{"id":617,"date":"2020-05-24T07:24:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-24T07:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/?p=617"},"modified":"2026-06-22T10:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:52:18","slug":"conscious-and-safe-%ce%b1-values-lead-response-to-the-covid-19-crisis-an-interview-of-jovana-karaulic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/conscious-and-safe-%ce%b1-values-lead-response-to-the-covid-19-crisis-an-interview-of-jovana-karaulic\/","title":{"rendered":"Conscious and Safe: \u0391 Values-lead Response to the COVID-19 Crisis: An Interview with Jovana Karauli\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Tina Peric<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Festival of International Student Theatre (FIST) is organized by students of The Department for Management and Production in Theatre, Radio and Culture at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. In fact, it is actually part of the curriculum of the final year of their degree. The Festival is a unique opportunity for the students to gain practical knowledge and experience, and to encounter new tendencies in the professional field. Each year, the festival gathers together approximately 200 participants and over 3,000 visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a year of groundwork behind it, the 15th edition of FIST was scheduled to open on March 14. However, only a week before the opening, the world as we know it began to collapse. There have been many different responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the field of theatre and performing arts within Serbia. Whilst live events were (and still are) cancelled or postponed, significant numbers of artists and arts organizations moved to the virtual space. These artists have created a dense and diverse agenda that has included productions streamed online and a number of newborn online training projects and workshops for performers. Despite all this new, online activity, the case of Belgrade\u2019s student festival is worth examining; not least due to the swiftness and ingenuity of it adjustments to the new situation, and on account of several interesting phenomena that have emerged from its response to the crisis. In the following interview, we discuss FIST\u2019s reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak in Serbia with Jovana Karauli\u0107, Teacher Assistant at the Belgrade Drama Faculty, who, as a student supervisor, was leading theatre students through this demanding and adventurous experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you realize the festival could not take place in its usual format? How did the students react to the change and what arguments prevailed in taking the decision to move the festival in a completely new direction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the crisis was developing, and the situation in Italy was already dramatic, our country was yet to come forward with any guidelines. However, eight days before the festival, we started getting emails from some of the theatre troupes about their flights being delayed. That is when we realized it was likely to happen with the rest of the flights, and the situation would soon be out of our control. However, at the time, none of the other cultural festivals or institutions in Serbia had cancelled their programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I thought cancelling the festival would be quite problematic: for us, this festival is not only a complex cultural industry project but, above all, a practical training tool. It would mean that students were supposed to just shrug and go back home after a year of thorough work and give in to the depression of an unfinished job. Yet, taking the risk of continuing with the normal programme was in no way the responsible thing to do. So, we decided to go with plan B: a crisis management exercise, instead of a simple cancellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video 1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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