9th Yyoung Theater Festival in Bale concludes with workshop presentations and the opening of Marko Šošić’s “fLORA” exhibition
The ninth International Young Theater Festival in Bale, held from 20 to 25 September under the theme “The Art of Play and Emotion,” concluded on Friday, 25 September, with a presentation of the workshops and the opening of Marko Šošić’s “fLORA” exhibition at the Ulika Gallery. Over the course of six days, the Festival brought together around 200 participants from Croatia and abroad.
The final workshop presentation was held at the Mon Perin Conference Hall, where mentors and participants shared the experiences and new knowledge gained throughout the Festival week. The Festival brought together students and professionals from universities and academies in Croatia, Ukraine, Jordan, Mostar and Ghana, alongside numerous mentors from the fields of theater and performing arts, psychology, creative therapies, pedagogy, food and cosmetics.
This year’s programme brought together actors, students, creative therapists, psychologists, drama educators, teachers, and professionals working in nursing, rehabilitation and social work. Part of the workshop programme was also dedicated to children and parents.
“This year, we wanted to take another step forward and open the Festival to different fields that can enrich the artistic experience – psychology, creative therapies, pedagogy, health, and even food and cosmetics. The idea is that art should not develop only artistic skills, but the person as a whole. That is why we brought together artists and experts from different fields and created a programme in which participants learn through experience, play, movement, conversation and collaboration,” said the artistic director of the Young Theater Festival, Associate Professor Katica Šubarić, PhD.
Among this year’s workshop mentors were actress Selma Alispahić, drama therapist Anna Seymour from the University of Roehampton in London, actor Jasmin Geljo, professor and director András Hatházi, psychologist and Sensorimotor Art Therapist Saba Başoğlu Yavuz, Associate Professor Ana Kurtović, Assistant Professor Barbara Pisker, Professor Stela Jokić, Ema Pavičić, Gabrijela Milić, doctor and creative therapist Maja Štimac, Professor Iva Blažević, Professor Robert Raponja, puppeteer and director Kata Kiso Palocsay, Dr Damir Marinić, Associate Professor Ana Kurtović, Professor Daniela Čačić Kenjerić, and teacher and drama educator Snježana Čubrilo.
A particularly moving moment of the closing evening was the performance of a poem about togetherness by Dr Rashida Resario, a professor at the Department of Theatre Arts of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, dedicated to all participants and colleagues of the 9th Young Theater Festival.
The Festival also brought the rich evening arts programme in Bale to a close. At the Ulika Gallery, the exhibition “fLORA” by visual artist and university professor Marko Šošić was opened. Sandi Drandić, Director of the Tourist Board of Bale-Valle, welcomed the artist and the audience on behalf of the hosts, while the exhibition was presented by Jasmina Pacek, artistic director of the Young Theater Festival.
The “fLORA” cycle features watercolours depicting flowers and plants, created through direct observation of living plants. The first works were created ten years ago, during the artist’s hospital stay and recovery, when painting took on a deeply personal and healing dimension for him. Most of the works presented in Bale were created over the past two to three years.
Jelena Kovačević described “fLORA” as “a gentle and attentive dialogue between observation and transience,” highlighting the way looking, recording and care come together in the works. Many of the plants Šošić depicts were grown or collected by the artist himself, connecting the act of painting with gardening and meditation.
The Young Theater Festival was organised by the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, the University of Split, the Municipality of Bale-Valle, the Tourist Board of Bale-Valle and Mon Perin d.d.
Information about the Festival is available on the Festival’s website, Facebook and Instagram pages / Young Theater Festival.
