The title APHASIA alludes in medical terms to the inability to speak or to find the right words. In her work Jelena Jureša focuses on the absurdity that stems from the collective silence around crimes and the fragmentation of historical events. The moral stance that we take as witnesses at a distance is based on the ability to distinguish between good and evil. We pass judgement on the psychology of an individual who is confronted with war or social devastation. But under exceptional conditions and under enormous social pressure, ‘normal’ people can actually commit the most unimaginable crimes.
The performance APHASIA was developed on the cutting edge of music, film, narration and dance. Immersed in the ambiance of a (post-war) nightclub, the audience physically participates in an intimate exploration of violence, the world of perpetrators, bystanders and individual responsibility.