Dragan Klaic 1950-2011

A reflection by Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal

 

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Dragan Klaic, a passionate European, a great intellectual force, an inspiring teacher, and a delightful, if at times maddening friend, who kept you on your toes with his quick thinking, provocative statements and challenging questions.

LIFT first encountered Dragan in 1993 the year after he had gone into voluntary exile following the bloody and traumatic break up of Yugoslavia.  In July 1993 the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo –Dragan’s birthplace - was on the verge of collapse, as the Serbian forces closed in from the surrounding hills. That same week at the LIFT  Festival  a company made up of  artists from  across Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia were performing  “Sarajevo”,  a haunting lament for the ideals of a multi-cultural city that had been crushed as ethnic hatred inflamed its inhabitants.   Dragan came over from Amsterdam , where he has just taken over as Director of the Netherlands Theatre Institute,  reconnecting with friends and colleagues from  the former Yugoslavia and  played  a leading role in the debates  we had organized with Amnesty International and The Refugee Council.

Over the subsequent years we would frequently run into Dragan at Festivals and Conferences; he would always be engaged in fierce debate, usually challenging the status quo – for which he often got into trouble -  delivering diatribes against the pernicious effects of nationalism  and parochialism;  and promoting the imperative of  the European cultural project.

Dragan was also passionate about Festivals and was the initiator and  Chair of the European Festivals Research Project.   So, in 2005, when we were writing ‘The Turning World, Stories from the London International Festival of Theatre’, it was very natural to ask Dragan to contribute an essay to our chapter on Festivals. Writing in the ‘The Turning World’ he coined the wonderfully evocative phrase describing Festivals as “experimental zones of sociability”, going, in our view, to the heart of the Festival spirit. In the same essay he also argued that “there was an urgent need for theatre to re-examine its social functions and reconsider its capacity to reshape the collective imagination and memory, to serve as a vehicle of debate, enhance intercultural relationships and affirm the public space as an essential feature of democracy.” This is a subject he returned to in the book he had almost finished at the time of his death about the value of what he termed public as opposed to commercial theatre.

 

Lucy recalls;

Dragan has affected how I look and think about things.  I am reminded of the 1970 picture of Joseph Beuys on the sofa, cradling an axe. This international work is not all comfy cushions. You need some metal in hand as well...! When engaging with Dragan, the combination of his humour, intellect and curiosity in what you had to say yourself made you sit up straight. No slouching.

The broad brush and close detail of a festival is a devilishly darned thing to describe to people, especially when your own ideas for its design are constantly on the move. The world’s turning requires dexterous mapping:  artistic experiments; socio-political shifts; paradigms to change and paradoxes to show.  Dragan articulated our evolution of LIFT -  sometimes better even than we could ourselves -  with comic insight and charged sense of a utopia he believed festivals engendered. He knew in his bones they mattered and the vigilance with which their values of co-operation needed defending. The precision and humanity with which he spelt this out was and remains an inspiration. Carrying his ideals on is a shared challenge. No slouching Dragan!

Rose continues;

I was privileged to spend a great of time with Dragan in Lublin,  Poland over the past two years.  We were the so called ‘international experts’, along with the artist and writer Krzysztof Czyzewski, helping to develop the city’s bid to become the European Capital of Culture 2016.  On an almost monthly basis we would meet at 10pm at Warsaw airport,  Dragan arriving either from  his home in Amsterdam or from Budapest where he taught the MA Masters in Cultural Management at the Central European University. The car journey to Lublin would be filled with reflections on the state of Europe, gossip on the latest political scandal or bureaucratic incompetence, descriptions of the shows he’d seen on his travels – this opera in Budapest or Paris, that theatre show in Istanbul or Prague,  and  news of his family . Three hours later we would arrive at the Hotel Lublianka where Dragan ensured a bottle of the best wine was waiting for us  - and the conversation would continue far into the early hours.    And then when I woke up in the morning at 8am there would always be several from Dragan in my in box!  He was indefatigable.

Lublin loved Dragan.  Even though - true to form - he ruffled a few feathers, not least when on our first visit he declared that the city could not possibly aspire to be European Capital of Culture if those working in the cultural sector did not speak  English, the common language of communication across the continent. As a man who spoke nine languages fluently Dragan understood the power and value of language, and his instructions to the Mayor to set up compulsory English evening classes were carried out immediately.

Throughout the 90’s as Europe came together once again following the collapse of communism, Dragan was an unstoppable force, developing programmes and projects to connect people – and particularly young people –  across the continent.  Over the past weeks  since his death, I have met so many people, directors of festivals, theatres and cultural initiatives, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe, who said they would not be doing what they were doing without Dragan . He opened their minds, they said, gave them  encouragement and courage. He was a wonderful  - and a demanding  - teacher.

In his book The Mobility of the Imagination Dragan lays out with “Dragan- like” rigour and care the tools and philosophy of his “ intercultural –practice”.  Writing in the forward to the Polish edition of the book, which is about to be published, Krzysztof Czyzewski,  speaks about the impetus that shaped Dragan’s  approach.

“His engagement in ‘Europe as a cultural project’ and creation of alternative transnational platforms of co-operation in the world, has acquired the intensity and total commitment of the man who knows very well the price of losing something precious and has the knowledge of how easy it is to destroy the edifice of co-existence erected for years, and understands it cannot be based on ideology, hypocrisy or coercion. One sensible lesson that can be learnt from the destruction of a bridge in a neighbourly conflict is the construction of a better, more solid bridge, because there is no other alternative. There from stems the importance of the role of the teacher able to pass on the arcana of his craft, by others unnoticed, ignored or treated cursorily. And that is why Dragan Klaić’s book is based on precision and meticulous approach to detail, wide and multi-faceted scrutiny, reference to what is concrete and experienced, dragging idealists back to earth and handing them the tools to work with.”

Dragan we shall miss you hugely – your knowledge, your grasp of history, your ideals, your sense of fun, your combatative yet generous spirit,  and your warm and mischievous company.

Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal November 2011

Dragan’s chapter from ‘A Turning World’ will be made avilable to read on our website in the coming weeks.

You can order your copy of ‘The Turning World’ by Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal (£15 including P&P) by emailing info@liftfestival.com