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JAROSLAW FRET
ANAMNESIS OF ART, ANAMNESIS IN ART
ANAMNESIS (written with capital letters) is the title of a triptych — a three¬
part performance “on the road to the theater,” which is not so much “only” a
reading of past records, or also a voice of the present, but rather an attempt to
build up fields of memory thanks to the shared presence of actors and specta¬
tors. Its stage hic et nunc is to combine all of our effort together — anamnesis,
recollection, an attempt to represent but also be part of the performance, as
well as creating layers of active humanity, which we subconsciously pass to
each other with and without cultural identity or belonging.
Witnessing does not only mean to communicate issues based on facts,
registers, records, but also, having the power of incorporation, opposing the
passivity of modern times, the passivity of voyeurism. In the case of being a
spectator/witness, it means having the power to oppose the universal, wide¬
spread pornography of the media.
The three-part performance, which comprises the following sections: “Me¬
deas. On Getting Across”, then “Armine, Sister” (the second part of the trip¬
tych, which we devoted to the now fully EU recognized Genocide of the Arme¬
nians of 1915) and “Moirai” (the third part, dedicated to the Desaparecidos),
explores the subject of witness-action, trying to restore to theater art its ethical
dimension, not just constituting a new aesthetic form.
When we think about the theater “which does present,” we mean the me¬
dium which, in recalling those who have passed, is feeding our humanity. It
feeds on my voice, my breath and the breath of everyone gathered in one space
of the spectacle.
In Anamnesis we call on the absent presence of refugees who want to change
or even save their lives by reaching the shores of Europe. We call on those who
die without names, without trace, sporadically appearing in messages and the
media as numbers, imprecise estimates. We ask the question if it is possible for
the theater to call them unnamed, or rather, is it possible to hear their silence
through the theater.
Anamnesis (äv&uvnois) is, according to dictionary definitions: memory or
memory of the past, reminiscence. This is also a Platonic reminder to your¬
self of what you once met while staying in the world of ideas, actually the way
cognition works through reminding, independent from sensual experience.
Anamnesis in medicine is part of the diagnosis, the history of the disease re¬
corded in documents but above all in the body of the patient (body confession).
Finally, in the Christian liturgy, anamnesis is part of the Eucharistic prayer
with the memory of death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In our work we want to propose yet another definition of anamnesis: An¬
amnesis in Art - anamnesis as the power of building a field of memory that
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