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Written by Boris on 2024-04-17
Urbo (Latin: urbs = city) + Glyph (Greek: glyphē = engraving)] are symbolic and spatial clusters of signs and meanings created by the multilayered inscription of various events in the same location of occurrence, through which we then read the urban collective memory of the city, reconstructing the immaterial cultural and political heritage of urban spaces.
SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024, AT 5 PM
FREE CINEMA SCREENING OF THE AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM “RAISE THE BAR” (English subtitles!) BY ICELANDIC DIRECTOR: GUÐJÓN RAGNARSSON
Discussion after the film with Nataša Govedić and Katarina Ivče Farnell, moderated by Dorotea Šušak.
The Shadow Casters’ project, “Urboglyphs – City Multiplication” in which we contemplate the city, its relationships, and its resources, continues this Saturday, April 20th, starting at 5:00 PM, at the Neighborhood Community “Matko Laginja” with a carefully selected cinema program where both children and adults are more than welcome.
This time in our program, we present for the first time in Croatia the award-winning (Hot Docs, Edda Awards, Filem’On, etc.) feature-length documentary film ‘Raise the Bar’ by Guðjón Ragnarsson, which, through the perspective of the protagonist, a female basketball team coach at a school, and through the lens of girls and team members, addresses the social differences and prejudices that accompany the female experience in sports compared to the male experience. It raises an ethical dilemma about the importance of pedagogical boundaries between coaches and children, as well as the consequences of violating certain conventions. Among other things, the film also opens up a controversial discussion about the boundaries of patriarchy and internalized patriarchy, as well as the deep misunderstanding of male and female principles of social action, especially when it comes to the values of competitiveness, selection, assertiveness, and hierarchical domination. This discussion about ethical boundaries in pedagogy and life, in the context of social events and current trends, is more relevant than ever, and we invite you to join us actively by listening and participating in the discussion.
Our first guest, Nataša Govedić, is a writer, critic, theater scholar, and educator. She is a member of the Croatian Writers’ Society and PEN. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and Theater Studies from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. She is a permanent theater critic for Novi list and the editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine Treća, published by the Center for Women’s Studies. Her recent publications include the novel “Eskim na feniksu ti je ukrao mobitel” (Zagreb: Ljevak, 2023), the poetry book “Pasja kola” (Zagreb: VBZ, 2024), and the analytical book “Oscar Wilde izlazi iz zatvora ili vaša omiljena umjetnost zove se kritika” (2023). She is a full-time faculty member at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb.
Our second guest, Katarina Ivče Farnell, holds degrees in sociology and anthropology and works in the non-governmental sector. From 2018 until mid-2023, she led the Association for the Promotion of Creativity and Equal Opportunities Alternator and was the director of the Children’s Rights Festival, an inclusive film festival dedicated to children’s creativity. She is the author of the project “Film for Sensitization” – a new concept of teaching about diversity and inclusion using film creativity. She is employed as a project manager at the Forum for Freedom of Education. She has also worked in a marketing agency, and since her youth, she has collaborated with various associations in the field of civil education and upbringing.
The moderator, Dorotea Šušak, is the executive director of the Center for Women’s Studies in Zagreb. She graduated in Dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art at the University of Zagreb. She is a doctoral student in the postgraduate program in Literature Studies, Theater Studies, and Dramatology, Filmology, Musicology, and Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. She is a trainee in reality psychotherapy and choice theory. She is a three-time winner of the national Marin Držić Award for the best dramatic texts, the Rector’s Award for artistic projects, the Radiofonton Award for radio drama texts, and the HNK Mostar Award for the best contemporary dramatic text. Her poetry has been included in several regional anthologies. She is credited with dramaturgy and/or directing numerous theater and other artistic projects in the independent and institutional scenes in Croatia and the region. She has been an activist for several years in the field of social accessibility and quality education and feminism. She is an OSCE/ODIHR program alumnus of the “Advocacy School on Gender and Politics” and a member of the Vital Voices organization’s “Intergenerational Fellowship on Women, Peace and Security in South Central Europe.”
“Urboglyphs – City Multiplication” is a multi-month urban program by the Shadow Casters, which builds on our twenty-two-year practice of engaging with the city, its material and immaterial heritage, reading spaces, and educating citizens about the resourcefulness of shared spaces. It continues our reflection on the city, architecture, and art in the atmosphere of contemporary cultures through “other means,” and invites collaboration, interaction, agreement, and consent to an “open field of differences” as a necessary precondition for active artistic creation. At the heart of such reflection is the idea of necessary interdisciplinary and poly-medial practice and co-participation with (potential) user-co-authors of such practices.
“Urboglyphs: City Multiplication” continues on Monday, April 23rd, at the Croatian Heroes Square with an “open office” (from 9 am) through which the Shadow Casters contemplate the city and coexistence “by other means,” primarily through conversation and observation, continuous dialogue with all those who use and conquer the shared space of the street or square purposefully or senselessly. The Shadow Casters learn about urban creation through daily life and ongoing conversation with citizens, exchanging ideas and recording stories. Citizens, in turn, become acquainted with the practice and theory and projects of the Shadow Casters, and the “open office” becomes an embassy and celebration of creative coexistence.
Support for the project: City of Zagreb – Office for Culture and Civil Society
Support for Shadow Casters: National Foundation for Civil Society Development, Kultura Nova Foundation, Croatian Audiovisual Center, Agency for Electronic Media, and others.
