Due to the impossibility of holding Bitef in full capacity in 2020, a double edition will be held this year with a larger number of performances than usual.
The thematic focus of the festival, which will be held under the slogan On the Edge of the Future, will be on the concept of posthumanism, in the context of a world that should be less anthropocentric. It is a vision of the world that arose, among other things, from the awareness of the global environmental crisis, and the possible cataclysm, which are also the themes of the festival. Closely related to the thematic and aesthetic (formal) focus of the festival. He deals with the dehumanization of the performer's body in various forms - through choreographic procedures, light and video effects, through the absence of performers, their digital presence, to the use of robots and drones on stage.
The first press conference was held in Belgrade on the occasion of the announcement of the double, 54th and 55th editions of Bitef, which will be held from September 13 to 25 this year. In the main program fourteen festival performances will be shown from France, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Iran, Mexico, Austria and Chile.
The visual identity of the festival, was realized by McCann Beograd, it is based precisely on the uncertainty in which we live, trying to present it in a way that is not necessarily frightening, but intriguing.
"The topic of uncertainty does not necessarily have to be frightening. Graphically, black or no light can be soothing. Black has the ability to further emphasize another, lighter color. In that sense, we can and do not have to interpret the child as the only bright spot in the picture. This visual solution does not offer answers, but calls for interpretation. " Milica Kijanovic Account Executive McCann Beograd stated.
I&F Grupa, within which McCann Beograd operates, has been a partner of Bitef for the fourth year in a row. This year is a crisis not only of culture, but a general crisis caused by the corona virus pandemic. It is no longer about a situation, but a state that has arisen as a consequence of all the novelties to which we have all had to get used to. It is a new normality for all of us. And simply, we all need support, solidarity, and most of all, in culture. For that reason, McCann Beograd worked with even greater dedication this year on the visual solution for Bitef.
The festival is traditionally supported by the City of Belgrade Secretariat for Culture and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Goethe Institute, and the French Institute in Belgrade. Once again, this year Bitef’s partner and friend is I&F Grupa, within which the festival’s creative agency McCann Beograd operates. The partners yet again are Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad and long-standing friend of the festival Coca-Cola Hellenic Serbia.
Reservation and sale of tickets for this year's Bitef will begin in the second half of August due to the current epidemiological situation. Follow the Bitef website and social networks for more information.
More information can be found on the official Bitef website.