Katalin Ladik

Katalin Ladik (Novi Sad, October 25, 1942 – ) is a Hungarian poet, performance artist and actress. She was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (today Serbia) and in the last 20 years she has lived and worked alternately in Novi Sad, Serbia, in Budapest, Hungary and on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Parallel to her written poems she also creates sound poems and visual poems, performance art, writes and performs experimental music and audio plays. She is also a performer and an experimental artist (happenings, mail art, experimental theatrical plays). She explores language through visual and vocal expressions, as well as movement and gestures. Her work includes collages, photography, records, performances and happenings in both urban and natural environments.

Biography

Katalin Ladik studied at the Economic High School of Novi Sad between 1961 and 1963, she then joined the Dramski Studio (Drama Studio) acting school in Novi Sad between 1964 and 1966. Between 1961 and 1963 she worked as a bank assistant. During this time, in 1962, she began to write poetry. From 1963 to 1977 she worked for Radio Novi Sad. She joined the newly established Novi Sad Theatre in 1974, becoming a member of its permanent ensemble in 1977 and working there until 1992.[1] She primarily acted in dramatic roles. Over the years, she also played major and minor roles in various TV-films and movies. She led the poetry sections of literary magazines Élet és Irodalom (1993–1994) and Cigányfúró (1994–1999). Between 1993 and 1998 she taught at Hangár musical and theatrical education center.

She is a member of the Hungarian Writers' Association, the Hungarian Belletrist Association, the Association of Hungarian Creative Artists and the Hungarian PEN Club.

Awards

Katalin Ladik has earned various awards, including the Kassák Lajos Award (1991), the award of Mikes Kelemen Kör (Mikes International – Association for Hungarian Art, Literature and Science in the Netherlands) (2000), the József Attila Prize (2001), the Mediawave Parallel Culture Award (2003), the National Award for Culture of the Republic of Serbia (2009), and the Laurel Wreath Award of Hungary (2012).

Her awards for acting consist of the Oktobarska nagrada grada Novog Sada (October Award of the City of Novi Sad), a collective award to the cast of Radio Novi Sad in 1967; first place at Smotra vojvođanskih profesionalnih pozorišta (Festival of Professional Theatres in Vojvodina) in 1978, for the role of Masha in Three Sisters, directed by György Harag, performed at the Novi Sad Theatre. The same role earned her the first place of Udruženje dramskih umetnika Srbije / Association of Dramatic Artists of Serbia, in 1979. Katalin Ladik also received the Magyar Televízió Elnöki Nívódíja / Award of the President of Hungarian Television for Acting Excellence for acting in András Rajnai’s TV film series, Televíziós mesék felnőtteknek (Television Tales for Adults) in 1980. In 1986, she was awarded first place at Smotra vojvođanskih profesionalnih pozorišta / Festival of Professional Theaters in Vojvodina for the role of Skinner in Howard Barker’s The Castle, directed by David Gothard, performed at the National Theatre in Subotica.

Poetry

Katalin Ladik became known after 1962 through her surreal and erotic poems. In addition to a number of books in Hungarian, volumes of her poetry were published in Yugoslavia, France, Italy and the USA. Her poems also appeared in various magazines and anthologies worldwide, translated into Spanish, German, Polish, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Hindi, Chinese, Indonesian, Romanian, Macedonian, Rusyn and Slovenian.

"She is able to embody the sense of poetry as action. I saw one of her readings in Bratislava at Ars Poetica Festival and she was the only poet able to electrize the audience without any translation. (...)
She manages to pass linguistic barriers but, again any translation of her poetry is at least difficult to be made (or should I say “performed"). Her activity covers a wide area that includes performance and sound poetry, with a force that captures any kind of audience no matter how illiterate in contemporary poetry can they be."

Prose

Her first novel, entitled Élhetek az arcodon? (Can I Live on Your Face?) was published in 2007 by Nyitott Könyvműhely. It is considered to be an eminent work in Hungarian Avant-garde literature. It is partly autobiographical, partly self-reflecting. The novel alternates between reality and fiction, prose and poetry, sometimes switching to a prose poem style. Its main target audience is that part of the artists’ community who are receptive to esoteric allusions. The book is about three women: the Editor, who lives in Budapest, the Artist, and the Glasswoman who lives in Novi Sad, all of whom bear the same name. The shared name determines their lives. Initially, they unaware of each another, but throughout the book their lives get gradually intertwined. After get to know one another, they begin to live each other’s life, which forever changes everything for them. One of the peculiarities about the book is the uniquely rich textual documentation (letters, newspaper articles, posters) and the large number of photos. The novel creates an organic unit incorporating these.

Publications

Volumes in Original Language

Translated Volumes

E-Books

Discography

Sound Poetry

Music (Experimental Music, Jazz)

As vocalist, Katalin Ladik collaborated with prominent Croatian, Serbian and Hungarian composers, such as Dubravko Detoni, Branimir Sakač, and Milko Kelemen (1971–73, ensemble ACEZANTEZ); Ernő Király (1963-2002); Dušan Radić (Oratorio Profano, 1979); Boris Kovač (1986-1990); Deže Molnar ( 1989–91); Zsolt Sőrés a.k.a. Ahad, and Zsolt Kovács (1996-, Spiritus Noister).

Poetry Readings, Sound Poetry Performances

Online Audio

Live Performances

2011

Performance Art

Most of Katalin Ladik’s performances balance on the borderline between performance art and theatre: the performance of sound poems is accompanied by theatrical body action and in many cases, the surrounding space is structured similarly to a traditional theatre. Those who examine her poetry often refer to her sound poetry performances. On the other hand, no detailed analyses have been produced about the dramaturgical characteristics of her performances, and the relations of sign systems between her poetry and performances. It is a well-reasoned choice, however, to locate her in the context of female performance artists, as Katalin Ladik uses her body and person as the medium of her art in her performances, which occupies a special position within the history of Western art.

A List of Performances, Happenings, Actions

60s-70s

1968

1970

1971

1972

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

80s-90s

1980

1982

1983

1984

1985

1988

1989

1990

1993

1994

1995

1996

2000-

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Ottawa, Canada, Arts Court Theatre, A B Series: "Alice Kódországban" ("Alice in Codeland") /performance/[3]

2013

Concerts, Musical Performances (selection)

Theatrical Roles

Films

Feature films

Short Films

Recitatives

Documentary

Writer’s Credit

Radio Plays

Writer and Performer

Performer

Artworks in Permanent Public and Private Collections

Exhibitions

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1982

1983

1984

1985

1987

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Resources

Literature

See also

References

  1. ↑ Šuvaković, Miško (2010). "The Artist in the First Person Singular (An Interview with Katalin Ladik)". In Ugren, Dragomir. Moć žene: Katalin Ladik – The Power of a Woman: Katalin Ladik. Novi Sad, Serbia: Muzej Savremene Umetnosti Vojvodine. p. 243. ISBN 9788684773748.
  2. ↑ The Slovak Spectator
  3. ↑ Katalin Ladik's Canadian Premiere
  4. ↑ Ladik Katalin: Alice Kódországban (in Hungarian)
  5. ↑ Alice Kódországban (in Hungarian)

External links