Upcoming performances:
To be announced
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The Song of a Soldier on Watch (WW3 Lili Marlene), dur. 3 hours, performed on 25/09/2019, Extravagant Bodies-Love, Hala V of Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
‘‘While Milisković remains clothed during his rendition of The Song of a Soldier on Watch (inspired by Hans Leip/Lale Andersen’s ‘Lili Marleen’), the one-on-one cabaret show is an intensely intimate contact. Here, the barriers between two strangers, the Thespian and the spectator, are obliterated, leading to ephemeral but deep connections amidst waves of melancholy, dystopian thoughts.‘‘
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THE SONG FROM THE GRAVE, dur. 7 hours, performed on 27/08/2018, Yellow Fish V durational performance festival, LoveCityLove, Seattle (WA), USA
Filmed by Maxwell Bennett
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Branko Miliskovic creates performances that combine forms of cabaret, opera, theatre, photography, and film. Miliskovic pulls on pieces of history, often political and dealing with a sense of collective or universal memory. Through a character, he delivers a space with familiar emotions. The Song of A Soldier On Watch (The Song from the Grave) One Man Opera, is a work that deals with anticipation, and the tormenting wait for someone to return from war, referencing Arnold Schönberg’s famous opera Erwartung.
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BRANKO MILISKOVIĆ – PESMA VOJNIKA NA STRAŽI
Pre nego što se vratim na analizu samog tela u ovom umetničkom performansu, ukratko bih istakla polaznu tačku Branka Miliskovića prilikom izgradnje sopstvene stejdž persone kojom se bavio kroz seriju performansa. Lili Marlen u ovom kontekstu predstavlja decentrirani fantazam koji kroz telo umetnika reinkarnira svoj postistorijski ciklus, i uspostavlja nove interpetacije i rekreacije kroz fiktivni subjekat (umetnika) koji ga zastupa. U sklopu ovog performansa je narativna vrednost redefinisana; ona postavlja pitanja značenja objekta, njegove primene i uloge u sopstvenoj mimikriji figure. Potencijalna preispitivanja unutar performansa nam ukazuju na to da je umetnik koncipirao narativ koji postavlja tezu o dve žene: Lili i Marlen, prostitutke kojima vojnik peva na straži za vreme II Svetskog rata. Ova varijabla je svakako izmestiva, jer se pod drugim pitanjem podvlači činjenica da je vojnik zapravo relikt, već uveliko mrtav, koji pesmu Lili Marlen peva iz groba. Treća verzija događaja na koju nam umetnik ukazuje je da jedna od te dve žene (ili obe) peva pesmu koju je vojnik pevao njima/njoj. Međutim, u četvrtom kontekstu polazna tačka nisu ljudski fantazmi, već lampa ispod koje se vojnik sastajao sa svojom ljubavnicom:
Vor der Kaserne
Vor dem grossen Tor
Stand eine Laterne
Und steht sie noch davor
So woll’n wir uns da wieder seh’n
Bei der Laterne wollen wir steh’n
Wie einst Lili Marleen.
Telo kao ideja/objekat, podložno je re/de/konstruisanju u značenjskom kontekstu i ukazuje na preinačenu prošlost, koja posreduje između vremena i govora, koja utiče na lično poimanje skupa određenih istorijskih događaja. Skup različitih objekata unutar politetičkog tela, označava irealizaciju u konstruktivnom smislu, u uvlačenje sopstvenog tela unutar uloge. Umetnik na ovaj način uzima stvarne situacije kao imaginarne, odvajajući svoje realno telo od sopstvene vitalnosti; na taj način on kreira intelektualno – fantazmično telo, koje ima za cilj da prikaže dihotomiju ili trihotomiju subjekta i objekta i na taj način izgradi praksu njegovog prepoznavanja.
Kroz anti-heteronormativni diskurs, njegovo telo komunicira na granicama kvira, transcedentalnosti, transvestije i na taj način vrši latentne promene unutar psihizma, stvarajući percipirajući subjekt, koji iskustveno postaje inteligibilna figura koja kreira izmeštenu realnost. Objekat je označeni, a subjekt upućuje izvesnim brojem znakova na ono na šta se odnosi. U svim verzijama poimanja predstave ovog objekta, pitanje na kojem umetnik izgrađuje svoj fantazam je svakako motiv čekanja, iščekivanja, nade i izdržljivosti. Takođe na bazama lične tragedije koju je doživeo, umetnik na ovaj način preinačuje sopstveno Ja unutar istorijske naracije koju svrstava u teatarsku figuru koju dalje razvija kao predstavu. Solipsistička (lat solus – jedini; ipse – sam) figura, kao predstava, je sačinjena od znakova koji ukazuju na to (re)kreirano telo; ona je po suštini metaforička, alegorijska i metonimijska. Figura je personificirajuća predstava ljudskog ili fikcionalnog tela koja konstituisanjem izgleda i pojavnosti izgleda kao “ceo svet”, a razumeva se kao tekst – a to bi se u ovom kontekstu moglo iščitati kao scenska predstava tela.
Ovaj polimedijalni projekat Branka Miliskovića svakako pripada postmedijskoj praksi; taj postmedijski pogled je pogled koji proizvodi svet kulture, on afektivno u svoje telo upisuje znakove prepoznavanje kulturalnih i naučnih vrednosti. Na taj način preinačuje underground praksu šezdesetih u praksu visoke kulture i prikazuje je kao autonomni manifest određene objektivnosti, događaja, ali i savremenih sistema vrednosti.
Telo teatra umetnika se može tumačiti kao kabaretsko telo sa elementima mim arta (koje je šezdesetih godina bilo karakteristično za umetničku-performativnu praksu Lindzija Kempa (Lindsay Kemp)), kao telo koje redefiniše i aproprira vrednosti kolektivnog sećanja, kao fenotekstualno, androgino, bespolno, muško ili žensko telo. Kao referentno telo, koje ukazuje na određeni kontekst, više nego na sam period toka događaja iz koga je kreirao destorzirani narativ. Takođe, to kreirano telo nije u službi subjekta iz narativnog toka prošlosti, već je autonomni konstrukt i umetnikov manifest izgrađen na osnovu sopstvene percepcije sačinjene u odnosu na istorijske fakte preuzete iz arhiva. Ono interno insistira na vremenu, prostoru u kome se nalazi i koje se iščitava kao fantazmatični prostor. Njegovo celokupno tumačenje se svodi na materijalističko dekodiranje; ono u svojoj trihotomiji ne podilazi Realnom, ne prilagođava ga projekciji kadra ekranske realnosti, već ga izmešta iz sopstvenog smisla. Na taj način kreirano telo sadrži neponovljivu auru koja samo referira na određene simulakrume, ali im ne podilazi.
Kroz dalja tumačenja tela koje se preinačuje u Drugog je momenat kada je ono u sebe asimiliralo novu značenjsku igru. Biti telo znači biti vezan za jedan određen svet, a naše telo nije najpre u prostoru: ono pripada prostoru (Maurice Merleau-Ponty). Kroz tu organizaciju pojavnosti i svrstavanje konteksta unutar prostora, dobija se određena telesna refleksija koja ukazuje na postojanje samog tela, ali i njegovog identiteta na sceni. Umetnik izražava svoj narativ kroz bihevioralno telo, posmodernistički vršeći strategiju transfiguracija i transformacija jedne umetnosti u drugu. Kroz oralnu poeziju umetnik stvara metateatar/metaperformans koji ukazuje na moć da proizvede teorijske indeksacije, odnosno ukazivanja, značenja, vrednosti i smisla. Kreirano telo “Vojnika na straži” je intertekstualna figura koja referira mnoštvo značenjskih vrednosti.
Kreirano telo jeste umetničko sredstvo. Njegov objekat je uslovljen iskazom (sačuvanim tokom vremena i rasutim kroz prostor) i podređen konceptu, koji je sveden na znak koji ukazuje na istaknutu referencu. Kroz reaktivni iskaz, intonaciju i izgovor, umetnik referira na određeni narativ, vremensku determinantu i značenjske elemente iz prošlosti koje su svojevrsno sticanje predstava o intendiranom konceptu koji vodi ka performativnom i značenjskom cilju.
Telo koje čeka Lili Marlen, ili Lili i Marlen, ili Lili ili Marlen koje čekaju mrtvog vojnika ili čak sam objekat/svedok događaja lampion su nezavisni kodovi koji ukazuju na izmeštenost recepcije. Vizuelni prikaz ličnosti na sceni ima binaran karakter; ona kroz ekstenziju u vidu šminke, odeće, shvatanja motoričkog značaja ukazuje na promenljivost vizuelnog i istorijsko (ne)relevantnog sadržaja; ono pripada sadašnjosti, sa novim pogledom identiteta na simboliku smeštenu u prošlosti. S tim u vezi, samo performativno telo prisvaja i razumeva pokret i na taj način, kroz body art ispoljava interdisciplinaran pristup performansu.
Teatarski identitet Branka Miliskovića u seriji performansa “Pesma vojnika na straži” je intencionalna projekcija, retencija i protenzija objekta za Drugog; kroz promenljivo telo umetnik preinačuje prošlost, determiniše telo kao ideju, redefiniše recepciju i svest posmatrača, ističe sopstveni politetiči akt i suprotstavlja stvarnosti. Brisanjem dodira sa samim sobom, autor se na ovaj način stavlja u poziciju objekta koji govori o drugom objektu, a čak i subjekta koji govori o objektu, što kroz sintezu umetničkih praksi preinačuje uspostavljeno značenje, ličnu i kolektivnu percepciju, i na taj način redefiniše prošlost.
Multimedijalne granične umetničke prakse: telo kao konstrukt ideološke vidljivosti u projektima Branka Miliskovića i Simonide Rajčević
Autor: Jelena Pavićević
Januar 2019, Beograd
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 12/02/2016, Workspacebrussels A.i.R, KAAI THEATRE living, Brussels, Belgium
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Branko Miliskovic was working on a novel performance, inspired by Arnold Schönberg’s famous opera Erwartung and concept of perpetual anticipations. Involved here is a variation on the suffering of thousands of families during and after the World Wars, awaiting the return of their loved ones from the front. The origins of this performance lie, moreover, in a work created earlier by the artist, titled The Song of a Soldier on Watch, and inspired by one of the most popular German songs of recent decades, as well as one of the most controversial, Lili Marlene, regarded as one of the first songs encouraging fraternization between enemy soldiers.
Branko Miliskovic
The Song of a Soldier on Watch (WW3 Lili Marlene)
One Man Opera (1st reflex) Workspace Brussels, at Kaaitheater living. Dramaturge by Jasper Delbecke
February 12, 2016
Brussels, Belgium
Photo by Eve Bonneau
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 14/09/2015, MontagModus, CHB-Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin, Germany
Photographs by Hannes Jung
Das von Hans Leip geschriebene Liebeslied Lili Marlene (1915) und Arnold Schönbergs atonale Sopran-Oper Erwartung (1909) dienen als Ausgangspunkt für Branko Miliskovic’ Ein-Mann-Oper. In Miliskovic’ Adaptation wird die Frage aufgeworfen, wie ein Lied als Verbindungsglied zwischen Soldaten gleich welcher Nationalität oder Sprache feindliche Grenzen überschreitet.
In der Performance The Song of a Soldier on Watch (WW3 Lili Marlene) verkörpert der serbische Künstler gleichzeitig Lili Marlene und den Soldat/Schriftsteller. Auf diese Weise dekonstruiert er die Gender-Rollen in einem Kriegsszenario. Die zwitterartig anmutende Doppel-Figur ist mehr Hybrid als singulärer Körper: die WW3-Version von Lili Marlene.
The Song of a Soldier on Watch (WW3 Lili Marlene)
One Man Opera
Montag Modus, CHB – Collegium Hungaricum Berlin
14 September 2015
Duration: 50 min
Curated by Lena Szirmay-Kalos and Kata Krasznahorkai (CHB)
Photos by Hannes Jung
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 08/02/2015, La Comedie de Reims, Production Frac Champagne-Ardenne
Video by Clement Chevelt
Photos by Martin Argyroglo
Photo by Clement Chevelt
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La Première Guerre mondiale fut aussi l’objet de plusieurs performances plus intimistes et personnelles comme The Song of a soldier on watch (ww3 Lili Marlene) une performance sensible de Branko Miliskovic sur l’attente et la souffrance des familles pendant et après le champ de bataille.
Christophe Candoni for TLC – Toute la Culture 23.02.2015
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Branko Milisković a toujours été intéressé par le contact direct avec le public, jouant de sa présence charismatique pour tenter de « fusionner » avec lui. Afin d’entrer ainsi en relation avec son auditoire, que ce soit directement ou de manière plus subtile, il utilise son corps et son identité comme médium principal. Branko Milisković proposera à Reims une performance inédite, inspirée du célèbre opéra Erwartung d’Arnold Schönberg. Intitulée One Man Opera, il s’agit d’une variation sur la souffrance de milliers de familles pendant et après la première guerre mondiale, dans l’attente du retour de leurs proches partis au front.
In Reims, Branko Milisković proposes a novel performance, inspired by Arnold Schönberg’s famous opera Erwartung. Involved here is a variation on the suffering of thousands of families during and after the First World War, awaiting the return of their loved ones from the front. The origins of this performance lie, moreover, in a work created earlier by the artist, titled The Song of a Soldier on Watch, and inspired by one of the most popular German songs of recent decades, as well as one of the most controversial, Lili Marlene, regarded as one of the first songs encouraging fraternization between enemy soldiers.
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CHRONIQUE
With The Song of a Soldier on Watch, the Serbian artist Branko Milisković mystified and enchanted the audience of Reims Scènes d’Europe in a performance about the wait and suffering of families during and after WWI, a war which is at the heart of the current edition of the festival with for example the shows of Luk Perceval or Bob Wilson.
Accustomed to hours-long performances, Branko Milisković offers in Reims a more traditional format of 62 minutes. In the overcrowded Studio of La Comédie where the last arrived spectators could not enter, the Serbian performer awaits his audience, standing like a White Lady, half-hidden at the back of the stage. This time, he chose to incarnate a widow. With his blood red lipstick, smoky eyes and ultra thin eyebrows, he reminds us Marlene Dietrich, the one who made Lili Marleen go down in history. Between a couple of songs, she waits for a soldier that will never come back. The slightly shifted clock runs, trains go by, one last letter reaches her. And he sings, Lili Marleen. He is both the soldier who is about to die of asphyxiation, and his lover who is mourning him in the stunning final of the opera Erwartung by Schönberg.
If the succession of scenes tends to dilute the strength of the statement, there is no doubt that the supernatural performer Branko Milisković owns the power to embody his characters and create images that will remain etched in the memory of his audience, like the surreal scene where he stands and sings while smoke is invading the stage and the whole room.
Fanny Amblard
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH ( WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 02/12/2014, G12 HUB, Belgrade, Serbia
Video by Tina Marić
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”Post Historical Cabaret of highest order.” Dr Nikola Šuica
Photo by Tina Marić
Photo by Jelena Bokić
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH ( WW3 LILI MARLENE )
In the piece “The Song of Soldier on Watch (WW3 Lili Marlene)” he seems to incarnate both, the figure of the mythical heroine from the song as well as the figure of the soldier who wrote it. In 1915 Hans Leip, a German poet and playwright called to join the army and fight on Eastern front during World War I, wrote lyrics for the song than entitled “The Girl Under the Lantern” which later on, especially during the World War II, became extremely popular by the name Lili Marlene. During the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, Radio Belgrade became Soldatensender Belgrad and broadcasted programs to entertain the German armed forces. This song was played frequently and was also very popular on both sides of the front line. “Lili Marlene’’ was presumably one of the first songs of which one thought it could lead to an individual and collective resistance of the soldiers on the front.
Part of a text written by Dobrila Denegri for an exhibition Theatre of Life, CSW/CoCA, Torun, Poland 2012. p. 89
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Concept & performance by Branko Milisković
Performed on the 02nd of December 2014, 19:00 – 21:00 / Duration: 2 hours.
Song: “Lili Marlene”(Lili Marleen), written by Hans Leip (1915), set to the music by Norbert Schultze (1938), firstly recorded by Lale Andersen (1938)
Instrumental composed by Anton Karas.
Thanks to Radio Belgrade and Dejan Ivanović for rare audio materials.
Thanks to G12 HUB, Milica Pekić, Jelena Piljić, Ivan Bulbuk, Branislav Pećaranin
Special thanks to Anđela Grabež, Jelena Bokić, Helen Schröder and to my parents for various organizational as well as financial supports.
Past performances:
October 2011 at Bains Connective, Brussels, Belgium
November 2011 at Les Petit Bain, Paris, France
May 2012 at CSW/CoCA, Center for Contemporary Arts, Torun, Poland
June 2012 at Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany
July 2013 at Zeitraumexit, Mannheim, Germany
June 2014 at Gallery Metropolis, Paris, France
Upcoming performance:
8th February 2015, FRAC #6, Comedie de Reims-Centre dramatique national, Reims, France
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH ( WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 06/07/2013, Frisch Eingetroffen@ Zeitraumexit, Mannheim / Germany
Video still by Christina Stihler
Photo by Peter Empl
Video still by Christina Stihler
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Durch entwaffnende Präsenz überzeugt dagegen Branko Miliskovic. Sein Solo “The Song of a Soldier on Watch” kreiert zwischen zermürbendem Kriegsgetöse und Lale Andersons “Lili Marleen” eine zwiespältige Kunstfigur, die Dank minimaler Gestik und wohldosierter Mimik Bedeutsamkeit erlangt – und doch keine Botschaft zu senden versteht.
© Mannheimer Morgen, Dienstag, 09.07.2013
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 09/06/2012,Live Art Festival @ Kampnagel,Hamburg / Germany
Photos by Anja Winterhalter
Photo by Conny Winter
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 18,19/05/2012 @ CSW / CoCA, Torun / Poland
Photo by : Tytus Szabelski / freepress.pl , Fot. Wojciech Szabelski
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 15/10/2011 @ Bains Connective, Brussels / Belgium
Photos by Dominika Sobolewska
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Between September 25 and October 15 2011 Branko Miliskovic was invited for a residency at Bains Connective. He worked on his new live performance entitled “The Song of a Soldier on Watch” and was inspired by one of the most controversial but extremely popular German love songs, “Lili Marlene”. The song was written in 1915 by the German soldier Hans Leip from Hamburg. It was set to music by Norbert Schultze in 1938 and recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939. During the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia, Radio Belgrade became Soldatensender Belgrad in 1941, and broadcasted programs to entertain the German armed forces. This song was played frequently and was also very popular in other Mediterranean and European countries, on both sides of the front line. “Lili Marlene’’ was presumably one of the first songs of which one thought it could lead to an individual and collective resistance of the soldiers on the front.
Miliskovic was born in Belgrade and lives in Hamburg. In this performance he inhabits the body of both Lili Marlene and of the soldier/writer, aiming to achieve an extraordinary fusion of both genders and to create an androgenic type, or perhaps even more likely the WWIII-version of Lili Marlene.
This work is in life time progression.
Concept & performance: Branko Miliskovic
Duration: 3 hours 2o min
October 15, 2011. Brussels, Belgium
Song: “Lili Marlene”( Lili Marleen), written by Hans Leip (1915), set to the music by Norbert Schultze (1938), firstly recorded by Lale Andersen (1938), instrumental version composed by Anton Karas.
Thanks to Radio Belgrade and Dejan Ivanovic for audio footages.
Thanks to Dianne Weller for the voice coaching.
Special thanks to Dominika Sobolewska and Bains Connective crew.
Curated by Dobrila Denegri
May 18 – September 16, 2012
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THE SONG OF A SOLDIER ON WATCH (WW3 Lili Marlene), performed on 20/11/2011 @Dimanche Rouge #10, Les Petit Bain, Paris, France
Concept & performance: Branko Miliskovic
Duration: 30 min
November 20, 2011, Dimanche Rouge #10 @ Petit Bains, Paris / France
Song: “Lili Marlene”( Lili Marleen), written by Hans Leip (1915), set to the music by Norbert Schultze (1938), instrumental version composed by Anton Karas.
Thanks to Matthieu Pilaud, DiDi Wang, Milena Jaksic & Dimanche Rouge crew.
Photos by Melanie Boisvert
brankomiliskovic.wordpress.com 