The stage director and playwright Juan Manuel García Belmonte will present today and tomorrow the work in progress Sketch the absence, in which he deals with the issue of the migration of artists, at the Black Box Studio, located in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he is doing an artistic residency.
The story focuses on the lives of a young Slovenian woman who returns to her country to imagine a promising future as a dancer and that of another Mexican artist who has planted roots in that Central European nation and has a daughter.
With these two characters, fragmentary stories are built, unfinished stories, desires for belonging and absences that dig into the wounds, the idea of homeland, family, identity and survival. There are also songs, data, fragments of memory.
In interview with The Conference Via telephone from Slovenia, García Belmonte explained that this project arose from an agreement with Black Box Studio, an independent theater directed by Mexican Carlos Pascual, who has lived in Europe for years.
“The idea was born more than a year ago; As a director I was interested in talking about migration and Slovenian artists, and we worked in virtual meetings based on the main premise of the concepts of absence, identity and homeland.
We were both interested in working with Slovenian artists; This project is part of a scholarship from the System of Support for Creation and Cultural Projects, and it is the first time that an exchange like this has been carried out.
García Belmonte’s story is inspired by the experiences of migrant artists and young people living in Slovenia. The Mexican Alicia Ocadiz, who has worked there for years and has gained renown, and Lara Matea, participate. performer of that country.
The stories in the work incorporate statistical data regarding the phenomenon of migration and employment in Slovenia, with the aim of showing what the artistic and cultural movement in Europe is like.
“They have told us that it is not usual to work in this way, at least in terms of subject matter, nor to use all these materials. We’ve done some research into the Slovenian art scene; Obviously, it is very vital and powerful, but it is not very common, because they are more towards the performance or contemporary dance, theater.”
Regarding the work of Carlos Pascual, the playwright indicated that he has spent a long time in Slovenia, where he has established himself as a manager and writer, which is why in work in progress hard data on cultural life and migration are included.
Almost no one lives from what they do
Juan Manuel García Belmonte said that Europe has a very different degree of development than any Latin American country; However, “there are many similar stories in the art scene, at least what happens in Latin America, because, although their contexts are different and have other problems, the art scene, although vital, is very small; So, there are few opportunities with migrant artists.
“Almost no one makes a living from what they do and they have to do many other things. Support or subsidies are few. It is very complicated, it is living or having spaces gained, and in the case of migrants, although there are refugee centers, there is a lack of artistic places, in addition to the fact that it is difficult for them to integrate into society.
The art scene is very complicated for Slovenian artists, but much more so for a migrant creator; He has to be in some foundation or association that allows him to do some type of work.
In addition to today’s and tomorrow’s features Sketch the absence at the Black Box Studio in Ljubljana, García Belmonte’s proposal, in which the Slovenian artists Urška Centa and Mojca Medvedšek also collaborated, will be presented on the 11th and 12th of this month at the cultural center of the city Novo Mesto.
The Mexican director and playwright will also offer the conference Re-velations: Contemporary theater and dramaturgy in Mexico on May 8 at the University of Ljubljana, where he will present a general overview of Mexican performing art in the past 30 years with its themes and poetics.