THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN EUROKAZ AND MSU (Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb)

Soon after Eurokaz was established in 1987, it acquired a serious international reputation, as the result of the authenticity and thoughtfulness of its programme concept. Today it is considered one of the most significant festivals in this part of Europe.

In Croatia Eurokaz has become an indisputable cultural fact. Its activity in the local context has significantly expanded since 2006, when it started producing and co-producing with Croatian and foreign partners, organising workshops and cooperating with the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. In 2003 the festival launched its own book publishing, and in 2008 a year-long series of events on the festival premises in Dežmanov prolaz 3 (Eurokaz Saloon – a well-established series of discussions about theatrical and cultural topics; Eurokaz pogon (Eurokaz Plant) – workshops and rehearsals, screenings, lectures). In addition, this season Eurokaz is organising a number of colloquiums named Critica criticae in collaboration with the association Academia moderna.

During the eighties and early nineties, Eurokaz was the only source of information on trends and important phenomena in European and world theatre, but lately we have witnessed an inflation of festivals, most of which are simply presentational. Many of them have encroached on Eurokaz`s programme features or followed its organisational model. Our scene has become saturated with information, while very little or no attention is given to contemporary theatrical thought and implementation strategies.

Eurokaz has therefore decided to influence the Croatian theatre scene more directly by emboldening it and making it artistically responsible – by becoming a festival of uncalculated paths. The new building of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb (MSU) and its new, technically well equipped  multimedia auditorium Gorgona seem like a logical, natural place of cooperation between all relevant artistic and social factors in the city that are trying to make Zagreb one of Europan and world art centers.

Eurokaz will insist on innovation and research within its own projects, co-productions, first-rate guest performances and by connecting its programme with Museum's exhibitions. From January 2010, Eurokaz has introduced its own performing arts repertoire taking place on a monthly basis.

Some of our productions have already been performed and have been a roaring success (Branko Brezovec`s Okovani Galileo (Galileo Bound) in Florence; Barbara Matijević`s Tracks in Kaaitheater, Brussels and Centre Pompidou, Paris). The internationally acclaimed Slovenian collective Via Negativa is preparing, specially for MSU, its most ambitious project – Via Nova, an anthology of all its works which deals with contradiction between performance as a momentary action and the need to store it in a museum for eternity.

Eurokaz will continue to support young, daring directors, despite the indecisiveness of Croatian institutions. The performance Crkva (Church) should be a new challenge for Saša Božić, after years of working as a dramaturge. One young director will get a chance to participate in the European project Focus on Art and Science, financed by the EU`s Culture Programme.

Many of the projects are thematically connected with the exhibitions at MSU. For example, a dance and light installation by the French-Belgian choreographer Brice Leroux supplements lumino-kinetic constructions by the Croatian visual artist Aleksandar Srnec (EXAT 51).

This year the festival will take place during the entire month of June. The programme will start with a showcase of Eurokaz co-productions and, as always, continue with top-quality guest performances from abroad. Since we wish to use and promote the new venue to the maximum, all performances will be held at MSU. In accordance with the new context of Eurokaz, this year`s selection will have an emphasized visual and musical dimension.