Trigger

TRIGGER 2024

AND IETM Caravan

14.-17. 3. / Maribor, Ljubljana

Four days of performances, discussions, talks and discovering Slovenian and international trends in performance arts.

We are proudly announcing the fifth edition of  TRIGGER 2024 with its selection of Slovenian independent performance arts production. TRIGGER will happen in Maribor and Ljubljana between March 14th and March 17th, 2024. 

This Year TRIGGER pairs up with IETM Caravan for more interesting meetings, collaborations and discussions. Alongside a rich selection of performance work, panels and dialogues, we will attempt to place local contemporary performing arts practices within the socio-political legacy of the former Yugoslavia focusing on practices of solidarity.

 Platform also has a diverse discourse programme where both domestic and international guests challenge the existing and search for new models of international and local cooperation. At the same time we contextualize performing practices and build a network for their decentralization.  

TRIGGER your passion for new performative aesthetics, inspiring practices and international allyships. Become part of TRIGGER platform.

TRIGGER 2024: Announcing the programme!

We are happy to announce the full programme for this year’s TRIGGER showcase platform of Slovenian independent performing arts. 

TRIGGER is a platform for internationalization of contemporary independent performing arts. We are developing TRIGGER in partnership with Bunker, Glej Theatre, City of Women, Moment, Pekinpah, Mladinsko Theatre and Maska (Nova pošta programme). Each year the showcase features productions from several other Slovenian producers. 

Discursive programme is in English with an option of Slovenian translation. Performances are either in English or surtitled in English, unless otherwise stated in the program.

Thursday, 14th March 2024, Maribor

14:00–15:30 (location: Vetrinjski dvor)
Maribor Metropolis – A walk through town and its independent scene venues
You could say that Maribor has everything that the greats have. A little rough around the edges – just the way we like it. In this session, walk through a brief overview and memory of some of the ‘pearls’ that it managed to create in the field of culture.

15:30–16:00 (location: Vetrinjski dvor)
Accreditation & refreshments
Make this desk your first port of call to become accredited and ask any questions about the sessions or about how to get around in Maribor. A few refreshments will be served while everyone gets together.

16:00–17:00 (location: Vetrinjski dvor)
Let’s get to know each other
Get to know the coordinates and context of the Slovenian independent performing arts scene through the eyes of TRIGGER partners and learn about the context of the Maribor independent scene.

17:30–18:45 (location: GT22)
Jorge Andrade: Blood Stories // docufiction storytelling // duration: 70 minutes // co-production: Moment Maribor (Slovenia) and Mala voadora (Portugal)
Language: English

19:15–20:30 (location: SNG Maribor)
Brina Klampfer Merčnik, Vita Osojnik: Nobody Whistles Anymore // theater // duration: 80 minutes // production: City of Women
Language: Slovenian with English subtitles

21:00–22:00 (location: Vetrinjski dvor)
Tjaša Črnigoj: Sex Education II – Ability // documentary lecture-performance // duration: 50 minutes // co-production: Mladinsko Theatre and Maska Ljubljana
Language: Slovenian with English subtitles

22:00–00:00 (location: Bar Coda)
Late Night Meeting Point

Friday, 15th March 2024, Ljubljana

00:00–23:59 (Location: The walk can be started from any point in the city. You will need a smartphone, access to the internet and a pair of headphones. Access the audio file here )
Tery Žeželj: If trees would cry, we would cry too // Sound walk // duration: 30 minutes // production: Bunker
Language: English

11:00–11:45 (location: Cukrarna)
Who’s there? // A short classical IETM speed dating exercise to get to know the local scene and other IETM Caravan participants.

12:00–12:30 (location: Cukrarna)
Welcome to Ljubljana // Welcome words from the representatives of Ljubljana Municipality.

13:00 – 13.30 (location Cukrarna)
Keynote: Gal Kirn – “How to Deal with the Partisan Legacy: Yesterday and Today” // lecture
The lecture will encompass the pivotal points of the “Yugoslav experiment,” what I refer to as three partisan breakthroughs: the National Liberation War (NOB), the Non-Aligned Movement, and self-management. I will be interested in exploring how these pivotal points, especially the NOB, have been attempted to be “remembered,” changed, and continued in cultural and artistic productions. Has utopia shifted into the realm of culture? I will take some productive examples of this legacy from the socialist era (political films by Želimir Žilnik, monuments of the revolution, etc.) and some examples of how these legacies are approached today (gatherings, digital archives, the Women’s Antifascist Front, memory activism).

13:30–14:30 (location: Cukrarna)
Lunch Break

14:30–16:30 (location: Cukrarna)
Gala Kirn: Utopias and visions of the past as inspiration and tools for a better future // working session
After the lecture by Gala Kirn, which will provide a perspective on the cultural and artistic production in Slovenia and beyond in the context of the legacies of the National Liberation War (NOB) and socialism, we will, together with our guests on the panel, address contemporary challenges in operating within the independent cultural and artistic scene in the region. By identifying shared experiences and sharing examples and experiments, we will try to formulate foundations for creating a more exciting future for independent performing arts production.
Moderator: Florent Mehmeti, Teatri ODA, (XK)
Panelists: Ksenija Djurovic, Bitef (RS), Mirela Travar, Operacjia Grad (HR), Zana Hoxha, Artpolis and FEMART Festival (XK), Alma R. Selimović, Bunker (SI), Pia Brezavšek or Alja Lobnik, Maska (SI)

17:00–18:30 (location: Old City Power Station)
Primož Bezjak, Eero Epner, Branko Jordan, Mart Kangro, Katarina Stegnar, Juhan Ulfsak: Fun Fact // theater // duration: 90 minutes // production: Bunker
Language: English

19:00–20:00 (location: Španski borci)
Jasna Jasna Žmak: This is my truth, tell me yours // solo performance // duration: 60 minutes // production: Via Negativa
Language: English 

20:30–21:30 (location: Španski borci)
Maja Dekleva Lapajne, Alenka Marinič: On the Ground // theater // duration: 60 minutes // production: City of Women
Language: English

22:00–23:00 (location: Old City Power Station)
Leja Jurišić: Red Forest // dance // duration: 60 minutes // production: Pekinpah
Language: n/a

23:00–00:00 (location: Old City Power Station)
Late Night Meeting Point

Saturday, 16th March 2024, Ljubljana

00:00–23:59 (Location: The walk can be started from any point in the city. You will need a smartphone, access to the internet and a pair of headphones. Access the audio file here )
Tery Žeželj: If trees would cry, we would cry too // Sound walk // duration: 30 minutes // production: Bunker
Language: English

11:30 – 14:00 (Location: Cukrarna, Ljubljana)
Motovila: Possibilities of financing your collaborations in the region // presentation and open discussion
Are you interested in learning about mobility and funding opportunities within the performing arts sector in Southeast Europe, or getting to know various funding bodies and access their programmes? Our informative session will guide you on where to find relevant information and foster an open discussion about the regional challenges in cross-border cooperation within the performing arts sector.
Speakers: Ása Richardsdóttir, chair Perform Europe & IETM Secretary General, Dea Vidović, Kultura Nova Foundation, Director, Fanchon Lefevre, Culture Moves Europe Deputy Project Manager, Goethe-Institut Brussels, Florent Mehmeti, Themelues dhe Drejtues, Founder and Director, Mateja Lazar, Head of CED Slovenia and Motovila Institute director, Tanja Gavrilović, Teatroskop Program coordinator, Institute Français Belgrade (tbc)
Moderator: Tanja Kos, Motovila Institute

14:30 – 16:30 (Location: Cukrarna)
Lunch with the Artists // Meet the local artists and producers over a lunch in Cukrarna and dive deep into the conversations about the local productions and realities.

17:30 – 18:30 (Location: The Old Power Station)
Neja Tomšič and Nonument Group: Circle // theatre essay // duration: 60 minutes // production: Bunker
Language: English

20:00 – 21:00 (Location: The New Post Office)
Tjaša Črnigoj, Sendi Bakotić, Vanda Velagić, Tijana Todorović, Lene Lekše: Sex Education II: Fight // Lecture-performance // Duration: 90 min // Producer: Tina Dobnik, Co-production: Mladinsko Theatre, Maska Ljubljana and City of Women
Language: Slovenian, Croatian with English surtitles

21:00 – 00:00 (Location: The New Post Office)
Late Night Meeting Point

Sunday, 17th March 2024, Ljubljana

00:00–23:59 (Location: The walk can be started from any point in the city. You will need a smartphone, access to the internet and a pair of headphones. Access the audio file here )
Tery Žeželj: If trees would cry, we would cry too // Sound walk // duration: 30 minutes // production: Bunker
Language: English

11:00–12:20 (location: Glej Theatre)
Počemučka: Under Construction // object theater // duration: 90 minutes // production: Glej Theatre
Language: Slovenian with English subtitles

13:00–14:00 (location: Glej Theatre)
Farewell Brunch

sneak peak

ARTISTIC PROGRAMME

Seven full-length performances, a sound walk and a crying intervention. The programme focuses on the works produced in the past two years from the Slovenian independent scene, highlighting interesting new names and works alongside some of those who have already established a name for themselves in the international arena. 

A strong focus in this edition are female artists covering a range of topics, brushing up on reinterpretations of the local history and context while comparing it to the global narratives. They will also explore a wide landscape of performing modalities ranging from lecture performances, theatrical and visual essays to more poetic forms of object and music theater.

Some of the names and performances you will be able to discover are:

Počemučka Collective with their multi-award winning debut performance Under Construction, a generational meditation on community, time and history,

Tjaša Črnigoj with the last part of the Sex education II series entitled Fight, reconstructing the struggle for reproductive rights in Yugoslavia,

Neja Tomšič and the Nonument group with the poetic visual essay Circle, connecting stories of Parks with the histories and politics of public space,  

Leja Jurišič in collaboration with Urška Centa, Žigan Krajnčan, Gašper Kunšek, Kristýna Šajtošová, and Veronika Valdés, Petra Veber and Eduardo Raon in an Omnibus of confrontations with the forest Red Forest, 

Jasna Jasna Žmak exploring the connection between patriarchy and tinnitus in her lecture performance This is My Truth, tell me yours,  

Maja Dekleva Lapajne in Alenka Marinič with a musical performance dedicated to exhaustion and despair under crushing neoliberalism On the Ground,  

Jorge Andrade’s Blood Stories, a co-production between Portugal’s Mala voadora and Slovenia’s Moment discovering the blood and bloody connections between the countries and their histories. 

Lea Kukovičič with her crying men interventions, the second part of the When Men Cry trilogy and Tery Žeželj’s audio walk, a part of her two year artistic research Multispecies Landscapes.