Neforma #131

Improvising: Mateja Železnik, Eva Pletikosič, Bojana Šaljić Podešva, Klemen Bračko

On the screen, I see colourful tents, people spending time together instead of automatically rushing about their business as a matter of course. I see people coming together in the streets to resist conditions that make a dignified life impossible. The forced eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal sparked outrage. The investment fund that bought the building raised the rent on her flat from €500 to a staggering €2,650. Madrid, a city whose energy captivated me, a city alive at midnight, teeming with people rather than snoring like Ljubljana, a dormitory town where a couple of neighbours’ complaints are enough to get a bar shut down. Because we Slovenians are hardworking, we have to get up early, the walls are thin, we need to rest up for work and the big family waiting at home. Where we dislike foreigners, the walls are thin, where we would rather spy on a neighbour who doesn’t share our politics and makes noise, thin are the walls. Because we like peace, discipline, thin the walls are, neat little boxes, clearly defined genders and a healthy anti-LGBTQ+ family. These past few days, I feel as though we’re on a wild ride in a four-wheel-drive SUV: 4× against and 4× for – which way will the car turn? Straight ahead is not an option; left and right each have their own take on straightness. Neforma #131 takes place exactly one week after a referendum that resembles a 3×3 lottery. Sadly, it feels as though luck will have more to do with it than common sense. Always, and despite everything: let’s do our best to drive safely towards a fairer world and steer in the right direction.

You’re welcome to join us – always, and despite everything!

Neforma, a series of improvised performances, brings together two media, or artists from two disciplines: musicians who explore sound in distinctive ways, and performers whose primary instrument is their body. It nurtures and supports the development of improvisation as both a practice and a stage event. With its focus on exploration and process, it welcomes mistakes, slips and onstage disasters, recognising them as the best opportunities for learning.

If we want to keep Neforma from becoming a fixed form in its own right, we must give participating artists the opportunity to propose and test their own conceptual parameters. Alongside dancers and musicians, Neforma also invites writers to reflect on improvisation. The idea is to introduce people with a distinctive approach to the stage and to art in general. By bringing them into the realm of live performance, we believe we can open up new creative experiences for everyone involved in Neforma, including the audience. Neforma invites artists to be both guests and hosts. They can choose to change the protocols, propose different ways of engaging with the audience, and even choose the location and format of their improvisation.