STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
installation. These performances, which can be included in the definition of “narrative theatre”,
are sustainable only due to the presence of only a few or one actor.
An independent theatre not linked to political power and financed by privates does not exist in
Italy. The Italian theatrical system is in fact based nearly exclusively from the always more
insufficient fund municipal, provincial, regional and government. However the access to these
funds is possible only when other official institution recognizes the companies. Therefore after a
long period of touring, the wish to find a stable place in which continuing their own artistic
search is prevalent. This aspiration also diffused in Italy during the Italian Renaissance.
In Italy exists a line of demarcation between the theatrical experiences of the centre-north and
those of the south, where it is even more difficult for the companies to reach a system of
stability. The funds to the category of theatre, for the year 2002, were equivalent to 24 % of the
total, and were split in 12 different categories where street theatre was in the end of the
support.
To summarize, in Italy the “independent” companies are forced to face, with enormous efforts
and risky economical investments, the long and difficult bureaucratic procedure, that only in
some cases bears artistic acknowledgement and financial support.
The commedia dell’arte is the living tradition in Italy able to perform everywhere as on-man
show or group creations. There is a profound scholarly background and interests behind, too.
The small events like one night action the Notti bianchi in Abbiate Grasso are followed by large
festivals in Mantova with water performances. The Sbandieratori is the flagwaver group,
founded in 1976 by a group of young men who wanted to reintroduce the medieval Italian art of
flagwaving. Studying from original documents dating from the 16th century, they created a
choreography that is true to the tradition of the ancient “Gens Corana”. The result is a
spectacular show of whirling and swirling, tossing and exchanging of flags, which is both
aesthetically beautiful and an impressive demonstration of skill.
Kosovo
The first independent theatres in Kosovo were established only in the beginning of the 1990s
after Yugoslavia began to disintegrate. Those were times when almost all cultural institutions,
including theatres, were closed by the Serbian regime. Two or three theatres that were
established then carried out their activity in places like coffee shops, away from police attention.
This was a kind of political theatre with shows referring to violence and oppression, the
Milosevic’s regime was applying on Albanians. The aesthetics was not the primary concern of
the ones involved and they worked mainly with no budget at all on volunteer basis. After the
war, there was a certain euphoria in creating and establishing independent theatres, though the
majority of them did not manage to function and to survive. This lack of independent theatres is
due to mainly two reasons: lack of institutional state support and lack of tradition and
especially lack of management skills. In this time, there is no support for independent theatres.
However, actual developments speak of hope in the field of theatre, with more independent
theatres to be established and more qualitative shows to be seen. Street theatre might be the
solution.
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PE 375.307