Beasts is a collaboration between the artist Noa Geras and the multidisciplinary ensemble Synesthetic Project, led by the musician Nika Bauman.

The authors deal with the themes of identity and tribalism through a combination of music, dance, performance and visual art. 

Artist Noa Geras, with her series of works ‘Beasts’ of the same theme, problematizes the relationship between humans, animals and nature. Her Beasts emerge from the uncanny valley, where that which is different causes discomfort and fear. She reflects on a life torn between multiple identities, and how these differences are reflected in a collective "misunderstanding".

Through music and movement, musician and director Nika Bauman explores the antithesis of "humanity" and "bestiality" and the desire for the connection/separation of man and his wild nature. With her compositions and stage narrative, she dives into herself and leads deep into the primordial labyrinth of consciousness that does not distinguish between the human and the animal.

With 'Beasts', the authors reflect on the conflict between humans and those stripped down to ‘bare life’: tearing and trauma is inevitable, belonging and coexistence are unattainable - our universal human condition.

Directed by:

Nika Bauman and Noa Geras

Performed by:

Cast 1: Virna Kljaković (piano), Rino Indrawan Indiono (dance), Nika Bauman (flute, performance), Noa Geras (performance)

Cast 2: Nika Bauman (flute, performance), Sarah Maria Dragović (viola, performance), Marko Ferlan (double bass, guitar, performance), Rino Indrawan Indiono (dance), Noa Geras (performance), Julian Yo Hedenborg (piano, performance)

Music: 

Nika Bauman, Margareta Ferek-Petrić, Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Crumb, Andre Jolivet

Performed in two different settings (black box and immersive) at the MM Centar in Zagreb, Croatia (February 2024) and at the opening of TAKT Konzertsaison in Brick-15 in Vienna, Austria (March 2024)

MM Centar, Zagreb (CRO)

Photos by Doringo Photography

TAKT Konzertsaison, Vienna (AT)

Photos by Sofija Palurović