On Saturday, November 20, 2021, Faculty of Dramatic Arts will again be part of the Night of theatres by not only streaming the performance of the Theatre of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, but also students and teachers FDUAU BB will join in the memorial service of the 13,725 WHITE CROSS.
At the initiative of the Puppet Theatre at Rázcestí, a memorial service of 13,725 WHITE CROSSINGS (as of 18 November 2021 at 10:22 AM). During the memorial service, we will create 13,725 small white crosses on the pavement of the square with chalk spray as a memorial to the victims of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic in Slovakia. Saying goodbye to our loved ones is an important ritual. We want to dedicate ourselves to this ritual in order to draw attention to the finitude of human life, to the enormous losses that many families and our entire society are experiencing in connection with the pandemic. And this is precisely at a time when attacks on healthcare workers are increasing, violence over vaccinations is accelerating, and the highest state authorities are not paying sufficient attention to this silent, invisible struggle for the survival of all of Slovakia.
With this event, the BDNR follows up on foreign memorial events that are held in cooperation with artists and associations around the world, e.g. the memorial event in March 2021 on the Old Town Square in Prague 25,000 Crosses, organized by the association Million Moments for Democracy. Similar events were held in twenty other Czech cities. In Slovakia, the Real Victims initiative was created, which makes the pain and sorrow for the victims of Covid present by planting linden trees. Currently, there are more than 5 million victims worldwide, which is the number of the entire population of Slovakia.
The Banská Bystrica cultural institutions, the State Opera and the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, joined the memorial. During the event, members of the BDNR artistic ensemble and a student of the Department of Acting Martina Chmelanová will read statements from survivors, doctors, and personal confessions from close victims of Covid. Arias will be performed by participating artists from the State Opera and the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica.
The memorial service is being held in Banská Bystrica for the first time in Slovakia. We thank the city administration for their support and cooperation.
We are organizing the event as part of the Night of theatres. The founder of the BDNR is the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region.
THE WHITE CROSS IS THE STORY OF EACH AND EVERYONE OF US.
Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads
City of Banská Bystrica
State Opera Banská Bystrica
Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica
Video: Valery Neskaradziany
Photo gallery from the event
