STA, 16 August 2022 - A packed programme revolving around "tradition, transience and repetition" awaits visitors of the 25th edition of the international contemporary performing arts festival Mladi Levi (Young Lions), which will run in Ljubljana from 19 and 27 August.
The jubilee edition, put together by a new curator trio, will kick off with two performances, scheduled simultaneously on Friday.
The Stara Elektrarna venue will feature This Song My Father Used to Sing, an intimate piece by Thai director Wichaya Artama, while the Puppet Theatre's Stage under the Stars will host Bodybodybodybody, a show by Belgian musicians Dag Taeldeman and Andrew Van Ostade which curator Lea Kukovič said encompassed the whole of the 21st century.
What Kukovič labelled the likely most divisive performance of the festival will take place at Stara Elektrarna on Saturday. German director and artist Julian Hetzel's Campo: All Inclusive puts the Escape Gallery on stage to present works of art entirely made of several kilograms of rubble from the Syrian conflict zone.
Mornings at the festival will be marked by performances by Petra Varl, a Slovenian visual artist currently interested in the spectator, their position and experience in space.
Chilean artists Ebama Garin Corronel and Luisa Guenela Sota are bringing two performances to the festival. Minga of a Ruined House, scheduled on 23 August, deals with the meaning of home, while Mutilated focuses on police violence.
Both will take place at Stara Elektrarna, as will on 25 August the concluding event of the nine-year project Create to Connect Create to connect - Create to impact, which mostly deals with forms of ties between artists and communities and the impact of art in society.
Mladi Levi 2022 will end with a performance led by Slovenian artists Katja Legin in Bojana Robinson entitled Oh How Very Ordinary and dealing with how a closer look at ordinary lives shows they are actually full of interesting phenomena.
The programme moreover includes a premiere of Slovenian artist Neja Tomšič and Nonument Group's Circle, an immersive documentary installation with narration focusing on the park of railroad workers in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The festival will also feature two panel debates, whose main topic will be the future in the context of art, social influence and outer space.
The entry fee for all performances is 1 euro, but visitors are welcome to contribute more.
