Editorial

 

Iæi meðu ljude...

 

"Go among the people ..." This expression, common to the Croat, Serb, Bosnian and Montenegrin languages, might by itself sum up the aim of this new edition of Rio Loco.  From Budapest to Bucharest, with a big loop to the south, this year we're on the Balkan route, making lots of stops along the way.

 

2008 promises to be another unforgettable edition. Kusturica tells us that the Balkans are a "chaotic, bloody, deconstructed" place, whose people express themselves with extravagance, pathos and emotion, but also jubilation, and where they party until they drop - or until the fish come out of the water as they say in Bulgaria. So be ready for the illogical and the unpredictable.

 

Rio Loco will explore these worlds' strong identities, in one city, at one time.  Visitors will be invited to create their own itineraries, discuss the different works, and share their experiences.  We hope this transforms their view of the world and existence within it.

 

It is precisely this essential link between two cultures that Rio Loco is aiming to promote, by inviting artists and audiences from here and elsewhere to come together in a constant exchange between two worlds.

 

Diverse and cosmopolitan, Rio Loco aims to be a festival of invention more than one of diffusion, a festival that communicates with the artists and the audience, a festival for the curious.

 

At its heart, on its fringes, on the Prairie de Filtres and in the rest of the city, lose yourself in the Balkans, where music comes from the belly and touches the heart, and where after centuries of strife and oppression, art is releasing the heady perfume of freedom.

 

Sretan put!*

 

 

Christine Tillie

General & Artistic Management

 

*Bon voyage!