BABEL 2014
Last year, the theme of the festival was “Speech. One meaning of our theme was quite literal – we have united professional artists performing in unusual languages (at least from a Romanian perspective), ranging from Persian to Saami, from Basque to Telgu, from Mapadungu (the language of the Mapuche peoples of Chile) to Kurdish. This was an attempt to allow linguistic and ethnic minorities to shine in one space, and it has been an honor to be able to create a mirror image of the mythical Tower of Babel. Another layer of interpretation of our festival’s theme wass more abstract, referring to language in an artistic sense. Our guests were performers in every form of spectacular art we could find, ranging from the sonic sculptures of Helena Persson from Sweden, to the street performance combining traditional and modern dance of the KUKAI dance company from the Basque Country. In this context, we had guests from 19 countries : Chile, Brazil, France, Catalunya, Basque Country, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, The Ukraine, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and India, with the addition of Romania.
Tema ediției trecute a festivalului a fost „Vorbire” – am reunit artiști vorbitori ai unor limbi neobișnuite, fie datorită distanței geografice față de România (limba persană), fie din pricina rarității în sine (limba poporului Saami, limba Mapadungu etc.), în încercarea de a crea primul festival dedicat unor minorități lingvistice, atât ca limbaj uzual, cât și în sensul limbajului artistic. În acest context, am avut invitați din 19 țări: Chile, Brazilia, Franța, Catalonia, Țara Bascilor, Spania, Suedia, Olanda, Germania, Italia, Ucraina, Ungaria, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Rusia, Israel, Turcia, Iran, India, Marea Britanie, cărora li se alătură desigur și România.