The first issue of the seventh volume draws from a three-day international symposium The Art of Kamishibai: The Word of the Image and the Image of the Word, which took place at the Slovenian Theatre Institute in May 2018. We begin the thematic section with an essay by Igor Cvetko, which broadly contextualizes Slovenian kamishibai. This is followed by a discussion by Tara McGowan, which places kamishibai in world audiovisual history. Julia Gerster analyzes the ways in which kamishibai has been used after the nuclear accident on March 3, 2011 in Japan. She proposes a new term for this form of kamishibai, namely kamishibai of remembrance. Another practical use of kamishibai, i.e. for preserving an endangered dialect, is described by Yosuke Miki. We conclude the dedication to kamishibai with a book review of the first manual for creating kamishibai by Jelena Sitar: The Art of Kamishibai: A Guide to Creation.
In addition to the section on kamishibai, we are publishing three more discussions. Nika Leskovšek uses the method of analyzing the media reception of the event and the opening rituals of the performance Drama Observatory Capital from the year of Slovenian independence in 1991, explores the public perception of the role of art in society during the changed socio-political conditions and the transition from socialism to democracy. Tasos Angelopoulos on two examples of stage performances of Aristophanes Bird shows how the social and political ideology of Greekness influenced the interpretive frameworks of Greek audiences and critics. Miha Marek, on the other hand, analyses Slavko Grum's work in an original way to show how his drama fails to establish catharsis as a dramaturgical principle, but is precisely why it resembles a psychoanalytic therapeutic method.
In addition to the aforementioned Kamishibai manual, we have prepared three more book reviews, namely books by Tina Kolenik Skin as Costume: Dressing and Undressing in Everyday Life and Artistic Creation, Tomaž Toporišič Intermedia and Intercultural Nomadism: On the Connectivity of Media and Cultures and Robert Pfaller Interpassivity: The Joys of Delegated Enjoyment.
The journal Amfiteater was founded by the University of Ljubljana AGRFT. In 2015, the journal began to be published in co-publishing with the Slovenian Theatre Institute. It remains a university scientific journal, with two issues per year. The journal is included in the MLA International Bibliography (Directory of Periodicals). The publication was financially supported by the Slovenian Research Agency and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
