The Burning Island performance was born at the invitation of our friend and collaborator Predrag Popara. The performance took place during his fine art exhibition held at the Belgrade City Museum.

The beautiful building, shaken in the past by violent hystorical events, was a source of inspiration for a tumultuous scenario about war, conflict, trauma and their consequences. The performers, disguised as mythical celestial creatures, gave birth to allegorical characters, embodying obsessive emotions like despair, panic, anxiety, fear, mingled with the reassuring feelings of love, pleasure and closeness. Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s speech from The Dictator, the performance was centred on the existential statement about people thinking too much and feelig too little. The dreamy atmosphere led the audience into a state of contemplation towards the repercussions of war, while the supernatural creatures incited the spectators to react and participate directly in the show. The energy of the building, the musical accents, the repetitive dance movements, the strange masks, created an unique, fairytale-like atmosphere reviving the space of the Belgrade City Museum, once shattered to the ground by the human cruelty, now transformed into a magnificent spot for art and beauty. 

Burning Island
Live at Muzej grada Beograda

Directed by Cătălin Bocîrnea
Music production: Men-D
Video recordings and edit: Luana Șeu
Make-up: Paula Rotar
Executive producer: Thomas Mendel
Performers:
Paula Rotar
Roxana Fânață
Alex Chindriș
Crina Andriucă

Hosted by Funnel Contemporary Art
Special thanks to Predrag Popara

Belgrade, Serbia
Mendel Collective 2018