NagiB, International Contemporary Dance Festival emerged in 2005 from the need for the opening of contemporary dance and experimental movement scene in Maribor. The festival’s motive force is creativity which examines, questions, and confronts the uniform expressions produced and encouraged by contemporary society. It enacts into the visible the different forms and ways of perception, seeking makers who are capable of conveying an experience of the world that has consequences for the individual’s comprehension of her/himself and the world around her. The festival aims to showcase the work of artists and researchers with a strong concept, socially critical perspective, or distinct aesthetics, inviting home and international experts in the area of contemporary dance and many young, not yet established, but promising artists to co-create its events. Further, the festival attempts to surpass the understanding of the viewer as a disinterested observer of a work of art and challenges the viewer to become its active and critical participant.
Besides being the platform for showcasing art works, the festival aims to concentrate its activities around the artist as an individual, disclosing her/his working process and stressing the communication between the artist and audience. The festival introduced several transformations of its format already in 2010. In 2011 NagiB brings into question, under the principle explode and explore, the parameters of festival as such, putting the procedures of selection, production, and presentation into a new, different perspective. NagiB is thus becoming a continual process taking place throughout the year, while the “open festival days” this year present “only” the presentation of the process.
The biggest change in this year’s programme is a shift in focus from the format of performance as an art product to creative process as such. Creative process is one of the most precious forms of individual expression – therefore it is set as the basis of the festival: process in which artists, experts, and the interested audiences come together. This shift can be detected in two levels: in the form of the artist in residency programme and an open call for a 10 minute dance piece.