Hi,
my name is Jasna and I would like to invite you to see my performance. It’s my first solo theatrical project and I’m quite excited about it.
The title of the piece is “this is my truth tell me yours” which is actually a quote of a quote, but the piece itself doesn’t deal with these quotes, it’s more about some of my own “truths”.
I have been working as a writer and a dramaturg for almost 15 years, but lately I have been thinking about wanting to do something else, because I think art is really fucked up and because art really fucked me up.
But then I made this piece about how art fucked me up, and I actually realised it’s more of a love-hate relationship between me and art. And I realized I actually often really like art. (Although it also gets on my nerves quite often.)
Some other topics that I explore in this piece are female orgasm, male masturbation, artistic responsibility and buzzing in the ears. I also mention Konstrakta, Jan Fabre, Oliver Frljić, Xanax and Jesus.
In short, I would be glad if you would come to the show. (Below you’ll find a more official description that my producer asked me to write.)
See you,
Jasna

“this is my truth, tell me yours” is a solo project by the dramaturg and writer Jasna Žmak, in which she explores her relationship with the artistic field, questioning the responsibilities and the anxieties that the role of the contemporary artist implies. Leaning on her personal experience from 2011, when she started suffering from tinnitus and hyperacusis after firing a theater gun during the performance “MandićMachine”, directed by Bojan Jablanovec and performed by Marko Mandić, in this piece Žmak creates her own version of a ŽmakMachine, and explores the ways in which art forms the reality we are living in. Although seemingly not connected, the themes of tinnitus and patriarchy become the central motif of this work that operates at the intersection between stand-up comedy and lecture performance. Appearing on stage in the role of the performer for the first time, Žmak deals with questions of truthfulness and representation, participation and responsibility, guiding us through her dramaturgical and sexual experiences, asking herself and the audience questions about the importance and the meaning of artistic production in the era of wild capitalism.

Awards
Grand Prix, BITEF 2024 (Belgrade, Serbia)

Jasna Žmak is a writer, dramaturg, researcher and psychodramatist from Zagreb, Croatia, working in the fields of performance, dance, literature and film. She is associate professor at the Department of Dramaturgy at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, teaching BA and MA courses on performance dramaturgy. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Zagreb, graduating with the theme of lecture performance. She writes performance texts, short stories, reviews, research papers, essays, and picture books. She has published several books, including the study “Lecture as Performance, Performance as Lecture – on the Production of Knowledge in the Arts” (Leykam International, 2019) and a book of essays “Dirty Words – Essays on Female Sexuality” (Fraktura, 2020). She has organized and/or mentored several workshops about writing, feminism, dramaturgy and psychodrama. She loves playing around with language and believes intersectional feminism is the future.

Author and dramaturge: Jasna Žmak
Performed by Jasna Jasna Žmak

Support in movement creation: Ana Kreitmeyer
Lighting design: Anton Modrušan
Producers: Romana Brajša, Špela Trošt (Via Negativa), Barbara Zonta (City of Women)
Designer: Pavao Kuharić

Production: Center for Drama Art, Zagreb & Via Negativa, Ljubljana & City of Women, Ljubljana
Partners: KunstTeatar, Zagreb & VoxFeminae festival, Zagreb & Zavod En-Knap, Ljubljana

Thanks to: Sanja Merćep, Zrinka Užbinec, mentors, participants and the team of PARL 2022, Tomaž Grom, Ana Grbac, Nikola Podkrajac, Petar Sarjanović, Borut Šeparović, Vedrana Klepica, Barbara Matejčić, Katarina Pejović, Dunja Ribarić, Mirta Jambrović, Peščenica Cultural Center - Knap, Youth Culture Centre “Ribnjak”, Krušče Creative Center, Marko Mandić

This project was developed during PARL - Performance Art Research Ljubljana 2022

This project was made possible with funding support from ​​the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the Zagreb City Office for Culture, Kultura Nova Foundation, International Relations and Civil Society, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the City of Ljubljana.

Photos: Jelena Janković, Marcandrea, Nada Žgank, Nata Korenovskaia, Sanja Merćep

Duration: 01:10

Gallery