The Ways of the Heroes project aims to put the spotlight on positive role models for environmental change, and create contemporary art that addresses important issues in our societies.
Social apathy and absence of agency, especially in the Western Balkans, is a shared problem that all partners have recognised. The project will examine this problem through art and offer ways to deal with it, while focusing on the most concerning issue that needs our immediate action: the environment. Do we need to see the colour of the air that we breathe in order to act? Why don’t we react even when our basic survival is at stake?
The Western Balkans partners involved, North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, are dealing with a burning question of air pollution, but partners from countries with more developed environmental policies – Slovenia, Italy, Greece – are also affected by the climate crisis. We will gather the facts: but the question is what do we DO with these facts? How do we ACT as individuals and communities? How do we react politically, socially and emotionally to the crisis?
Good news is that there are heroes among us, and they can show us the way! There are many individuals acting for the good cause, but they are not visible enough. Inspired by Ibsen’s play An Enemy of the People, which questions the impact of the individual on the community and vice versa, we will focus on making visible their stories to the audiences through: theatre, public space performances, exhibition, illustrated book for children and online campaigns.
We will also analyse how we, as artists, can affect the environment through our work processes. An international team working on the co-production will gather the documentary materials through all project activities and reinterpret the play. By engaging on a multidisciplinary level, we aim to bring dynamics to the public theatre sector and create contemporary theatre that is rooted in the needs of its community. Sense of belonging is important for individual identity. We will share good practice stories to inspire our communities to follow the ways of the heroes.