MEMORY MODULE 2023: LAIBACH TO PERFORM IN SARAJEVO ON VICTORY DAY
– Musical stage spectacle to close the 28th edition of the Memory Module –
To mark the closing of the 28th edition of the Memory Module, the iconic Slovenian band Laibach will perform at the Sarajevo National Theater and that on Victory Day, Tuesday, 9th May 2023. All the programs and events of this year’s Memory Module have been published on the MESS Festival website as well as on the MESS Festival Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/festivalMESS and the MESS Festival Instagram profile.
One of the objectives of the Memory Module is to present programs from all over the world and draw the attention of the public to all the other places where people had been suffering and to the stories of the people who were affected by that suffering, as well as artists who address these issues through their art and whose art primarily focuses on the inextricable connection between ethics and aesthetics.
It is precisely for that reason that, as part of the Memory Module 2023, we welcome the renowned Slovenian band “Laibach”. The performance “Laibach – Wir sind das Volk” will mark the closing of this year’s edition of the Memory Module, on 9th May 2023, i.e. the Victory Day, on which we wish to send an unambiguous message. This musical stage performance will be held at the Sarajevo National Theater, which is symbolic, bearing in mind the fact that it was at the National Theater that Laibach played a concert in besieged Sarajevo in December 1995, marking the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreements.
Ever since the band was formed in 1980, Laibach (the historical German name for Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia) has on a number of occasions addressed German history, culture and ideology, particularly through the 20th Century totalitarian prism. Towards the end of the 1990s, when all the political turmoil in former Yugoslavia first started, the members of Laibach “established” their own Utopian state “NSK” (Neue Slowenische Kunst) that had its own passport, currency and flag. During their performance in Sarajevo in 1995, Laibach proclaimed Sarajevo to be a member of NSK. The self-proclaimed state plaque was set up at the National Theater which still stands there to this day, whilst all the visitors who attended the concert received their NSK passports. Moreover, several employees of the National Theater are still holders of these passports.
„Wir sind das Volk“ is based on the writings of Heiner Müller (1929-1995), one of the most significant German-speaking playwrights since Brecht. Laibach’s own association with the theater began in 1984 when they composed the music for Müller’s Quartet that premiered at the Slovenian National Theater in Ljubljana. The following year, the band met Müller in Berlin and it was then that Müller suggested that they should collaborate. Unfortunately, this collaboration only materialized posthumously when Laibach produced a performance based on Müller’s writings.
IMPORTANT TICKET NOTICE:
The J.U. MES and Module Memory management wishes to inform the public that the tickets for Laibach’s show „Wir sind das Volk“ are free of charge and can be collected at the J.U. MES office, Maršala Tita 54/I, as of Wednesday 3rd May, every workday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Given that the number od seats at the National Theater is limited, one person may collect a maximum of two tickets. Please note that entry will only be possible with the ticket.
All the activities of the MESS Festival can be followed on MESS Festival Facebook and Instagram profiles as well as on the MESS Festival official web page.