In Belgrade, on February 23, 2019, at the meeting in the National Theater in Belgrade, the international Patronat of Heartefact’s NEW platform was successfully formed. NEW Patronat aims to support contemporary dramatic creativity and contemporary drama authors, translations, exchange, and to encourage the preservation of the integrity and freedom of dramatic authors today in Europe. This patronage will work on the definition and structure of the future festival that will be organized in Belgrade in the year 2020 on the heritage of the Bonn and Wiesbaden Biennale.

The Biennale of the new European drama was founded in 1992., at the moment when walls appeared to be falling in Europe. The festival’s aim was to overcome the national ban and the limits of drama art. It also carried an idea that Europe is not just the European Union, but rather all artists from Turkey to Iceland and all other countries that did not belong to the EU at that time. In the meantime, the European Union has expanded several times, but new walls have been erected and new obstacles have been raised against it, against the idea of ​​free travel of thoughts, words, people and works. Today, more than ever in this almost thirty-three-year history, we have a situation in which European values ​​are endangered and the link between artists and arts is becoming less possible. That is why it is necessary to revive and maintain the idea of ​​such a festival.

Former director and founder of the Biennale in Bonn and Wiesbaden, renowned theater director and member of the prestigious jury of Premio Europa, Manfred Beilharz, and his assistant director Beate Kronsbein, stayed in Belgrade and attended the NEW Patrons meeting. Also present were leading drama artists from all over Europe: Akos Nemeth (Hungary), Gina Moxley (Ireland), Almut Wagner (Germany), Malgorzata Semil (Poland), Marius Ivaškevičius (Lithuania), Simona Semenič (Slovenia), Mart Kivastik (Estonia), Mikhail Durnenkov (Russia), Tanja Sljivar (BiH), Alban Ukaj (BiH), Neda Nezhdan (Ukraine), Biljana Srbljanovic (Serbia), Andrej Nosov (Serbia).

At the opening of the meeting, both Andrej Nosov, the CEO of the Heartefact Fund, and Ivana Vujic, General Manager of the National Theatre, addressed the audience.

The patronage consisted of two planned discussions, led by Biljana Srbljanović, dramatic author and program editor of the Heartefact Fund. The attendees dealt with the broadest spectrum of problems that troubles the drama scene in Europe, as well as potential solutions and suggestions on how to deal with them.

During the thorough discussion in which each of the participants expressed their opinions, the endangerment of dramatists was verified as a problem, reflected in theater policies and structures, the cult of the importance of the theater director, and in the problems that often arise in relation to copyright issues.

In addition to this problem, it was also discussed how today it is more important than ever, when it seems that everything is falling apart in Europe, to renew ideas and partnerships that support cooperation, exchange and preservation of peace on the European continent. A very important segment of this cooperation are the different languages ​​of creation, the possibility of playing in different languages, as well as the possibility of co-production and joint research. Tanja Sljivar, director of drama in the National Theater, especially pointed out the need to work on breaking up mutual isolation and on cultural exchange between countries of the same or similar field of speech.

Encouraged by their theatre experiences and the theater practice shared by Manfred Beilharz, the Patrons agreed that – regardless of the importance of social networks – festivals and meetings remain crucial for the exchange and critical review of European reality.

From this, the conference participants agreed that it is necessary to continue the practice of Bonn and Wiesbaden, where the Biennale of the new European drama has been held in the last 30 years, and that it is necessary to find an adequate form that will achieve these goals.

Conclusively, at NEW Patrons meeting, the foundations were established not only for the new European festival, but for a fruitful cultural exchange and cooperation that surpasses the concept of a single manifestation and is transformed into a general mission.