Stitches / Šivi
“Quality is in stitches. That’s what a friend told me.”
The secret of life is in the stitches, not in not having scars. From good stitches, a good life blossoms. For some, the stitches heal. For others, they do not. Some make a life after tragedy, others do not. Some go abroad, and others stay at home. Some are pussies, others are drunks. Some were on one side, others on the other, but all were looking at each other’s gates and staring into each other’s eyes. Some killed, some raped, some lied. Some were lifting weights on the roof of the block, ignoring the snipers. “I’d rather die like a bird than a rat! Let them blow me up in broad daylight!”.
The performance Stitches, based on a text by musician, writer and performer Damir Avdić, is based on an autobiographical template from the war on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The aim is to tell the stories that happened to him, to her, to you, to them, about them, to us. The fact that the former common state was bloodily split apart at the stitches has caused thousands of new stitches, which – consciously or unconsciously – we all bear. Stitches are the framework for the here and now. Stitches are stories that are never fully healed. Conceptual artists are forbidden entry.
Directed and written by: Damir Avdić
Performers: Gregor Zorc, Barbara Krajnc Avdić, Asja Kahrimanović
Dramaturgy: Andrea Kopač
Graphics/video: Almir Mazalović
Lighting: Janko Oven
Music: Damir Avdić
Head of production: Nastja Kotnik Minik
Production: Maska Ljubljana
Premiere: September 2024, Ljubljana
Supported by:
- MOJ DOM. Refugees, migration and erased memories in the aftermath of Yugoslav wars. Funded by the EU Programme CERV
- Slovenian Ministry of Culture
- Municipality of Ljubljana
Damir Avdić, born in Tuzla in 1964, is a versatile artist and an exceptional creator. His rich oeuvre blends prose, poetry, music and performing arts. Avdić is the author of four novels – Na krv ćuprija (2005), Enter Džehenem (2009), Tiket za revoluciju (2012), Ne želim da pobjedim (2014) – and a collection of poetry, Kuda sestro. He released his first album Od trnja i žaoka in 2004, followed by six more – four years later Mrtvi su mrtvi, in 2010 Život je raj, in 2012 Mein kapital, a year later Human Reich and Manjina and last year America, along with the novel Rodeo. In 2017, he received the Vesna Award for the music in Ivan and Družinica at the 20th Slovenian Film Festival in Portorož, and the Borštnikovo Award for the music in the production of the Slovenian National Theatre with play Antigone at the 52nd Maribor Festival. He already collaborated with Maska as a performance author in 2016, where he was the author, director, music composer and, alongside Gregor Zorc, performer in his own performance Mephisto, a co-production between Mini teater Ljubljana and the Desire festival in Subotica.
Are you interested in the performance?
Write to Nastja Kotnik Minik – nastja.kotnik@maska.si
Read the interview with the director Damir Avdić.
