Processing Heritage
A Creole Performance in Barcelona
If there is a phenomenon that is affecting society in the way we live, communicate and act this is the use of smartphones and other electronic gadgets. It is a phenomenon that has captured almost all citizens of our country regardless of age, social class or ethnicity, and we observe that it can be extrapolated worldwide. Clearly, we have acquired new behaviours and established rituals of behaviour toward this new use that have altered our everyday habits, affecting therefore the human condition and identity of the people, understanding it as a way of life and a heritage in continuous evolution in relation to the concept of “alive” heritage. What is our proposal? Human and social disconnection due to the continuous use of technological devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc. Research of the topic, analysis of our environment and self observation of our behaviour towards the situation, as part of our daily present. We think that the following ideas can be interesting issues to deal with:
- What you lose and what you win; we gain in speed and number of relationships, we lose quality and depth in the relationships; technological progress vs. cultural backwardness; linguistic contamination that affects our language.
- Loss of communication: with our environment, with the people, affecting our relationships. With nature and the world, with our own soul and essence.
- Loss of the animal instinct that conditions us, so “loss” of our natural intuition that makes us lose the ability to act for ourselves, causing insecurity and making us “feel we are lost.” We have disconnected from the real world around us because we are immersed in a virtual world.
Abuse, custom, bad habit which leads to addiction: isolation, compulsive behaviour, mood disorders, dependency, insecurity. In the theatrical process there is implicit connection with people and, therefore, by making theatre we favour the project of reconnection and social unit.
A Creole Performance in Cuj
Roşia Montană is a mine city, the oldest locality with tradition in the exploitation of precious metals in Europe, having a millenary existence with permanent activity for centuries. It became famous after a Romanian-Canadian company, Roşia Montană Gold Corporation (RMGC), elaborated 18 years ago a mine project consisting in the opening of the largest gold exploitation on the surface with cyanide procedure in Europe. Therefore, not only shall the entire community be destroyed, but also a patrimony of over 2000 years.
The company completed all legal and illegal actions to start the project: purchasing the lands and houses of the inhabitants (to demolish them) and moving them in nearby areas, buying local authorities and blocking any other activity in the area (tourism, wood processing, etc.) by tagging the area as ”monoindustrial“. A large part of the population accepted, for a decent amount, to sell their identity and see it drown in cyanide. However, several families and individuals could not be bought by the company’s offers or threats, becoming an obstacle for the project and a fortress for defending the right to a healthy life and a historical and cultural heritage of an entire country.
The company, allied with many romanian politicians, plans to create a law to force people still living in Rosia Montana to move out, thus handing over their houses, memories, traditions and everything else to an entity searching only for the immediate economic profit.
The drama of hundreds of innocents being forced to leave their homes: an old man is forced to give up his childhood to a giant company who shall destroy it, leaving a dirty and vanished history. Others, blinded by gold, wander into the ex mines and die there, leaving orphans at home. Some move their dead ones from the cemetery in fear of exploitation and their bones end up on the roads, while some come back just so they do not die on foreign lands. Many, unable to adapt to these crucial changes, have committed suicide.
The „We save Roşia Montană” campaign was initially organized by people in Roşia Montană fighting for their rights. The manifest extended quickly and globally, with thousands of activists showing their support for those in Roşia and indignation towards their leaders who do not represent them anymore, being ready to sell them. The rebellion attached signs and boards saying: “This Home is NOT for sale”.
Involving youth in this attempt to traditions shows the importance they grant to problems related to our identity as a nation. This campaign has crushed the stereotype according to which we would be superficial, investing in real values, like tradition and heritage, which we are still fighting for today.
>> Contribute to the project “This home is not for sale” on PanSpeech
A Creole Performance in Caterbury
Imagine you were born in the middle of the ocean, and your parents were from two different countries. What would your nationality be? Would it matter?
Migration is an issue that affects us all. As students from different countries such as England, Norway, Estonia and Bulgaria, we can all personally relate to this topic.
As England and Norway are both countries with high immigration rates, there are tendencies for overpopulation. Additionally, as a large number of immigrants are unqualified and paid cash-in-hand, they do not pay taxes and live on the merits of other people. Furthermore, there are many people who immigrate without the intentions of working, relying on the generous benefit-systems often in place.
In less developed countries, such as Bulgaria and Estonia, they face the opposite problem. There are approximately 20% of Estonians and 30% of Bulgarians working abroad. For instance, highly educated professionals go abroad so they can be paid more and work in a better environment. Thus their countries lose their more qualified workers and the creative ideas that come with them. Furthermore, when these people get used to a better quality of life it is hard for them to adapt back to the difficulties at home. Also, as young people are leaving, the average population is ageing. As pensioners do not pay taxes, countries get even poorer and the pension age rises.
However, even though there are many questions and problems with emigration, the solution cannot be to close the borders, as living and studying abroad is a human right and one of the European Union foremost principles.
Every instance of migration is for different reasons. Political systems have driven people from their countries as they do not enforce the same ideals of life as they do. War has stripped people of their homes in search of a safer place. Education has taken students all over the world in search of a better career path. Adventure has taken people far away to live a life they dream of. However, there is still often the feeling of guilt when leaving from the country your grandparents have fought and died for.
This problem is very complex and even though we cannot offer a fixed solution now, we are passionate to explore it in depth.
There are different solutions but every single one is double-edged- it can be a solution for one of the countries and a bigger problem for the other. Over the next two years, we aim to find a more viable solution than previously conceived, or at least convey the problems that the world faces to bring light on such a growing issue, affecting us all.
A Creole Performance in Vilnius
The Lithuanian society stands out from other European nations as it demonstrates an significant tendency towards homophobia and ethnic hatred. Such attitudes are shaped by anti-European political powers, which often use hate speech in electoral campaigns. Sometimes such attitudes manifest themselves during national holiday celebrations, where patriotism and racism are presented as identical concepts. Parades of people with nazi or fascist symbols on their clothes march and chant openly racist slogans. The national press regularly reports on violence and lynchings of people who are labelled as Òthe otherÓ. These reports signal that the society has an acute problem, while there is no adequate attempt to reach for mutual understanding and dialogue, which would allow both sides to know each other better. Such reality jeopardizes the idea of Lithuania as a European nation.
The artistic work aims to analyze reasons behind the aggressive political and social discrimination against ethnic and sexual minorities in Lithuania. Finding authentic yet inconvenient personal accounts of people who have to endure social phobias, who have suffered from violence and various forms of discrimination based on their innate characteristics. Personal accounts are even more important because of their roots in a specific time. These accounts are the shared secrets of the present time. The idea of the performance aims to turn this sum of experiences into a production seeking to find the points, which would permit us to destroy the identities and citizenship concepts based on nazism and racism with the patricotic facade. We are willing to ask the question what humanism is in the modern age? Does it exist? How can we create it? Is identity based on differences? Why isnÕt culture a sufficient object of identity for us.
>> Contribute to the Project “Identity or death” on PanSpeech.eu