http://www.maribor2012.eu/en/programme/

 

Terminal 12 is the programme section which seeks to incorporate all the artistic genres, featuring events  from the areas of theatre, the visual arts, literature and architecture. The common thread running through them is that they are all acclaimed, select projects with a unique artistic vision and a radical approach to content and execution.  

Alongside its own events, Terminal 12 will build upon the existing programmes of selected theatres, galleries, cinemas, concert venues and other artistic institutions. In the coming year, for the first time in its history, Maribor will play host to a large number of world class productions ranging from great philharmonics, to acclaimed global theatre productions, to an incredibly vibrant popular and club music programme, to leading architectural projects, foremost European art exhibitions and visits from foreign intellectuals and writers. Audiences will not only have the opportunity to enjoy multi-layered cultural productions from all corners of the globe but also many ambitious Slovene productions . The events of Terminal 12 share another common feature: they ask us to consider the key questions of our times, questions concerning the future and in particular, the role of the arts in the times ahead.

 

The Stage Between the Sky and the Earth

The acclaimed foreign performing arts productions which make up the Terminal 12 programme were selected by the consultants Jana Pavlič and Tomaž Toporišič in consultation with the head of the programme section. All of the productions have been grouped together under the title The Stage Between the Sky and the Earth and what they share is that they are all truly exceptional stage events. There is an incredible variety on offer, yet each of these events surpasses the limits of traditional theatre: from circus, cabaret, striptease, acrobatics, traditional Japanese dance theatre,  theatre with royal horses to grand dramatic spectacles with numerous performers, which run in parallel to the wide palette of Slovene events in domestic or foreign co-productions. The aim of the programme is to reach as wide and as varied a spectrum of people and audiences as possible - from the very youngest to the most discerning theatre connoisseurs. Each performance is an original piece of craft which touches the audience with its visual beauty, aesthetic depth, skillful acting, inventiveness, playfulness or a powerful energy charge which lights up the event. Some of the artists who will perform in Maribor next year as part of the Terminal 12  programme are distinguished theatre names, others are known for their rebellious natures and individuality, yet all are whollly committed to their art, like modern day shamans and story-tellers, embarking on a journey. They come from various parts of Europe, Japan and the USA; les ballets C de la B Alain Platel (Belgium); Cabaret New Burlesque (USA); Radu Stanca National Theatre Silviu Purcarete (Romania); Equestrian Arts Academy Versailles with Bartabas ; Victoria Chaplin in Jean-Baptist Thiérrée (both France); Forman Brothers Theatre (Czech Republic), Sankai Juku (Japan) and the world premiere of the grand magician of modern theatre Jan Fabre (Belgium). 

The Slovene premieres will present the fruits of collaboration between Slovene and foreign artists from a variety of genres: the artistic paths us leads from the fresh dramatic and dance creations  of the National Theatre in Maribor, past a bow to the avant garde gestus, the artistic actions of Matjaž Berger and APT Novo Mesto The Man With the Bombs, over the discovery of new stage arts venues through cooperation among Slovene, Austrian, Japanese, Croatian, and American artists, to the groups En-Knap and Superamas, Pandur Theaters and HNK, Bunker Betontanc and Original Tempo, to the unusual new project from the legend of the Slovene modern theatre world Dušan Jovanović's  Krojači  sveta and finally, to the new reading by Lorenci of Büchner's Dante's Death as a drama on the impossibility of revolution, a project bringing the Slovene Youth Theatre and Ptuj Theatre. When brought together the events form a circular story; when watched individually they lie for sometime within the viewer, finding a path to a secret door that the viewer did not even know existed. The key to these dramatic stories, which will be woven from month to month throughout 2012, is carried within the members of the audience themselves, as who else are these events for if not for them?

 

Key Names in World Literature and the Arts

The Dvanajst project is without a doubt key to the Terminal 12 programme strand. In 2012 Maribor, or one of the other partner cities, will play host to 12 international guests, each of whom is considered to be an exceptional, leading  figure in their creative field of the arts or philosophy. This criteria informed the selection process and the invitees, as global representatives of their discipline, have been asked to present their view on a selected theme relating the future. The Dvanajst project will bring to Slovenia, among others, Charles Simic, Boris Groys, Jan Fabre, Rebecca Horn, Tzvetan Todorov, Garry Kasparov, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Vikas Swarup. Each guest will present an aspect of the future which excites them, and deliver their artistic, social and philisophical vision to as wide an audience as possible in lecture or essay form, accompanied by a public discussion. By partcipating in this event and sharing their ideas, these twelve exceptional thinkers and creators will weave a web of visions, which may seem a purely idealistic act, but which is actually a vital act of topography for our spiritual survival . This exceptional artistic and media event will place Maribor firmly on the global map of creative environments. Each of the twelve guests will have a book of their thoughts on the future published in Slovene translation;  a compilation of their views will be compiled in a final, thirteenth publication.

 

Visual Art and Fashion

In the events of the coming year, Terminal 12 seeks to highlight architectural projects,  among which the project entitled 2112Ai (Arhitekturna inteligenca/Architectural Intelligence), led by Tom Kovac,  is especially worthy of attention (Arhitekturna inteligenca). Invitations to take part have been extended to leading researchers and architects as well as designers and urban planners, critics, architectural firms and organisations from all over the globe (the U.K., Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, the U.S.A., China and Australia). The multi-disciplinary workshops and laboratories serve a dual purpose: architectural schools will create a vision of Maribor as it should look in 2112 and seek out potential development projects. The resulting ideas will be presented at the 100YC exhibition (Town century) in August 2012. The most daring and visionary projects will be featured - those projects which would transform Maribor from a post-industrial town into a city of the future, with  technological development firmly at the fore.  

One of the highlights in the field of visual culture is the cooperation with the leading gallery in Europe, the renowned Tate Gallery. The Tate will display selected works by some of the most famous names in fine art from the beginning of the 20th century up to the present day exclusively for Maribor 2012 and the new Maribor Art gallery. The exhibition Sledenje obrisu will present priceless works from the collection of Tate Liverpool, among others representatives of the radical reshaping of the artistic medium of drawing in the 20th century-a period in which the traditional concept of drawing underwent a period of critical appraisal. Around 150 artistic pieces and the work of pioneers of artistic development, the less known as well as the world renowned, will be put on display, such as Eileen Agar, Francis Bacon, Alexander Calder, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degasa, Marcel Duchamp, Gilbert & George, Alberto Giacometti, Richard Hamilton, Sol LeWitt, Joan Miró, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and others. 

One of the highlights of the European artists strand is the exhibition Art Always Wins, part of the Terminal 12 programme section. 

The exhibition Art Kept Me Out of Jail! is a presentation of the creative work of the Belgian multi-media artist, dramatist and internationally acclaimed stage set designer Jan Fabre. Audiences will be given the chance to view documentary footage of Fabre's best staging work and also the only opportunity to see the joint performance by Fabra and Marina Abramović entitled Virgin/Warrior, which took place in the Palais de Tokio in Paris.

The war photographer Robert Cape, whose Fallen Soldier photography brought him wide acclaim and placed him at the highest level of classical photography, will be the subject of a large retrospective exhibition. During World War II, he took photographs in England, North Africa and Sicily. On D-Day, he accompanied the first American soldiers to land on Omaha Beach; these photographs belong to the modern classics of war photography. The exhibition Lepo slikarstvo je za nami brings together around 40 internationally acclaimed as well as less well known artists from France and Slovenia, who entered the art world in the late 1980s and early 1990s or later. This was the period when the cultural space of both countries was marked by a crisis in sculpture, which came about after the boom of the new era a decade before then. The exhibition is the result of cooperation between the French institute  Charles Nodier from Ljubljana and is curated by Eva Hober, who runs the Galerie Eva Hober in Paris.

The German artist Rebecca Horn is best known for her body modification. Her work has social, political and historical connotations and sets out to pose questions, seek answers and enter into a dialogue with the audience.The exhibition in Maribor will feature larger installations, videos and work which represents Horn's collaborations with other artists and her students, of a mostly inter-media nature. A section of the exhibition will be curated by the artist herself and present the work of her best students.   

Radar Project is entirely different;  it will take place for the first time, in Maribor, under the auspices of Terminal 12. The three day event is an opportunity for encouraging cooperation and networking in business, the development of the fashion industry and the promotion of design at home and abroad. In the coming year, young designers and established Slovene and foreign names in the world of fashion will present their work in the form of fashion shows, exhibitions, video presentations, workshops and round tables. They will present the latest trends in the field of fashion design, tendencies in the development of the textile and clothing industry in Slovenia and clothing collections - undefined by season - that best express the relationship to various design approaches, knowledge, personal development and expression, and the experience of time and space. 

 

For Music Lovers

Audiences can also expect  first-rate classical and non-classical peformances in the sphere of music. In March Ivo Pogorelić will perform at the Slovenian National Theatre in Maribor with the Zagreb Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra led by the conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko. The programme will feature Chopin's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E minor (op. 11) and Brahm's Symphony no. 2 in D major (op. 73). The great piano interpreter Ivo Pogorelić is a synonym for Chopin's music and his interpretations both divide and delight the entire cultural world. The Zagreb Philharmonic is also a cultural ambassador for the Republic of Croatia, boasting a 140 year long tradition. The orchestra enjoys close ties with the renowned Croatian conductor and the biggest names in the conducting world, among others the Russian conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko, who has conducted some of the most prestigious ensembles in the world of music since his win at the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1969.  

Maribor Festival, one of the most prestigious musical events in Slovenia, enriches Maribor from the end of August to mid-September.The  artistic director Richard Tognetti, a violinist and chamber musician of Austrian descent, presents a programme which not only transcends cliche but offers audiences musical delicacies on a large-scale . The festival boasts the newest in classical music and premieres, alongside multi-media projects and primal ethnic and jazz – resulting in a musical event which manages to break through the borders of classical music. Among the participants are a number of eminent virtuosos who appear as soloists or members of the occasional Festival Orchestra and who with members of the Slovene Philharmonic take part in a unique musical workshop. Maribor Festival also attracts promising young  musicians, offering them an opportunity  for high-level promotion, and at the same time contributes to the revitalisation of Maribor's cultural heritage through the use of historical buildings as performance venues.

More demanding music fans (of non-classical genres) were not ignored in the planning of the Terminal 12 programme, especially since decent music events are hard to come by in the Styrian capital. Things will change in the coming year when, alongside numerous other events, Maribor will stage the across-border Mars festival,  which last year played host to Moby-one of the most memorable gigs in Slovenia in the last few years. The Mars festival is a Slovene-Croatian speciality, which takes place first in a Slovene then in a Croatian town-this year in Maribor and Zagreb. In the four years since its birth, the response of critics and the wider public have clearly demonstrated that the festival's distinct character – the meshing together of musical and creative forces by the performers on stage - make this an exceptional musical event. Alongside world-renowned stars, the festival offers young musicians the rare opportunity to appear on stage with big names on the local and international music scene.