The discussion, involving the active participation of artists introduced at the 2006 City of Women Festival, was a continuation of the idea first realised in 2005 to allow contemporary artists involved in performance, theatre, concerts and exhibitions to clearly and loudly articulate their concepts, interventions and specific practices regarding the issue of this year’s Festival.
The issue under discussion in 2006 was how contemporary performative politics presents, constructs and alters memory, which is nowadays becoming increasingly more established beyond mythology, and is being transformed into the category of the political and activistic. Memory is history – not merely the history of contemporary dance, performance, video, film, visual art and theatre, but also of the feminist, lesbian and queer movement, as well as the history of activism and hard-won social, cultural and, last – but not least – political changes. In this respect a shift in memory, activism, culture and politics in the current global capitalist context – which could be characterised as a transition from the politics of memory to the memory of what used to be political – is something to be concerned about.
Marina Gržinić
