THE POWER OF MEMORY
The project consists of a research process, a musical installation and the play "Presence of Absence". It deals with post-traumatic memory, specifically - the memory kept by family members, which refers to missing persons from their immediate environment. [2013]
Most often, the only thing that remains after the disappearance of loved ones is the memory, which remains in various forms in those who were closest and in this way saves them from complete oblivion. Art, especially theater art, is able to record and revive those efforts, through the living word and presence on stage. In this way, the thread of life continues and not a single life was in vain. By creating a performance based on researching the meaning of that memory, our goal is to help families who had that difficult experience to transform it into some kind of meaning with which they can continue to live, as well as to help the process of dealing with the past in our area.
As part of the project, the theater installation "Missing" was realized in cooperation with Theaterlabor from Germany, which was presented in the DAH Theater and Museum of the City of Belgrade and in Theaterlabor, Bielefeld, Germany.
The process of working on the play and musical installation was based on the collection of documentary material through interviews with the families of the missing, researching numerous documents and literature related to this topic, as well as researching the myths of different peoples and cultures, which deal precisely with the presence of absence. This project has a positive effect on the entire community as a step forward in dealing with historical facts and truth in a way that gives importance to those who were once part of that same community, but are unfortunately considered missing.
THEATRE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
As part of the "Power of Memory" project and the celebration of the International Human Rights Day, DAH Theater organizes the "Theatre and Human Rights" program from November 30 to December 12, 2013, which includes the theater installation "Missing", Meeting of women from the region and the premiere of the play and musical installation "Presence of Absence".
The implementation was supported by:
The collaboration between Theatrelabor and DAH Theater was supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation. The hosting of the play "Presence of Absence" at the International Center for Children and Youth in Novo Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina is supported by the Western Balkan Regional Program, Justice and Civil Society Initiatives (JCSI), and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).