Mott Communications Officer Maggie I. Jaruzel interviewed Foundation grantees in the Western Balkans who helped coordinate the recent “Truth in Translation” tour through the region. These grantees also attended performances and participated in related "Talk Back" sessions and workshops. Mott grantees share their thoughts and observations below.
- Country: Serbia
- Performance sites: Belgrade Theatre [As part of the Belgrade International Theatre Festival], and National Theatre in Novi Sad
Bujanovac Cultural Centre, South Serbia
- Mott grantee affiliated with the tour: Women in Black in Belgrade (WIB)
- Staff person interviewed: Stasa Zajovic, founder and director, WIB
We brought in people from throughout Serbia for the performance. Although the biggest portion of our tickets went to those from Women in Black –- women from about 10 towns in our network -- there were also some women from Srebrenica [site of mass graves].
After I saw the play the first night, I decided that we would take activists to the second performance. In 24 hours we were able to fill two buses, even though we hadn’t planned on it.
 |
| Stasa Zajovic |
I convinced an [adult] orphan from the war to come with us to the performance. Her parents were killed in the genocide at Srebrenica and it was her first time in her life to be in Belgrade, Serbia. She was afraid because her parents had been killed by Serbian forces. She said, ‘The play made me remember what happened, but I wasn’t shocked.’ She then stayed to attend the workshop.
You came away from the play feeling like you are citizens of the world. Plays like this are always performed in the capital cities, but this one was also seen in small towns so we all could feel a part of it.
Things like this play are very, very important and very, very powerful. This was extremely important for the democratization of arts, especially for promoting the concept of artistic engagement against impunity through theatre arts. Women in Black has used art since the beginning to share our message, but has just recently started to use theatre art. Thanks to
Truth in Translation, using theatre art as a way to share the importance of transitional justice made it into the mainstream space here.
Truth in Translation was performed at the most important international theatre festival in our country – the Belgrade International Theatre Festival. I think this year was their most important festival in 20 years, and it was the first time Women in Black was invited to attend, thanks to Director Michael Lessac and the Mott Foundation. Some say we are the ideological enemies of the mainstream because of our politics, which are in opposition to the Serbian regime and call for accountability for the war crimes committed. We have been denounced in the past and extremely demonized because we speak out against impunity for war criminals, but we want them to be held responsible.
Ever since 1999, we have been rejected and limited in speaking about transitional justice in public. So, for us to be invited to the performance, it was a big recognition of the artistic non-violence kind of work we do. This play gave us and our work credibility.
Truth in Translation Director Michael Lessac is an artist but he is also an activist. It is a clever, clever way to enter the mainstream with an activist message. We saw artistic theatre at a high level, with international actors, who recognized the importance of transitional justice work.
It is excellent how this theatre piece used the approach of music and nonverbal communication to face such painful issues. It also used humor to tell about South Africa’s past. We need political engagement on this issue of dealing with the past, but theatre art in Serbia is usually about nationalism and escapism. We have to see what’s happened in our past and not be afraid to talk about it.
This was a big, big event for Women in Black. We have to continue to build on this event.
Truth in Translation was an emotional event; it was engaged art. It is now our responsibility – those who saw it – to share this message inside Serbia.