Fellow
Janez Janša is a contemporary artist, who in 2007, together with two other Slovenian artists, changed his name to that of the twice-elected conservative Prime Minister of Slovenia. Janša’s interdisciplinary work as a theatre director and performer focuses on the relation between art and the social and political context surrounding it, and reflects on questions of the performers’ as well as the spectators’ responsibility. Many of his works address the status of performance in neoliberal societies, including (together with Peter Šenk) Refugee Camp for the Citizens of the First World (2004) and We are all Marlene Dietrich FOR (with Erna Ómarsdóttir, 2005), a performance for soldiers in peacekeeping missions in the tradition of army entertainment shows. In his exhibition Life in Progress (2008), the audience re-enacted famous historical performance art actions. For Janša, artistic practice, theoretical reflection and political involvement are not separate: he is also the founding director of Maska, a non-profit organization based in Ljubljana, Slovenia, involved in publishing, production and education, which has published several books on contemporary dance and theatre. He is the author of a book on Jan Fabre’s early works (La discipline du chaos, le chaos de la discipline, 1994).