essay in sre v2

8/8/2019 essay in sre v2

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OPERA CIRCUSPerformances of

Differences in Demolitionin Srebrenica, BiH

and Vienna, Austriafrom

6 to the 13 December 2010


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Tina, the Opera Circus producer and Robert (the photographer/filmmaker) asthe other 10 members of the orchestra and the singers, depart from variousplaces around Britain to arrive at a Heathrow hotel for the evening to be able tocatch the early flight to Vienna on their way to Sarajevo.

(Crewkerne Station, late Sunday afternoon, 5 December 2010)


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After many hours delay, being forced to take another airline to Belgrade ratherthan Sarajevo and then being bussed by the OSCE from Belgrade to Srebrenicaacross the plains and into the mountains of Bosnia, the team arrive very late atthe hotel. The next morning, the splendour of the snow-covered landscape isfirst seen.

(the road outside of Abdullahs and Avdos Misirlije Hotel)


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On the morning of the 7 th of December the team arrived to find that therehearsal rooms were not heated as promised by the Cultural Centre and theUNDP. Further they discover that the town has granted a licence to drill theroad up for new water pipes in front of the rehearsal areas. Across the street theminaret broadcasted its prayers as the performers concentrated on the work athand.

(the square in front of the Kulturni Centar including the local mosque and the wrecked hotel -theyellow building- where 35 families are hidden from view having been temporarily housed in2002 while the politicians tell the population how they have cared for all of the wars refugees.)


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Aidan Burke, viola, studies the score during the rehearsal.

Paul Barritt, violin, works with conductor Will Conway on 7-16 time.


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For Belma Alic, who played in the original performances in 2007, it was achallenging experience to make more discoveries about structure and rhythmswhile working with Will Conway, the conductor. Afterwards Belma wrote:Playing this operaI feel like I am home, safe and happycompletely happy.


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(The whole orchestra and composer Nigel Osborne, work in the cold, noisy and under litrehearsal studio.)


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Once the orchestra has settled into working together, working with theconductor Will and with the complexities of the score, the singers joined themon Wednesday and began to rehearse, leaving only two days before performingthe piece which was new to two of the instrumentalists and three of the singers.

(Elizabeth McCormack rehearses as Paul Barritt plays.)


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(Krassimir Sterev, accordion player, concentrates on his score. He is one of the instrumentalistsnew to the work.)


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(Nigel Osborne studied his score as the musicians worked through the pages.Lenka Udovicki, who directed the original performances, considered her staging with thelimited time and resources available in Srebrenica.)


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(Neyire Ashworth, clarinet, one of the original orchestra members.)


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(Will Conway continued to work with the orchestra, bringing together the instruments andvoices into a new harmony.)


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(Anton (Tony) Pesikan, percussion, one of the original instrumentalists, played his many drums,symbols, sheets of metal and so on.


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As the day went on Aidan and the other musicians continued to make discoveries inthe score and to help each other. They all knew that the performance in Srebrenicawas profoundly important to the people and especially the young cultural leaders andthe younger high school students to help create a new and positive identity for thetown.Nigel Osborne had pointed out that culture is the only transformative force we have tohelp ourselves and others given the failure of politics and economics to answer theneeds of the people. These artists were, for the moment, at an epicentre of change,providing through their sensibilities and skills, possibilities to transform this town inways unimaginable from a distance.


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Alen Abdagic rehearsed for the first time with the full orchestra and with hisfellow singers. Like Tony and Belma, he brought the cultural nuances of Bosniato the piece. Afterwards Alen wrote to Tina: I miss it (working with the otherartists and performing in the event) so much, it hurts in my chest but at the sametime this is my spiritual food


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(Lore Lixenberg participated in the original work-in-progress of the opera between 2005 and2007 and in Srebrenica, for the first time, sang the role she inspired and partly helped to create.)


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(An exhausted Andy Morton, coming straight from the birth of his baby girl Chloe, rehearsingthe role he created in the original performances .)


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(Robert Rice, also a member of the original cast, rehearsed with the new tempi and rhythmsexplored by Will Conway in the score.)


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On the snowy day of the first ever opera to be performed in Srebrenica, 10

December 2010, Milena Nikolic, President of the Youth Council and Directorof the Youth Centre explained to the audience and to the British Ambassador toBiH, Michael Tatham, the importance of supporting the cultural development of youth in the town. We have repaired the roads but not the people. The

politicians must regard and support the cultural and social needs of the peopleas they do the importance of building bridges.


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Before the opera, Nigel Osborne surprised the assembled guests by auctioning atee shirt to pay for an eye operation for a nineteen year old girl in the town whowould become permanently blind without the money to help pay for the medicalcare. By the end of the tour all the money had been raised.


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The performance played to a hushed audience. The beautyof the music and the performance overwhelmed the assembleddiplomats, town functionaries, the young people who wishedit well and the general audience. After the long standingovation one towns woman said that the opera had broughta smile to the town not seen since the genocide.


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The next morning, Saturday 11 December 2010, the OSCE providedtransportation for the artists, a group of young people and several parentsand teachers to travel to Vienna and to be introduced to cultural andpolitical events in a non-Balkan European context. The trip was filledwith excitement and wonder.


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After crossing the BiH-Croatian border it became clear that a document wasmissing to allow the four young people under the age of 18 to cross into theShengen visa area at the Slovenia boarder. Tina made essential phone calls inthe three hours she had between the two borders to get permission or help fromdiplomats and the OSCE. A few minutes before arriving at the border the driverannounced that the chief of police at the border had granted permission to passthrough.

(Verica, one of the people under the age of 18, waits at the boarder to see if it is really true. Afew moments later the bus was allowed through and the journey continued.)


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The border was crossed, exhaustion set in, the sun set andDado, a young photographer from Srebrenica with a goodeye watches and waits.


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(By the time the bus arrived in Vienna, Tina, ill with a virus and exhausted from the journey,considered how to muster her energy for the days of organization and diplomacy ahead.)


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(Tina and the people from Srebrenica were treated to a lunch by the Rotary Club in a traditionalViennese restaurant as the orchestra began to organise themselves and the singers took adeserved rest. )


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(In the late afternoon of 12 December 2010, the Srebrenica visitors went to the Christmas Market infront of the city town hall, the Rathaus, where they were exposed to wonderful crafts and Westernconsumerist tat.)


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The artists assembled and rehearsed in the Hofburg Palace in a room whose

chandeliers could have heated the theatre in Srebrenica. Tina told the company thatSrebrenica had been the important event and now they were to enjoy themselves inthe company of the 73 strong diplomatic corp including 31 ambassadors and otherswho would be their audience.


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Daniel Norman joined the company to step in if Andy Mortons child had beendelivered late and although Andy was available he and Tina decided that it was onlyfair that Daniel should sing in one of the performances. He sang for Srebrenica.The musically sophisticated audience were overwhelmed by the beauty of the scoreand the quality of the performance.


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Back in Srebrenica, with the mountain snow still deep on the ground the young peoplewrote of their experiences:It has proven that developing cultural life in Srebrenica can make us move forward and make us forget about our sad past. Cultural activity is like a poem, it brings funand a sense of self-confidence.Every time I heard our melodies during the performance (of the opera) my heart began to pound. I am proud of our traditions; differences are what make us beautiful.Vedrana Kocevic


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The Museum of Modern Art (visited in Vienna) has given me totally new access intoa new world.

Marko Nikolic

I am quite involved in cultural activities in the town but from now on I will try to get even more involved and to try to make of Srebrenica a real little cultural town of course with the support of youngsters and my friends who share my opinion. Thecultural visit to Vienna has helped us allit's just up to us whether we want changesin our town or not; after all I saw during this short period of time, I think there're a

lot to be changed.Davorin Sekulic

It stimulated me in the way that I now more seriously understand that I have to studyand work harder in order to achieve more in my life.Marizela Djozic

I want to contribute in making more cultural events in my town and I want to try toengage more people in it.Filip Jokanovic

I want to take this involvement of mine with more responsibility. It can only bring mebenefitand to the town, as well. There's a potential in Srebrenica but we just have todiscover it.Ljubisa Surlan

I would like more people in Srebrenica and its region to give their support to ourcultural commitment. I would like to make a big meeting with our citizens and theywould have a chance to give their ideas and opinions. Our new events would unite

politicians and citizens and we could make it a tradition.Verica Jovanovic


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(The most interesting thing was) the reception in the British Ambassador's

residence. I felt a positive atmosphere, people were talking with each other in a friendly way, we were all the same. I heard some of the most beautiful words I was ever told in my whole life during that evening.Hariz Alic

and much more.

(Photographs by Robert Golden) Members of the company and those from Srebrenica feel free to use them in whatever way suits.

essay in sre v2

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