Sanja Mitrović | ZEMLJA

I was there. And I am still here. Sanja Mitrović knows what protest sounds like: as a student in Belgrade, she was right in the middle of it. Today she lives in Brussels, but she still follows the recent student protests in Serbia from a distance. That strange position—close by through memory, far away through geography—forms the engine of Zemlja, Serbo-Croatian for 'land' and 'earth'. The tragedy in Novi Sad, where sixteen people died under a newly built station roof in 2024, brought all of that back to the surface. In Zemlja connects Sanja's personal past with the official history of her country. She uses her memories not to romanticize, but to understand what distance does to engagement. Live, she weaves testimonies, protest recordings, and half-forgotten songs into a soundscape that temporarily bridges that distance. An intense solo at the intersection of political theater and butoh-inspired dance, performed by a performer with exceptional precision and presence. -- Concept, performance, direction: Sanja Mitrović • dramaturgy: Dimitrije Kokanov, Petar Sarjanović • sound: Marija Baludžić • lighting design: Giacomo Gorini • scenography: Laurent Liefooghe • business management: Chiara Christoffersen • photo: Istok Liefooghe • production: Stand Up Tall Productions • co-production: Kunstenwerkplaats, Theatre Antigone, Perpodium