Bičarke na travi

A social-philosophical jewel from Belgrade. Anti-sexist
poems for special occasions, written by 'two beauties' with 'brains' and
'ovaries'. - This is how the commercial machinery for this young duo could be
set in motion. The two Bitcharke ('bitch' pronounced phonetically in Serbian
translates into 'whip') could somewhat commercially, 'distributively' speaking
be labelled as hip-hoppers. Una and Marija whip without taking on
the dominant role; both authors and performers are bitches in the noble sense
known to a socially and emotionally mature segment of the population. Their
message, of course, comes as no shock to these people; instead, they see it as
a necessity, as a confirmation, a relief. Most people will find the following statement
over-emotional and exaggerated, some may not: Bitcharke were born of the famous
Belgrade underground; they lived through ten and more miserable years in the
city. Nowadays they dress proud poems of the too-rare urban spirit with the
wounds of the past. Poems which sound like Brechtian moralist parables, but
even stronger, either because of the explicit sexual language or because of the
unspoiled political ambition, nonchalantly playing with the spine of its own
correctness: Bitcharke on Grass aren't trying to change the world, there
is no naivety in what they do. Instead, they notice everything that makes it "easy
to be human and so hard to be a human" - that is to say grandiosity and
its mental patterns, which can be found in the 'grey' everyday life behind the
walls of skyscrapers, and at the same time in the 'uptight' and seemingly
'other' underground. The supposed scandalousness of the two artist once again
questions the Belgrade myth all over again, the 'open city', the weird jungle
where the starched, stuck-up city kids with urban desire always knew how to
cunningly catch on.

A part of the Belgrade 'scene' naturally cannot and (knowing
Belgrade conditions) also must not accept the mainstream thesis of the Western
social philosophy of today for reasons which can be found specifically in the
'nineties (the disintegration of the 'only' home land, 'reality war drama',
turbulent relocations, never-ending demonstrations, the obscurity of the
run-down, impoverished city). Taboo for a part of the Belgrade 'scene',
therefore, isn't the Western, modern Baudrillardian focal point which,
nevertheless seems to be worth saving 'just in case'. A taboo remains, specific
to this space, a type of redundant object, simply an obstacle which has to be
torn down, if necessary, over and over again, but not, of course, at any price.
Bitcharke are, perhaps, more easily understood through the eyes of their
'parents', as educational scarecrows of historical memory - that is, through
the prism of the 1960's and 1980's; the dispersed situation in contemporary
Belgrade demands a special, confident and intelligent exposure of double
standards. Bitcharke on Grass by no means moralise. Instead, or simply because
they choose not to moralise, they are a subject of the strictest moral acuity,
more than that: a confident ethical contribution to the emptied, damaged city
of Belgrade. As such they present more than mere simple provocation today; they
are like a literal, spiritual inversion of a former, cursed, obscure, dead band
called Ekatarina Velika, which means they are much more than just a fatal valve
for survival. Not only for the sub-species of the hip-hop way of life and its
poetic forms, Bitcharke deliver important content to the fundamentals of the
'urban ethical code'. These are the things that we have always highly valued,
since they trigger such humorous and productive political misunderstandings. In
completely literary language and for the sake of 'special' Bitcharke material,
a 'special' accent: With the dead, in the language of the dead.
Miha Zadnikar

Bicarke na travi (Serbia and Montenegro)
Maraya & DrUna with DJ Jah Mama
Hip-hop concert, Klub Gromka, AKC Metelkova mesto

Organisation: City of Women
In co-operation with: Klub Gromka, AKC Metelkova mesto