Projektet bygger på åtta veckors fältarbete på en oberoende teater i Peking våren 2017,baserat på antropologisk och konstnärlig metod. Det är ett försök att utveckla begreppet konstnärlig etnografi, samt tillämpa det praktiskt. I detta är konsten inte huvudsakligen en produkt eller en presentationsform, utan ett sätt att tänka, att förhålla sig till världen. Materialet består av fältanteckningar, video, foto, rörelsematerial, personliga berättelser, minnen av dofter, ljud och smaker och någonting så vagt som stämning – stadens tempo, känslan i en repsituation… Hur kan scenen förmedla en plats och dess människor? Kan jag levandegöra mina upplevelser så att de blir angelägna för någon annan än mig själv? Det praktiska arbetet utgör ett försök att besvara dessa frågor. Vilka bilder har vi, och vad ser vi när vi speglar oss i varandra? Vad betyder det att våra världar redan är sammanflätade? Spegeln som bild och lek, träder fram både som tema och metod. Begrepp som exotism, representation och mötet med den andre diskuteras, liksom växlingen mellan identifikation och främmandegörande (”othering”) som en grund för förståelse. Hur påverkas människors liv av Kinas snabba samhällsförändringar, balansgången mellan socialism och kapitalism? Och vilken roll har scenkonsten i detta? Här diskuteras frågor om yttrandefrihet, liksom relationen mellan politik och spelstil, så kallad ”fejk realism”. Frågorna knyts samman genom en diskussion om autenticitet, följd av en betraktelse om utanförskap, för att slutligen återvända till det personliga mötet, till en berättelse om kontaktsökande – om vänskap. / This project is based on eight weeks of fieldwork at an independent theatre in Beijing in the spring of 2017, based on anthropological and artistic methods. It is an attempt to develop the concept artistic ethnography, and apply it practically. In this, art is seen not mainly as a product or a form of presentation, but as a way of thinking, of relating to the world. The material consists of field notes, video, pictures, movement material, personal stories, the memories of smells, sounds and tastes and of something as vague as atmosphere – the pace of the city, the feeling of a rehearsal situation... How can the stage render a place and its people? Can I bring my experiences to life, making them relevant for anybody else? The practical artistic work with an exposition is an attempt to answer these questions. What images do we have, and what do we see when we mirror each other? What does it mean that our worlds are already intertwined? The mirror as image and play appear both as a theme and a method. Concepts like exoticism, representation and the encounter with the other are discussed, as well as the movement between identification and othering, contributing to understanding. How are people’s lives affected by China’s rapid social changes, balancing between socialism and capitalism? What role do the performing arts have in this? Questions about freedom of expression are discussed, along with the relation between politics and styles of acting, the so called “fake realism”. The research questions are tied together in a discussion of authenticity, to finally return to the personal encounter and a story of seeking contact, of friendship. / <p>Sinnlig - the movie finns länkad dels i dokumentet och dels som egen fil</p> / Movit –Direction and Dramaturgy of movement based Performing Arts

Abstract This thesis examines the various biographical threads, which created the complex fabric of Sergei Parajanov’s life and work, especially his films. His origins, education, marriages, family life, and friendships forged in film school and in the various studios, where he worked, are used to frame his cinematic productions. However, the most novel features of this study result from an examination of his letters from prison and the artistic output, drawings, collages, scripts/scenarios, assemblages, etc., created in the gulag and outside during the time that he was denied the right to make films. An argument is made that the Soviet authorities jailed him as a dissident although he never considered himself one, being rather simply an honest creative individual, who would not abide the censoring or redaction of his work. His homosexuality was the pretext for Soviet authorities to incarcerate him, but Parajanov’s queerness has been almost completely omitted from purportedly authoritative memoirs and biographies meant to capture the late filmmaker’s legacy. These publications written by Soviet and post-Soviet critics, Parajanov’s close friends, and numerous confidants make a deliberate effort to erase his self-professed queer identity. Foreign aficionados of his work, on the other hand, have little hesitancy acknowledging his queerness. My research centers on Parajanov’s queer identity as the underlying source of his bold and innovative artistic output.

The master thesis attempts to characterise the staging poetics of Miroslav Macháček, one of the most remarkable Czech theatre directors of the second half of the 20th century. Based on his stage works in the 70's and 80's at the National Theater, the author of this thesis attempts to make a reconstruction of all his productions of that period; and thus the detailed analysis of the more significant productions characteristic to the director's style is provided. In order to define the stagings, the author bases her research upon archival theater reviews and studies in particular periodicals, photographical materials from the productions and in some cases also audiovisual recordings. Furthermore, other sources include the director's correspondence, notes about his work and the memories of his contemporary witnesses. The thesis also focuses on the historical context and the conditions at the National Theater of that particular time, which influenced Macháček's activity there.