The post-World War II order has come to an end. Did it happen with the fall of the Berlin Wall? Or with the disintegration of the Soviet Empire? It doesn’t really matter. It is likely not a moment but a process. In any case, one can be certain that “history has not ended.”

At the moment when Russian troops entered Georgia in 2008, Putin's speech in Munich was already a year old. Yet the West did not wake up in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. As of today, the war in the heart of Europe has been ongoing for over three years. There is no greater wake-up call left. And currently, it seems in rhetoric and headlines that it is not the will and form of the Russian Empire, with its 135 million inhabitants, that is cracking, but rather the unity of Europe and the USA.

What prevents Europe, with its nearly 500 million inhabitants, from waking up and taking responsibility for military, diplomatic and economical defending of its worldview and way of life? How do we bring ourselves into contact with the uncomfortable reality, stepping out of our warm beds into the crisp air? A world where, alongside our previously illusory sense of security, equality and freedom, systemic violence, injustice and terrible suffering exist.

To gain clarity on this matter, we must answer a fundamental question – “Who am I?”

We believe that listening to the Central Asian, Ukrainian, Estonian and Balkan performing artists at Oslo Internasjonale Teaterfestival 2025, sharing their experiences, will help us get closer to the answer. 

Otherwise, we have no hope.

– Allan Kaldoja, Marius Ivaskevicius, Märt Meos


Photo: The curator team outside Hisor fortress gates, Tajikistan. Personal archive.