Intercriticism
21–22 October 2010
Trstenjak Hall, University of Maribor, Slovenia
The Maribor Theatre Festival and the Association of Slovenian Theatre Critics and Researchers (a national section of the AICT/IATC) present an international conference on "Intercriticism," a re-contextualization and reorganization of critical writing about theatre and the performing arts.
In addition to their primary task, i.e. critical writing, contemporary critics have become interactively involved in parallel activities that pertain only indirectly to their area of work while, more importantly, engaging their field of vision as critical observers and judges. Usually, a freelance critic is also a member of various juries and panels, a dramaturge, a producer, a university teacher, a program adviser co-shaping a program, a selector of performances or a (co)creator of festival programs, a moderator of panel discussions, an editor of professional publications, a copy-editor, and sometimes even a performer. Critical writing has therefore become just one of the roles fulfilled by theatre and performing arts critics.
Over the past decades, the aesthetic, cultural, social, political and productional realities have placed the theatre critic into an area of intermediate interest, a location which has undermined the presence and the role of a critical position. "Theatre criticism" or "theatre journalism" has suffused virtually all segments of social life dealt with in the print and broadcast media. This raises the question of how much room is left for the critic's basic task within this network of interests, and how privileged this position is. How does this affect the analysis, description, evaluation and social position of the observer and his/her relation to the subject of observation? What happens when a critic no longer observes a performance from a privileged, detached position but becomes part of the performance itself as a result of these circumstances?
The inter-criticism debate will examine the current situation of critical writing from various viewpoints as well as its professional position within the context described above.
The deadline for sending completed contributions: 15 September 2010.
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