Maska journal

Post-Alternative of Slovenia 1993-2013

Maska, a performing arts journal, has its roots in the early 1920s. It was established and created by liberal actors and directors who understood the journal as a space of change and reformation of the theatre. Maska, which was first issued in 1920 and 1921, was closely connected with the broader space of the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Today’s Maska is a direct descendant of the magazine with the plural name Maske (1985–1991) and was first published in November 1991, then still under the auspices of the Association of Slovenian Cultural Organisations. In 1991, the editors of Maske, Tone Peršak and Peter Božič, handed over the journal to the new generation of critics, dramaturges, philosophers, sociologists and artists, who decisively and decidedly renewed its concept with Maja Breznik and Irena Štaudohar at the lead. In the programmatic editorial of the first issue, the young board pointed out three conceptual postulates that still apply to Maska today:

• reflection on theatre must synthesise all fields of art,

• constant efforts are needed to establish theoretical language that could problematise the broad range of the theatre idiom, • it is essential to combine theory and practice that legitimise each other because only then can the journal provide a live recording of consciousness.