VIRTUALNI SPREHOD PO RAZSTAVI
Posnetek: Janez Marolt / SLOGI.
The exhibition, prepared by the Slovenian Theatre Institute, in cooperation with Cankarjev dom (Slovenia’s main cultural and congress centre), is the first comprehensive exhibition on the life and work of Dušan Jovanović, one of the greatest Slovenian directors, playwrights and theatre reformers, who occupies a prominent place in the history of the late 20th-century Slovenian and Yugoslav theatre. The exhibition unfolds the rich multifaceted nature of his creative oeuvre, properly connects it with key chapters from his life, shows his influence on the younger generations and seeks to capture Jovanović’s spirit, infused with innovation, provocation and passion. At the same time, the exhibition answers the question why Josip Vidmar (Slovenian literary and theatre reviewer, playwright, translator, essayist and politician) placed him among the "cultural terrorists".
The exhibition is complemented by an academic symposium, publication of the first comprehensive monograph on his work, film screenings of his performances, a discussion evening with his fellow companions and guided tours.
Dušan Jovanović
The playwright and director Dušan Jovanović occupies a prominent place in the history of the late 20th-century Slovenian and Yugoslav theatre. He was born in 1939, just before World War II, into a family with Greek, German, Croatian as well as Serbian ethnic origins. He spent his early childhood in Skopje and Belgrade and later moved to Slovenia with his father. He was an incomer, a foreigner who grew to become a theatre reformer and a daring playwright. His unending search for new ways of theatrical staging and intellectual provocations left a permanent imprint on the world of theatre. First with the Študentsko aktualno gledališče (Student Relevant Theatre), and later the Eksperimentalno gledališče Glej (Experimental Theatre Glej) and Gledališče Pupilije Ferkeverk (Pupilija Ferkeverk Theatre). His influence was most felt at the Mladinsko Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director from 1978 to 1985. Dušan Jovanović gained international renown, making his mark both in Slovenia and throughout the former Yugoslavia, as a theatre director in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and abroad.
As well as directing for the theatre, Jovanović made a name for himself as a prolific playwright. Oder 57, one of the first experimental theatres in post-war Slovenia, included Norci (The Madmen) in its repertoire but had been closed down before the play was staged. However, Jovanović did not admit defeat. The play was premiered seven years later at SLG Celje. He blazed new trails in avant-garde drama, for example with Znamke, nakar še Emilija (Stamps, and then Emilija), and broke with experimental theatre in Igrajte tumor v glavi in onesnaženje zraka (Play a Tumour in the Head and Air Pollution). In the late 1970s, his Osvoboditev Skopja (The Liberation of Skopje) and Karamazovi (The Karamazovs) laid the foundations for political drama, a savagely personal piece of theatre. His explorations of taboo subjects drew large crowds to theatre houses from Australia to the United States.
He is credited with reforming the Yugoslav theatre, thus earning notoriety as a cultural terrorist: the critic Josip Vidmar, who rejected these newly introduced phenomena, coined this term for a specific group of theatre practitioners (Dušan Jovanović, Ljubiša Ristić, Janez Pipan, Slobodan Šnajder, Rudi Šeligo...). As an all-round intellectual, in addition to engaging in theatre, Jovanović wrote essays on social reality, and later also poems and prose. He inspired the next generation of theatre artists as a professor at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television – AGRFT, University of Ljubljana. Although his ambition to stage a production at Ljubljana’s Plečnik Stadium was thwarted, it testifies to his belief in the importance of striving for the impossible.
The Dušan Jovanović – A Cultural Terrorist exhibition, taking place in Cankarjev dom’s Foyer I between 14 January – 7 March, addresses various aspects of Dušan Jovanović’s work. It focuses on his directorial oeuvre, highlighting the phenomenon of The Liberation of Skopje, takes viewers back to the 1980s and the rise of the Mladinsko Theatre, presents Jovanović’s plays and other publications, and shows – through the testimonies of his students – his influence on the younger generations. The exhibition seeks to capture Jovanović’s spirit, infused with innovation, provocation and passion. The exhibition is accompanied by the first comprehensive monograph on Dušan Jovanović, published by the Slovenian Theatre Institute, as well as the various side events.
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
14 January 2025 / Opening of the exhibition
Cancelled/postphoned 15 January 2025 / Patricija Maličev in conversation with Jovanović’s colleagues and companions
21 January 2025 and 11 February 2025 / Public guided tour of the exhibition
29 January 2025 / Scientific symposium marking the publication of the monograph on Dušan Jovanović, with the participation of the authors of various chapters – Sebastijan Horvat, Milan Mađarev, Aldo Milohnić, Saša Pavček, Draga Potočnjak, Alja Predan, Tomaž Toporišič, Gašper Troha and Dragan Živadinov
4. in 5. februarja and 9. marca 2025 ob 17. uri, Prvo preddverje, Cankarjev dom
Performativna vodstva
8 and 9 February 2025 / Screenings of films dealing with Jovanović’s productions or screen adaptations of Jovanović’s plays
17 February 2025 / Dušan, father of the Mladinsko Theatre, round table with Draga Potočnjak and guests in Mladinsko Theatre
4. marca 2025, ob 16.30, zbor v atriju Slovenskega gledališkega inštituta
Sprehod po Jovanovićevih ljubljanskih postojankah
6. marca 2025, ob 19.00, Klub Cankarjevega doma
Dušan Jovanović in njegovi sopotniki, pogovor
The exhibition was opened on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at 8 p.m.
The exhibition was opened by Barbara Koželj Podlogar, general director of the Directorate for Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, at the opening moderated by Katja Ogrin, we were also addressed by the general director of Cankarjev dom, Jure Novak, dr. Gašper Troha, director of the Slovenian Theatre Institute, co-author of the exhibition, dr. Matic Kocijančič, curator and head of the archive collection at the Slovenian Theater Institute, co-author of the exhibition and Jovanović's companion, actor and director Rada Šerbedžija. Photo: Barbara Reya, Mediaspeed @ Cankarjev dom.
Photo: Kristina Bursać / Cankarjev dom.
From the media
Kolegi in prijatelji se spominjajo “mehke duše” Dušana Jovanovića, MMC RTV SLO/STA, 7. 3. 2025
V CD spomin na Dušana Jovanovića obudili njegovi sopotniki in soustvarjalci, STA/SiGledal, 7. 3. 2025
“Nemci so se takrat od nas učili.” Ljubiša Ristić, The stage, 3. program Radia Slovenija – program Ars, 11. 2. 2025
Veliki gledališki vizionar: monografiji in razstavi se pridružuje še simpozij o Dušanu Jovanoviću, MMC RTV SLO, 29. 1. 2025
Ob monografiji in razstavi še znanstveni simpozij o Dušanu Jovanoviću, STA/SiGledal, 21. 1. 2025
V Cankarjev dom vabi razstava o večplastnosti ustvarjalnega opusa Dušana Jovanovića, STA/SiGledal, 21. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović – octogenarian, The stage, 3. program Radia Slovenija – program Ars, 20. 1. 2025
Razstava Dušan Jovanović – Kulturni terorist v Cankarjevem domu, Osmi dan, 1. program TV Slovenija, 20. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović – kulturni terorist in drugi razgledi iztekajočega se tedna, Cultural panorama (1min27s-7min56s), 3. program Radia Slovenija – program Ars, 18. 1. 2025
Razstava o gledališkem reformatorju Dušanu Jovanoviću v Cankarjevem domu, Dnevnik, 1. program TV Slovenija, 14. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović – A Cultural Terrorist, Svet kulture, 3. program Radia Slovenija – program Ars, 14. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović, kulturni terorist: razstava, ki popelje po poti provokativnega umetnika, MMC RTV SLO, 14. 1. 2024
V CD drevi odprtje razstave v spomin na gledališčnika Dušana Jovanovića, STAmisli, 14. 1. 2025
Predstavitev kulturnega terorista, Delo, 14. 1. 2025
Po sledeh prelomne veličine, Dnevnik, 14. 1. 2025
V CD kmalu pregledna razstava Dušan Jovanović – kulturni terorist, STAmisli, 8. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović – kulturni terorist, pregledna razstava o življenju in delu Dušana Jovanović, SiGledal, 7. 1. 2025
Dušan Jovanović – A Cultural Terrorist
Survey Exhibition of the Slovenian Theatre Institute and Cankarjev dom
14. 1. – 11. 3. 2025
Authors and Curators of the Exhibition: dr. Matic Kocijančič, dr. Gašper Troha, mag. Primož Jesenko
Co-authors: Ana Perne, mag. Tea Rogelj, Katarina Kocijančič, mag. Sandra Jenko
Exhibition producers: Ksenija Kaučič (SLOGI), Damjan Gorenjc (Cankarjev dom)
Exhibition project managers: Mihael Čepljenik (SLOGI), Katja Ogrin (Cankarjev dom)
Contribution to the development of the exhibition concept: Sanja Jurca Avci
Exhibition design: Sanja Jurca Avci in Tomaž Budkovič
Graphic design: Dolores Gerbec
Selection of video material: Ana Perne, Vilma Štritof
Editing: David Verlič (Klub Zagon), Jernej Čampelj (Kulturni zavod Veliki up)
Contributors to the preparation of photographic material: Andrej Ovsec, Tone Stojko
Technical realisation of the exhibition: Mizarstvo Andrej Čuk s. p., Fotoformat, Dominika Zver and CD technical crews
Multimedia programming: Domen Novak (Cankarjev dom)
Lighting design: Igor Remeta
Proofreading of Slovenian printed texts: mag. Sonja Košmrlj (Cankarjev dom)
English translation: mag. Anina Oblak (Cankarjev dom)
Subtitles: Barbara Hribar
Promotion: Mihael Čepeljnik (SLOGI), Janina Pintar (Cankarjev dom)
Exhibition programme manager: Katarina Hergouth (Cankarjev dom)
Photographers: Igor Antič, Viktor Berk, Barbara Čeferin, Leon Dolinšek, Foto atelje Pavšič Zavadlav, Meta Hočevar, Branko Ignjatović, Chris Johnson, Gorazd Kavčič, Enes Midžić, Aleksandar Saša Novković, Vlastja Simončič, Željko Stojanović, Tone Stojko, Simon Stojko Falk, Jendo Stoviček, Peter Uhan.
Authors, scriptwriters and directors of audio-visual recordings: Tomislav Aleksov, Barbara Brezavšček, Patricia Cvetković, Mitja Čander, Janez Drozg, William Fitzwater, Siniša Gačić, Slavko Hren, Dušan Jovanović, Majda Knap Šembera, Andrej Košak, Damjan Kozole, Špela Kuclar, Simon Obleščak, Radko Polič, Igor Prah, Dušan Prebil, Marjan Presetnik, Marjana Ravnjak, Tjaša Razdevšek, Tone Stojko, Simon Stojko Falk, Danilo Šerbedžija, Rade Šerbedžija, Lado Troha, Zvone Urbič, Boštjan Vrhovec.
Leaflet and promotional publications design: Luka Antič
Invitation design: Nina Šturm
Project leader: Slovenian Theatre Institute, represented by Gašper Troha, in cooperation with Cankarjev dom, represented by Jure Novak.
The exhibition was made possible with the financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
In cooperation with RTV Slovenija, KPGT, AGRFT UL, SMG, SNG Nova Gorica, MGL, Maska, Dramski teatar Skopje, Narodno pozorište Beograd, Vertigo, Zavod za kulturne dejavnosti, SNG Drama Ljubljana, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Zgodovinski arhiv Celje.
Special thanks go to the people who have helped us with their memories and the materials they have so carefully preserved: Milena Zupančič, Draga Potočnjak, Ljubiša Ristić, Danka Palian, Tone Stojko, Simona Ješelnik, Tina Malič, Mateja Dermelj, Katarina Hergouth, Katja Ogrin, Tatjana Kolenc, Ženja Maher, Meta Hočevar, Bojan Himmelreich, Vilma Štritof, Rok Omahen, Ksenija Horvat, Miran Mohar Robert Naskov, Danilo Šerbedžija, Branka Čretnik, Damjan Kozole, Danijel Hočevar, Maja Berk, Janez Drozg Marjan Drozg, Jana Brumec Erjavc, Goran Schmidt, Vesna Jurca Tadel, Barbara Hieng Samobor, Rok Bozovičar, Inga Remeta, Miha Golob, Mirjam Drnovšček, Marko Bratuš, Alenka Klabus, Ana Kržišnik Blažica and many others.
Unfortunately, despite our diligent efforts, we have not been able to locate all the authors or copyright holders, so we ask potential copyright holders of published works to contact us at slogi@slogi.si so as to make the appropriate arrangements for the transfer of copyright for the use of their work. Thank you for your understanding.
© Slovenian Theatre Institute and Cankarjev dom, 2024
All rights reserved. No part of the exhibition content, neither text nor images, may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise utilised in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of Slovenian Theatre Institute and Cankarjev dom.
The exhibition is part of the festival LUV Fest, festival of love, arts, and wanderings around Ljubljana
Cover photo. Dušan Jovanović, private archive of Milena Zupančič.
