Knežević: Why is the CNP positioning itself as an accomplice in stifling artistic freedom in Serbia?

The Center for Civic Education (CCE) called on the Montenegrin National Theatre (CNP) to withdraw the play "The Case of Medea" from the 59th BITEF selection and publicly explain the basis for the decision to leave it alone, along with the Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), in the festival program from which five out of seven plays were withdrawn as a sign of solidarity with artists and other social actors exposed to political pressure in Serbia.

As stated in the statement signed by development coordinator Miloš Knežević, by remaining in such a program, CNP is no longer just a participant in the festival, but also takes responsibility for the message that censorship and pressure on artistic freedom can be overcome without consequences.

"The German troupe Gob Squad declined the invitation even before the official announcement of the program. After the announcement, the participation was canceled by Teatro Praga from Portugal, the Slovenian National Theatre from Nova Gorica with the play 'Anhovo', the Italian troupe Motus with 'Frankenstein Diptych', the Lebanese author Ali Čarur with the play 'When I Saw the Sea' and the Argentine author Marina Otero with the play 'Kill Me'. Their withdrawal is not a question of the artistic program, but an act of professional and civic solidarity with those parts of Serbian society that are exposed to pressure and are fighting for the autonomy of the profession - artists, students, the academic community and activists who seek justice and freedom of expression," said Knežević.

This, he added, was preceded by last year's decision by the Bitef Board of Directors to censor Miloš Lolić's program and reject the play by Swiss director Milo Rau.

"It is also important to point out that the director of the play 'Black Gold', Oliver Frljić, publicly stated that he did not know that his play, produced by BDP, was included in the program of this year's Bitef, that he learned about it from the media and that he did not want to use it as an alibi to forget last year's censorship. So, for one of the two plays that remain, we have the director's unequivocal opposition to such a decision. It is also logical that the public knows who and for what reasons in such a situation made the decision on the continued participation of CNP in this edition of Bitef."

Knežević also said that it was paradoxical that "The Case of Medea" was chosen to open the 59th BITEF.

"Festival selector Spasoje Milovanović explained that the play, based on Euripides' tragedy, through a contemporary partnership and the myth of Medea, raises questions of responsibility, guilt, and the criteria by which we judge others. The CNP should apply this very criterion to its own decision. The festival that this play is supposed to open was left without a large part of the program precisely because of the issue of responsibility towards artists and their freedom. Therefore, the topic of 'The Medea Case' should have been more of a reason for withdrawal, and not a backdrop for the opening of a festival burdened by the consequences of censorship," said Knežević.

He adds that artists and theater troupes from five countries canceled their tours at the cost of visibility and meeting with the audience in order to send a message of solidarity, which is one of the few instruments they had at their disposal.

"Any institution that decides to remain in the program at such a moment weakens the effect of that solidarity and sends a message that the program can continue regardless of the price others pay to defend artistic freedom. By remaining in the selection, CNP is siding with the normalization of such a situation. This does not end the problem at one festival. If the places of those who withdraw due to censorship are simply filled with those who are willing to stay, solidarity loses its strength, and those who exert pressure receive confirmation that the cultural system can continue to function as if nothing had happened," said Knežević.

Such lack of solidarity, he adds, affects the entire region, where the space for free, critical, and independent cultural exchange is already seriously narrowed.

"Art, and especially theatre, has always been a space for rebellion, questioning and resistance to authorities that stifle freedom of expression. This role also carries responsibility. Artists and cultural institutions cannot pretend that what is happening to their colleagues in a neighboring country is someone else's struggle. Solidarity among theatre houses in the region is not a question of collegiality or a gesture of goodwill, but rather the defense of the space of freedom on which the very possibility of critical art depends. CNP, as the national cultural institution of Montenegro, should be among those who protect that space, and not among those who, with their presence, help to make the consequences of its collapse less visible. Therefore, CCE expects CNP to reconsider its decision to participate in the 59th Bitef and stand with the artists who, by withdrawing, clearly sent a message that the festival cannot continue as if censorship had not occurred. When artistic freedom is threatened, the neutrality of cultural institutions ceases to be neutrality - it becomes a choice and complicity," said Knežević.