TkH (Walking Theory), 19: Politicality of Performance (2011) [Serbian/English]

“In a broader historical perspective, the social position of art seems relatively marginal, which could serve as a possible starting point to think about what the politicality of performance might mean today. It seems that the political relevance of art has become disputable, due to its commercialisation and commodification by the entertainment and creative industries, the mass media’s at least partial appropriation of its political relevance, and an overall “aestheticisation of life” in the 20th century, to name only a few possible factors. But at the same time, the topic itself has been attracting more and more theoretical and artistic attention. We devote this issue of the TkH journal to the topic of the politicality of performance because we want to open up more space for thinking about these two seemingly irreconcilable tendencies. The discussion may include (but is not limited to) questions such as the following: What is the meaning of these notions nowadays and how are they disconnected or interconnected? Why do we find the proposed topic important or, to put it simply, why is there such a preoccupation with the political in the performing arts today? Might it merely be an alibi concocted to secure the support of public funds and various other foundations? Maybe it is just a desperate attempt to be recognised as a socially relevant practice instead of being dismissed as an elitist type of entertainment? Or is it just the neo-liberal capitalist state of affairs, which blurs the borders between different social practices and where some old questions – such as how we practise politics and where politics is located today – are still waiting for an answer?” (from the introduction)

The topic of this issue was researched in the context of TkH project “Performance and the Public” produced at Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers.

With contributions by Sezgin Boynik, Gregory Sholette, Grupa Umetnost kao politika/Group Art and/as Politics (Aneta Stojnić, Ana Isaković, Marko Đorđević i Sava Jokić), Aleksandra Jovićević, Bojana Kunst, Aldo Milohnić, Gerald Raunig, Janelle Reinelt, Jelena Vesić, Ana Vujanović.

TkH, Journal for Performing Arts Theory, 19
Edited by Ana Vujanović and Aldo Milohnić
Published by TkH (Walking Theory) theoretical-artistic platform, Belgrade, December 2011
Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA 3.0 Serbia
ISSN 1451-0707
164 pages

Publisher

PDF, PDF (updated on 2017-7-11)