Montažstroj[1] (stylized MONTAЖ$TROJ) is an art collective which creates "socially engaged projects" in theatre, dance, music, visual and audio-visual arts.
Montažstroj is a Croatian neologism; a compound of the word "montage" meaning fusion, film and video editing, as well as working on the assembly line, and the word "machine", in the sense of futuristic ideal from the beginning of the 20th century, applied to all types of art but also in the sense of order and discipline. Their artistic expression is constructed through interdisciplinary interventions in music, film, visual, video and digital arts.Since its formation in 1989 Montažstroj has been creating art programmatically responsible for the community from which it forms. Montažstroj received international attention and became a company of dance and physical theatre with prominence in recognition and awards early on. The founder and artistic director of Montažstroj, Borut Šeparović, led the organization to become a distinguished both in Croatia and abroad. Collective performed in more than 20 European countries and the United States of America.
For the initial seven years Montažstroj's work was concentrated on the theatrical representation of the football and pop culture. In those years the collective produced several performances, installations, award-winning videos and choreographic works. The experience of real socialism, the historical changes occurring in post-communism and the war in former Yugoslavia, influenced and defined Montažstroj's unique artistic actions. The performance material was found in everyday events and often led to the radical stage reality. After the first professional productions "VATROTEHNA", performed in 1990 in an abandoned area of the old distillery Badel and 'RAP OPERA 101', adaptations of antic myths in the context of global satellite programs and local war surrounding, Montažstroj came into a worldview in 1991, with their music video 'CROATIA IN FLAME' - a direct artistic engagement in the service of the homeland. Artistic actions continued with interpretations of post‐communist transitional myths and Montažstroj was labeled as the theater of transition.
In 1997, Montažstroj started working on its long‐term objective - building an international company with a strong artistic identity, unbound by a particular culture. Operating predominantly in the Netherlands under the name Performingunit, the group focused on the position of the individual, and identity problems, attempting to avoid spectacular theatrical elements and highlighting the presence of performers as the main component of the production. In this period Montažstroj's performances were more intimate and they produced works such as 'TERRIBLE FISH' based on Sylvia Plath’s poetry, ‘WHO IS WOYZECK?’ based on Büchner's canonic text Western Theater and ‘THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD’ based on a story by Danilo Kiš.
Montažstroj's projects ‘T‐FORMANCE’, ‘T‐FAKTOR’ and ‘THIS IS THE THEATER YOU DESERVE’ were multimedia interactive events, which explored the phenomenon of terrorism. Special emphasis was put on the use of new media.In 2008 Montažstroj and its director Borut Šeparović produced ‘TIMBUKTU’, an engaged performance for youth which dealt with humanization of the animals.
‘MY HEART BEATS FOR HER' in 2010 presented what seemed to be two unrelated subjects – football and unemployed women. This was a reconstruction of the spectacular Croatian victory over England, resulting in 3:2 at the Wembley Stadium on November 21st, 2007. The same year Montažstroj produced VATROTEHNA 2.0. trying to review social changes that happened in Croatia over the past ten years. ‘THE FUTURE IS NOW’ 2013 is a performance from 2013.
'UPRISING YOUTH' (2014) was a dance performance.
What followed in 2014 was a project named ‘LITTLE MAN WANTS TO CROSS THE LINE’ (LMWCL) inspired by a cult Yugoslav new wave album ‘Paket aranžman’.
Montažstroj's new video ‘COMMUNISM’ is currently being broadcast on MTV. The video is a fragment of the multimedia project 'WHERE'S THE REVOLUTION, SCUM?'
The project 'COUNTERATTACK' (2013, still in pre-production) tackles the issue of landmines in the context of environmental pollution and war repercussions that continue to destroy and kill people decades after the war. Dancers will step into the minefields and see if the danger is still present and lying hidden in the ground. COUNTERATTACK is a project in which dance is more than art and every step is a matter of life and death. The project is pointing out the aspect of the mine problem and the engaged role of audio-visual and performing arts.
Borut Šeparović was born in Zagreb, Croatia in 1967. He graduated in Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, and from the graduate school at Das Arts (Advanced Studies in Performance Arts) in Amsterdam.
1990. FIRE-TECHNICS (text ‘Prometheus Bound’ by Aeschylus), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1991. RAP OPERA 101 (text ‘Philoktetes’ by Sophocles & H. Mueller), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: festival Eurokaz, Zagreb
1993. ENJOY MONTAZSTROJ!(dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1994. EVERYBODY GOES 2 DISCO FROM MOSCOW 2 SAN FRANCISCO (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1995. DISCO RE-MIX (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1996. EURO-BODY (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1997. EXERCISES MOBILE sections + CONVERTIBLE sections (work-in-progress), Montazstroj, Zagreb with different partners
1999. FRAGILE (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb & Performingunit, Breda; co-production: Intercult, B.I.T., Frascati 2000. DUET (dance performance), Performingunit, Breda
2001. TRUTH OR DARE? (performance), Performingunit, Breda; co-production: Chasse Theater Breda, Frascati Amsterdam 2001. TERRIBLE FISH (performance based on the poem “Three Women” by Sylvia Plath), Performingunit, Breda
2002. WHO IS? WOYZECK (based on “Woyzeck” by Georg Buchner), Performingunit, Breda
2004. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD (based on the story “Encyclopedia of the Dead” by Danilo Kiš), Montazstroj, Zagreb 2007. T-PERFORMANCE (interactive performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb, co-production: Teatar &TD, Zagreb
2007. THE THEATER YOU DESERVE(interactive event), Montazstroj, Zagreb, co-production: Teatar &TD, Zagreb
2008. TIMBUKTU (theatre, participatory project), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: Zagreb Puppet Theatre Travno, Zagreb
2009. I F*** ON THE FIRST DATE(theatre, project on location, participatory project), Montazstroj, Zagreb
2009. ZAGREB BY NIGHT(theatre, project on location, action), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: Banana Guerilla, Zagreb
2009. T-FACTOR(theatre, project on location, participatory project), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: Festival Perforacije, Zagreb, Rijeka, Dubrovnik
2010. MY HEART BEATS FOR HER(theatre, dance) Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: Tala Dance Center, Zagreb
2010. FIRE-TECHNICS 2.0(theatre), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: Zagreb Youth Theater, Zagreb, Performance Arts Week Perforacije, Zagreb & Operacija: Grad, Zagreb
2011. SAMPLE(theatre, performance, dance), Montazstroj, Zagreb
2012. 55+(theatre, video project), Montazstroj, Zagreb
2013. THE FUTURE IS NOW(theatre, participative project), Montazstroj, Zagreb
2014. THE UPRISING YOUTH(theatre, dance), MONTAЖ$TROJ, Zagreb; co-production: Zagreb Centre for independent culture and youth – Pogon, Zagreb, Artistic organization Counterattack, Zagreb
2014. LMWCL(media project, audio project, video project, theatre), Montazstroj, Zagreb
2014. WHERE'S THE REVOLUTION, SCUM?(theatre, audio project, video project), Montazstroj, Zagreb
1989. THE FOOTBALL BOOT IN THE ART GALLERY (action / performance)
1990. ACHTUNG ALARM (action / performance)
1991. CROATIA IN FLAME (video clip)
1991. HOP & RAS, DVA (installation / performance)
1991. ATLETA SRCA vs. BARBAROGENIJE (action)
1992. MONTAZSTROJ LIVE! (music performance / concert)
1995. NO DISTANCE (action / street performance)
2009. THE FOOTBALL BOOT IN THE MUSEUM (action / performance / project on location)
2010. ACHTUNG ALARM! 2.0 (action / performance / project on location)
2010. FIRESTARTER (action / performance / project on location)
2010. B.D.L.2.0 (action / performance / project on location)
2011. CROATIAN CREATION - MONTAZSTROJ CALLS FOR WITNESSES (media project / exhibition)
2013. COUNTERATTACK (video project / dance)
2014. CONSUMED (video project / media project)
2014. SWASTIKA (media project / audio project / video project)
2014. COMMUNISM (media project / audio project / video project)
2014. RABIES (media project / audio project / video project)