotros ahora estemos demasiado pendientes de ellos.

Sigo empeñado en descubrir qué decidimos que son los faros de vida, qué tipo de ficciones nos hacen pensar que somos alguien, y de dónde nace la enorme muralla que existe entre las personas haciendo del mundo un tablero de polifacéticos apartheids invisibles. Y pienso que existen realidades muy asumidas por todos y creadas a partir de pequeños instintos fundamentales de la persona, y que estos pequeños instintos fundamentales han sido resignificados para coreografiar la realidad. Por ejemplo:

A partir del amor a los padres, -en un principio algo instintivo y supervivencial- se ha legitimado la ficción del amor a la patria.
A partir del vértigo angustioso y melancólico que se instala en una persona cuando siente el paso del tiempo, se ha fabricado a escala nacional la necesidad de una nostalgia del pasado histórico de una nación.
De la misma manera que, del miedo a no saber qué será de nuestra consciencia después de nuestra muerte, emergen las religiones compilando miedos universales y que, al industrializarlo, generan poder y beneficio económico.
De la misma manera que existe la necesidad elemental de comunicación entre personas, se crean dispositivos -como WhatsApp- que articulan esa necesidad. (Y ganan mucho dinero).
O por último, de la predisposición sexual innata en un cuerpo vivo, la empresa Tinder satisface con cierta inmediatez ese impulso humano. (También ganando mucho dinero).

Tanto la patria, como el cristianismo, como Tinder industrializan y transforman económicamente emociones primitivas e innatas del ser humano.

Ahora, escribiendo esto, me han venido a la cabeza otras preguntas: ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho la última vez que hice el amor? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho cuando supe que murió un gran amigo mío hace poco? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho al viajar por primera vez fuera de mi país? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho cuando vi caer las Torres Gemelas? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho en mi primer día de colegio? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho cuando estuve frente al Guernica de Picasso? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho la última vez que sentí grandes turbulencias subido en un avión? ¿Qué palabras recuerdo haber dicho ayer mismo que no sea “hola”, “gracias” y “buenos días”? No recuerdo ninguna palabra, aunque me reconozco un ser racional y me paso la vida hablando. Y por supuesto no recuerdo parlamentos enteros y exactos. Pero, ¿de verdad que no recuerdo nada? Sin conocerte de nada, -tú que lees este texto-, seguro que, como yo, has vivido todos o casi todos estos mismos momentos. Y estoy seguro que no recuerdas ni una palabra, ni una sola frase exacta. Yo sólo tengo flashes, muchas sensaciones, sonidos, algún color. Sólo imágenes inconexas y resultonas, como si la vida fuera un scroll de Instagram: poco texto y mucha foto. Por eso triunfa tanto esa aplicación, espejo de la dispersión y del aglomerado visual que somos. Toda la memoria está anclada y solidificada en composiciones abstractas y estas ficciones definen la vida de millones de personas.

Siento que no se puede excavar hasta el centro del cerebro a través de la razón, sino sólo adentrarse a través de grutas de seducción, túneles sugestivos y eróticos, adornados con composiciones plásticas, con formas estéticas, con mucha música… como si se debiera estar constantemente hablándole a un bebé. Pienso que las personas somos profundos océanos de emociones y se puede navegar por la superficie de nuestro cerebro con la barca de la razón. Pero, en cambio, con herramientas artísticas se puede descender en las profundidades del océano del cerebro, y observar allí otras determinaciones tal vez universales a toda la humanidad. La metáfora del océano es un poco simple, pero me sirve. Por eso el arte es tan importante y peligroso al mismo tiempo porque, dominándolo, altera la percepción; y por tanto construye el mundo y la idea de realidad. Y ahora mismo, año 2021, que estamos más perdidos que un vegano en una comida entre argentinos, nos aferramos a ideas azarosas para dotarnos de una identidad que nos haga sentir la alegría que no tenemos.

Incluso en La Biblia, -uno de libros más influencer del planeta durante 3500 años-, se dice: “Al principio de todo, fue el verbo”. A mí, que me bautizaron y viví el cristianismo desde dentro, siempre me ha hecho mucha gracia esta frase. Porque, según la Biblia, antes de la creación del agua, de la tierra y del aire, antes de la aparición de los animales, de las plantas, de las personas y de cualquier órgano sexual, antes de todo apareció la palabra. Y que la Biblia diga que lo primero fue la palabra, me hace gracia porque declara que desde el principio existe la capacidad de ficción, la posibilidad de invención y con ello la posibilidad de manipulación y dominio. Porque según qué palabra se elija, se toma un camino u otro, eso todo el mundo lo sabe. Y una palabra mal elegida puede desencadenar en un divorcio o en una guerra. Y todos sabemos que la palabra construye el mundo, o mejor dicho, se inventa la realidad. Por eso, si uno no tiene el firewall de su atención actualizado, es fácil inseminarle cualquier otra realidad.

Observo que toda Europa está revisitando a sus fantasmas del pasado, y en esta gran ouija se ha decidido anclar fechas concretas en la historiografía europea, fechas que recuerden potencia y victoria de algo. Y con ello prescindir de otras fechas no interesadas y obviar siglos y siglos de fechas anteriores. Y, explicado poéticamente, si todo el planeta decidiera invocar a sus fantasmas remotos, digo que si de verdad diéramos marcha atrás y decidiéramos anclarnos en una etapa común anterior, todos iríamos a parar al océano. E incluso sabiendo que 3/4 partes del mundo son agua, y 3/4 partes de nuestro cuerpo son también agua, se decidió poner toda la atención en la parte pequeña que somos: la tierra y el cuerpo, la que sella las diferencias entre las personas. Coger un líquido con las manos es muy difícil: se derrama por todas partes. Eso mismo pasa con nuestra idea de nosotros mismos. ¿Quiénes somos?¿Quiénes creemos que somos? Y pienso que es normal tener todas las contradicciones que tenemos, queriendo perpetuamente identificarnos con otros. Cuando la mirada humana debería ser global y expandida.

Al igual que la transexualidad ha ayudado a expandir el concepto de hombre y de mujer más allá de unos simples órganos sexuales, al igual que Barack Obama ayudó a expandir la idea de cómo debe ser un presidente norteamericano en el siglo XXI, al igual que mujeres como Simone Weill o Malala han ayudado a expandir ideas en sus propias religiones, al igual que el descubrimiento de miles de planetas con vida en la galaxia ha expandido el concepto de qué es la vida, de la misma manera, digo, la identidad debería expandirse y no enfocarse en unos conceptos viejos, manidos, repetitivos y caducos como son la lengua, el color y la nación. La identidad debería ser entendida como solidaridad. Y la solidaridad entre habitantes del planeta, más allá de dogmas azarosos como ya he explicado antes, debería enfocarse en aspectos universales, como fue la voluntad de crear en su día la -muchas veces no respetada- Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos.

¿Podrías por favor ponerme un vaso de agua?

PABLO GISBERT

IONIAN ISLANDS: Identity as Desire / The Desire for Identity

Greek Identity functions as a ‘desire’ regardless of gender, origin or descent, illuminating the driving forces that lead to a true Revolution, individual or collective, in an “O-Place”, an ideal utopia.

Corfu, and the Ionian Islands in general, which repulsed the Turkish occupation and were a gateway to ideas and people who supported the Greek revolution, are well aware of what the ‘Desire’ for a Homeland means. They also know what can constitute the ideal for which one can fight, to reach the other end of the earth, but also to the deepest end of oneself, to feel that one belongs somewhere, that one has an identity, which allows them to create and evolve.

“By digging in the identity, you highlight your attitude”, says Lafkadio Hearn, an example of ‘a global soul’, who while searching for the “Greece” he never knew, he reached as far as Japan, having the Ionian Islands in his heart.

We too seek this Greece, through the experiences of creators that have “acted” in this Place, but also around the world, through their texts and ideas that have enlightened souls, but also through ideals that remain the driving force for creation and desire for action.

The Municipal and Regional Theatre of CORFU is being prepared for the anniversary year ‘GREECE 21’, moving on the axis “THE REVOLUTION as a window to the Future”. Under the general title “The (Greek) Identity as Desire”, regardless of origin, gender and identity, DIPETHE aims-through its’ continuous actions- to show that this place, Greece, and what it represents, continues today and possibly in the future to constitute an ideal, a “state of mind”, a desire for a “non-place”, an ideal utopia.

Corfu, and the Ionian Islands repulsed the Turkish occupation and appeared as a gateway to ideas and people who supported the Greek Revolution. Ionian Islands’ history has dealt consistently with the notion of ‘desire”: what ‘Desire’ for a Homeland means, and what can be the ideal for which one shall fight or reach the other end of the earth, but also to travel to the deepest end of himself, in order to feel that he belongs somewhere, that he has an identity, allowing him to create and evolve. “Digging deeper into identity, your attitude is being emerged,” says Lafkadio Hearn, a ‘global soul’ figure, searching for a Greece he never got to know. Hearn reached as far as Japan, keeping Ionian Islands in his heart. This ‘idea’ that still burns in the minds and souls of people throughout the universe, regardless of origin, gender and identity, is the one that motivates us to live and act, as ‘Greeks of the World’.

We aim to explore this “Greece” through personalities who visited, admired and lived in this place, through texts and ideas that enlightened souls, but also through ideals and imaginaries that still act as driving forces for creation and desire for action.

The Thematic Axes we suggest:

A) KAPODISTRIAS – Diplomacy – IDEAL STATE
B) SOLOMOS – Romanticism – IDEAL FEELING
C) TRAVELERS – Travel – IDEAL PLACE
D) HEROES – Revolution – IDEAL DEATH
E) LAFKADIO HEARN – Universal Spirit – IDEAL HOMELAND

Our actions will unfold mainly digitally, and will be registered in emblematic spaces, within the framework of the Festival ‘CITY-SCENE’, attempting to connect events and natural or historical space : In the Old Town of Corfu, in the other cities of Ionian Islands, in historical places, archeological sites and urban routes. In selected museums, and emblematic buildings, as well as in theme parks and gardens, but also in the urban streets and squares where actual life flows and goes on.

——————————PRESS——————————-

The Municipal Regional Theatre of Corfu (DIPETHEK), contributing to the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the proclamation of the Greek Revolution, on March 21, 2021, is launching series of actions under the theme:

Identity as Desire

Wanting to convey a positive message, given the “forced” absence of physical presence in the Theatre due to the Pandemic, we are attempting to transform this challenging situation into an opportunity to meet and discuss in our new “Homeland”, the Internet, with representatives from the Theater, Philosophy and the Sciences, who perhaps, under “normal” circumstances, would not be able to congregate under one roof, together.

Following the path of the Greek Revolution, that is, tracing the imprint of Greece and Hellenism outside Greece, to creators from abroad, the artistic director of DIPETHEK, Barbara Dukas, converses with distinguished creators from the theater, in this first online discussion / round table on the Theme of Identity and Belonging:

Viceversa: The Desire for a new ecumenical Identity”

Sunday 21st March 2021 – Time: 18:00 (GMT+2)

The radical director Milo Rau, the pioneers Massimo Furlan & Claire de Ribaupierre, famous all over the world the world for their site-specific performances, Leo Moreira, the new enfant terrible of world theater from Brazil, Athens still remembers his unexpected ‘Odyssey’, the French ( with an Algerian descent ) Αbou Lagraa, Choreographer and Co-artistic director Company La Baraka/Chapelle Sainte-Marie, and Darko Lukic, an important playwright and theorist from Croatia, will meet for the first time and sit at a round table. Eleni Riga moderates the discussion.

Together they will add their thoughts on the topics: IDEAL STATE / IDEAL EMOTION/ IDEAL PLACE / IDEAL DEATH / IDEAL HOMELAND.

As part of the discussion, online screenings of the works of Milo Rau, Leo Moreira, Massimo Furlan will take place between March 19-21.

The participation and collaboration with the Artistic Director, founder of the French multinational group La Baraka and the La Chappelle Choreography Center, takes place in collaboration with the Attica Cultural Society that represents him.

Curator-coordinator of the project: Angeliki Poulou

Sound editing-technical support : Vangelis Pandis

Translation: Ifigeneia Doumi & Stathis Paraskevopoulos

Voice over: Stathis Paraskevopoulos

The discussion will take place in English and will be broadcast live

on the FB page of DIPETHEK

https://www.facebook.com/dipethek

Specific links will be provided for the screenings between March 19-21.

For a more detailed overview of the work of our guests please click on the links below:

• Massimo Furlan https://www.massimofurlan.com/en/presentation/
• Milo Rau http://international-institute.de/en/about-iipm-2/
• Leo Moreira http://www.ciahiato.com.br/companhia-direcao_en.html
• Αbou Lagraa https://www.aboulagraa.fr/la-compagnie
• Darko Lukic https://www.adesteplus.eu/lisbon-summer-school/darko-lukic/
• Howard Barker http://www.howardbarker.co.uk/
• El Conde de Torrefiel http://www.elcondedetorrefiel.com/

A few words about our overall actions in 2021

IONIAN ISLANDS: Identity as Desire / The Desire for Identity

By digging into the idea of identity, you highlight your attitude”, wrote Lafkadio Hearn, an example of ‘a global soul’, who while searching for the “Greece” he never knew, he reached as far as Japan, having the Ionian Islands in his heart.

Contact Person: Antonis Kokolakis

Εmail: και