Meeting with the artists
Following the performance The Sworn Virgin, meeting with the artists and Anna Maria Monteverdi.
For the translation during the meeting we thank Estranei, an independent magazine and cultural project that focuses on Mitteleurope, the Balkans and Eastern cultures.
Anna Maria Monteverdi, expert in Digital Performance and Video theatre, she has a degree and a PhD in Performing arts. She’s a professor at Università Statale in Milan, where she teaches History of Scenography. For three years she was the coordinator of Scuola di Tecnologie at Accademia Alma Artis in Pisa. She also teached at Accademia di Belle Arti in Macerata, Lecce and Turin. She was a professor of History of Theatre at the Academy of Turin and Digital Video at the Brera Academy. She published several books and contributions. She writes for several journals: ateatro.it, rumorscena.it, digimag.it, culture teatrali.it, “Hystrio”, “Juliet-art magazine.
Jeton Neziraj is a playwright and the Director of Qendra Multimedia. He has served as the Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Kosovo. Mr. Neziraj written over 20 plays that have been staged (over 50 productions), translated and published in more than 15 languages. As a playwright, he has worked with theatres and companies, including Volksbühne Berlin, La MaMa in New York, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Volkstheater Vienna, Vidy Theater in Lausanne, National Theater of Kosovo, City Garage Theater in Los Angeles, National Theater of Montenegro, Turkish National Theater, etc. His plays have won numerous prizes and have been performed in theatre festivals throughout Europe.
«The plays [of Jeton Neziraj] are raucous, irreverent and absurdist.They invoke Ibsen, Molière and Kafka…» The “Guardian” wrote about his work. The German theatre magazine “Theater der Zeit” and the German Radio “Deutschlandfunk Kultur” have described him as Kafka of the Balkans, while the “Los Angeles Times” called him «a world- class playwright who challenges our complacency at every twist and turn». In 2020 he was awarded the Europe Culture Award.
Qendra Multimedia is a cultural organization based in Prishtina, Kosovo. Its main focus is in contemporary theater and literature. It is considered to be as one of the most interesting and provoking theatre companies in South Eastern Europe. Qendra was founded in 2002 by a group of young artists aiming to create an alternative form of art production to address political and social issues with clarity and imagination. Qendra produces and coproduces fresh and innovative theatre performances and other literature and cultural events, for local and international audiences. Artistic exchanges with international partners are crucial in the work of Qendra Multimedia. Since 2002, Qendra Multimedia has organized and facilitated more than 100 artistic projects in Kosovo, but as well as in other places in Europe. Qendra’s community of collaborating artists/experts create its own events and facilitate programming for others. Qendra’s productions have been touring to more than 100 international theaters and theater festivals across Europe, USA and Africa.
https://qendra.org/