Searching for the Real Color of The Sky
2019
NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia began on the 24th of March, 1999, and lasted for 78 days. I was a 13 year old kid from Vojvodina. As youngsters we did not know what starts now with this long and difficult period. Today at the age of 34, as I think back to the period and re-read articles published at that time or later, I sadly re-live the content of the texts: “Bombing causes nightmares even after ten years”, “The country turns into dark”, „Serbia gets no compensation for the bombing”. The situation began to become serious for the first time when the state of war was announced: with the strictness of the ban on assembly and the maddening sound of sirens that were constantly sounding to alert bombers entering Serbian airspace and even to the worst, the military horror of general mobilization!
Over time, it became common that planes come and go. Because of the seemingly endless airstrikes – almost constantly, repeated daily – there was no electricity for eight hours and only for two hours it came back. What I could never get used to was the kind of darkness I had never encountered before, only on those certain evenings when all over the country, even in public places, the power was completely cut off. Back then, we were lighting with two, three candles in our room. We talked and played board games. We never paid attention to each other like we did back then. I have experienced a new kind of togetherness, and however incredible it is: a peace of mind. We were hoping for a miracle: what came in the form of a 45 volt bulb mounted on a portable battery. We were happy. By this time it was possible to read in the evenings.
The performance is a special reflection, a commemoration of the tragic events that emerge from my memories of that period. – Ákos Kalmár
Cast:
Direction / Choreography / Concept: Ákos Kalmár
Movement: Ádám Bot, Ákos Kalmár
Visuals: Kristóf Szabó – KristofLab
Lights: Ákos Bendegúz Illés, Batarita
Mentor: Batarita
Production Manager: Brigitta Kovács
Special thanks to Anne-Hélène Kotoujansky
Supporters:
National Cultural Fund, Zoltán Imre Program, Pro Progressione, KristofLab, Sín Cultural Center
Premier: 5th May 2019, MU Theater, Budapest
Duration: approx. 40 minutes
