1000 ZAŠTO 1000 ZATO

The production 1000 zašto 1000 zato (literally: 1000 whys 1000 becauses) springs out from Azra Halilovic’s experiences from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990es. This is a story about how she experienced war as a child, and how these experiences have influenced her life after it.

1000 zašto 1000 zato by Azra Halilovic discusses reconciliation, right and wrong, and questions related to sacrifice and guilt. Halilovic has made the production based in real stories from her own diaries, written during the war and the years as a refugee in Norway. 1000 zašto 1000 zato weaves together past and present: A childhood powerfully affected by war, years of youth as a refugee, and adult life as a Norwegian citizens with minority background.

Azra Halilovic studied theatre science at NTNU. She has worked with different theatre companies in Trondheim and with her own productions. For the time being her assignments include being project leader for Symposium in TAG (the theatre venue Avant Garden).

1000 zašto 1000 zato was performed as a work-in-progress under the work title of Becoming during the event The End of the Knowers in Avant Garden in February 2010.

1000 zašto 1000 zato was supported by Arts Council Norway and The Fund for Performing Artists.

Source: Autumn program 2010, Avant Garden.

"When she was eleven years old she started writing a diary, and now she has adapted excerpts from the diaries to the stage. Nothing of this is very controversial. But add that Halilovic is a Bosnian Muslim, daughter of an imam, and that the diaries are about a young girl’s life in the middle of a war hell ending, on her part, with her and her family coming to Trondheim as refugees, and you will soon understand that this is the examination of a double minefield. What Halilovic presents is strong stuff. But for the audience the strength of the production is mostly in the unsaid. (...) She supplies it by telling about powerful, hateful experiences. And she doesn’t end before she has included a good portion of how it was like to come to Norway as a refugee. For the one who thinks the top of all dreams is getting here, this part can be educative, of course, for this is not the case. She tells humorously, but with lots of subtext, about the first years in Trondheim."

Amund Grimstad/ Klassekampen:  http://amund.info/2010/10/alt-det-usagte/ 4/11-10

"We get to meet Azra from she starts writing as an 11 year old during the 1990es, through war experiences and a turbulent time of youth, until she meets Norway. There is a fragile membrane between what is told and untold. What shines through is the young girl’s vulnerability, her rage and fight to survive."

Lise Hovik/ Scenekunst.no http://www2.scenekunst.no/egenkritikk_7585.nml 4/11-10

• Æddaprisen 2012 - Samtidsrelevant prosjekt rettet mot unge