Nano opera manifesto
Opera is no sacred cow! – declare operamaniacs, who are determined to continue straining and draining this swollen genre. Although opera is considered an attribute and a priority of the national culture politics, frankly speaking even on that level it is no longer a sacred cow, so it’s time to grab the scalpel and slice off those extra chunks, or get into genetic experiments and devise a new breed altogether. It’s not an artistic hooliganism; it’s a shot for a goal!
The 20th century has been the time of extreme changes for many art phenomena, opera notwithstanding – from gigantic utopian week-long operas with helicopters (Licht by Karlheinz Stockhausen) to microscopic casual several minute long operas that last as long as it takes to boil an egg (Sands of Time by Peter Reynolds). It leaves no doubt to operamaniacs that in the 21st century it’s time to replace those “giga” and “micro” with “tera” and “nano”!
Nano opera for the accelerating society! – this is the motto for operamaniacs yearning for opera to remain part of the living culture rather than become a museum exhibit. Opera must confront and react to hectic contemporary daily routines and respond to the cult of speed: fast food, fast city, fast internet, fast sex, fast loans, crazy deadlines and shrinking durations. That’s why it’s time for fast and short opera!
Operamaniacs are raising their hands for nano opera on nano budget, giving the middle finger to unfriendly circumstances and declare with certainty: shortage inspires! Because a mid-size opera on a sad little budget can quickly turn into a nasty anorexic on a death-row, it is essential to introduce a resistant pigmy species of operas that would survive the radioactive nano budget conditions and that could thrive in non-traditional environments and awkward settings. And that’s a metamorphosis rather than metaphor!
Producer Ana Ablamonova
Creators of the Manifesto: Asta Pakarklytė, Linas Paulauskis, Ana Ablamonova, independent creative company Operomanija
Author and editor of texts Asta Pakarklytė
Translators: Marina Sorohan, Ana Ablamonova, Vytautas Vepštas, Simona Biekšaitė
Website creator Jurgis Sakalauskas
Photographer Jurgis Sakalauskas
Video creator Jurgis Sakalauskas
Reportage: Katarina Šatavo, Rimas Sakalauskas, Ana Ablamonova
Designer Ana Ablamonova
Sound director Dalius Lapinskas
Lighting designer Povilas Laurinaitis
Make-up designers: SLA Akademija
Assistants: Žilvinas Andriušis, Ignas Blažaitis, Mykolė Kasperavičiūtė, Mykolas Natalevičius, Šarūnė Pečiūkonytė, Petras Pienauskas, Irmantas Reimeris, Lilija Samuilova, Akvilė Zarankaitė, volunteers of the Arts Printing House