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149: What Can We Learn From Activist Artists In Serbia?
Episode 149
DAH SAYS: "In today’s world, we can oppose destruction and violence with the creation of meaning "
The Economist Magazine's Intelligence Unit places, Serbia, and Singapore, among the 46 countries that are considered Flawed Democracies along with United States of America.
As our three countries grow more alike in surprising ways, it felt like the right moment to revisit two powerful episodes featuring activist artists from Serbia and Singapore.
First up is our 2022 Change the Story Change the World with conversation with Dijana Milosevic, the Director of Belgrade’s Dah Teatar.
Imagine mounting a guerrilla theater performance in a bombed-out city square, in the middle of war, while armed soldiers look on—and still holding on to your art, your convictions, and your humanity. That is the story of Dah Teatar, a theater collective from Belgrade that has survived war, sanctions, shifting regimes, and censorship—and kept creating powerful, justice-driven work.
In this episode of ART IS CHANGE, we dive back into the history and present of Dah Teatar through a rich conversation with co‑founder Dijana Milošević. We revisit their 1992 This Babylonian Confusion street performance, and then catch up on how the company has restructured, relocated, responded to climate concerns, and carried forward their practice of “being with” communities. Along the way, Dijana shares stories of bus‑based public theater, performances among trees, and how art continues to navigate complexity, contradiction, and resistance in Serbia today.
You’ll hear:
- How Dah anchored themselves in relationship and material constraints during the war years, moving from classic theater into street performance in real time.
- The evolution of the company from ensemble-based actors to a more horizontal, administrative structure that can sustain creative risk.
- Their project Invisible City, performed inside buses, bringing stories rooted in neighborhood life to ordinary passengers—not just theatergoers.
- Their more recent project Dancing Trees, where trees become collaborators, audiences move into the forest, and performance becomes site, sound, memory, and activism.
- Reflections on censorship, environmental struggle, national narratives, cross‑community healing, and the role of artists in turbulent times.
Tune in to follow Dah’s journey across decades of upheaval and resilience—and be inspired by how a theater company, rooted in place and poetic defiance, continues to bridge divides between people and environment.
Change the Story Collection
Be sure to check out our CHANGE THE STORY COLLECTION OF ARCHIVED EPISODES on: Justice Arts, Art & Healing, Cultural Organizing, Arts Ed./Children & Youth, Community Arts Training, Music for Change, Theater for Change, Change Making Media. BIO
Dijana Milošević is an award-winning theater director, writer and lecturer. She co-founded the DAH Theater Research Center in Belgrade, and has been its lead director for over 25 years.
Dijana has served as the artistic director of theater festivals, the president of the Association of Independent Theaters, the president of the board of BITEF Theater, and a member of the board of directors of the national International Theater Institute (ITI). She has been involved with several peacebuilding initiatives and collaborates with feminist-activist groups.
DAH Theater has performed nationally and internationally under Dijana’s directing. She has also directed plays by other theater companies around the world.
She is a well-known lecturer, who has taught at world-famous universities. She writes articles and essays about
Published on 2 weeks ago