How does the war in Ukraine affect the situation in the region? How is the response of Central and Eastern European countries specific? Will the Ukrainian culture be more present in the surrounding states than during peacetime, and will the perception of how non-Ukrainians look at it change? How does war change the principles and values on which international cultural cooperation is based? We will talk with theater professionals from eight countries about concrete expressions of help and solidarity, the politicization of art, art activism and changes in the performing arts, about new contacts and partnerships created in the new situation, and about the boycott of Russian art.

Our panel of theatre and art professionals include: Yana Partola (Ukraine), Miriam Kičiňová (Slovakia), Nanor Petrosyan (Armenia), Raluca Radulescu (Romania), Rusanda Alexandra Curca (Moldova), Maria Komarova (Belarus), Inga Zotova-Mikshina (Russia) and Marta Ljubková (Czechia). The Head of International Cooperation Department of the Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague, Martina-Pecková Černá (Czechia), will be the moderator.

The Show Must Go ON/OFFline online discussion series and the subsequent ShowOff podcast series address the performing arts’ sensitivity and responsiveness to contemporary social, political and human civilisation issues. The discussions are featuring guests drawn from the ranks of theatre and dance artists, curators, cultural managers and theorists from the Central and Eastern European region and from other countries from all over the world. In dialogue with them, we try to map the performing arts’ emerging strategies and responses to global paradigm shifts. The online discussions take place live on the Zoom platform in English and recordings of them are made available on the PerformCzech Youtube channel. The podcast series is available on the ShowOff Simplecast platform.

The series are produced by the PerformCzech team at the Arts and Theatre Institute and in collaboration with international partners such as the European project Create to Connect -> Create to Impact project and the Performing Arts Central Europe (PACE.V4) network. The series are produced with support from the International Visegrad Fund, Creative Europe program and the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic.

Moderator

• Martina Pecková-Černá (CZ) / Head of International Cooperation Department of the Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague

Guests

• Yana Partola (UA) / dean of the Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky, theatre critic and historian
• Miriam Kičiňová (SK) / director of the Drama department of Slovak national theatre, theatre theoretician and critic, pedagogue at VŠMU Bratislava
• Nanor Petrosyan (AM) / theatre director, team member of Tegh Degh cultural NGO in Yerevan
• Raluca Radulescu (RO) / journalist, translator, theatre director
• Rusanda Alexandra Curca (MD) / cultural worker, environmental and civic activist, co-directrice of the Center for Cultural Projects Arta Azi in Moldova
• Maria Komarova (BY) / intermedia artist working in fields of postdramatic theatre, scenography, sound and visual arts
• Inga Zotova-Mikshina (RU) / dancer, performer, pedagogue at Duncan Centre Conservatory in Prague
• Marta Ljubková (CZ) / Head Dramaturgist of the Drama department of National theatre in Prague, literary critic, pedagogue at DAMU Prague

Practical information

• The meeting will take place on ZOOM; it is not necessary to download the application in advance.
• After filling out the registration form, you will receive an e-mail with a link to access the webinar.
• If possible, please register 15 minutes before the start of the event to allow time to complete the registration process.
• The webinar will be held in English and Russian.

Link HERE