You can watch the official ceremony at the link.
The 12th edition of the Biennial of Contemporary Dance Art in Slovenia concluded with the presentation of the Grand Prix Gibanica award and the Audience award. The recipient was selected by an international expert jury consisting of Sandra Neuveut, Director of CNDC La Briqueterie, France; Catja Loepfe, Director of Tanzhaus Zürich, Switzerland; and Monica Gillette, Co-Director of Tanztriennale Hamburg, Germany.
Both the Audience award and the Grand Prix Gibanica Award were received by Klemen Kovačič for his performance Agmysterium (The Fourth Time).
The jury wrote: “The performance we have chosen impressed us with its bold artistic vision and how it traversed time, both in the performance space as well as stages in life. This performer drew us in with their commitment to multiple physical states, uninhibited dances and uncompromising dedication to the moment. They excelled at articulating and exposing an internal processing of a life span, bringing vulnerable and intimate memories into a common experience. We also want to acknowledge their courage to take a risk and to create a piece that asks us to slow down, reflect and challenge known pathways of making a work. We have made this decision with the interest to support the artist in their future artistic development. It is with great pleasure that we award the prize to Klemen Kovačič (Kovachich) for the work AGMYSTERIUM (THE FOURTH TIME).”
This year’s award was supported through the Dance Beyond Praise initiative by the Pekinpah Association, which advocates that awards should not be merely symbolic recognition or praise, but also concrete financial encouragement for further creation. For this purpose, in collaboration with the Biennial of Contemporary Dance Art – Gibanica, they collected donations to fund the main award of the biennial; they themselves contributed 2000,00 euros to the award fund.
This is their statement: »Contemporary dance is one of the most dynamic and prolific art forms today. Nevertheless, it remains financially under-supported. Our goal was to directly support artistic excellence by financially rewarding choreographers. Through donations, we supported the recipient of the main award Klemen Kovačič, with his work Agmisterij ensuring that it was not merely a symbolic recognition of artistic achievements but also a means for their further development.«
The Gibanica partners — Moja Kreacija, Nagib, SNG Nova Gorica, City of Women, and DUM — will, in agreement with the winning artist, offer guest performances or residencies at their venues and festivals. The aim is to support the artist’s further development, provide new opportunities, and bring contemporary dance closer to diverse audiences across Slovenia.
For the first time, we also awarded the Gibanica Grand Prix statuette, designed by Mina Fina.