Catch-Pop String-Strong In Urania Cinema

How often does an announcement start with the words “last but not least”, and one never knows how sincere the inention of the speaker is? So I have to express my enthusiasm much more strongly. The duo Catch-Pop String-Strong is simply awesome, and these two mundane Ladies brought every bit of their esprit, wit and humor to the stage of Urania Cinema, and soaked the audience room and every person with artistic accomplishment and feminine grandeur.

Catch Pop String Strong in Urania, Osijek 2011

Catch Pop String Strong in Urania, Osijek 2011

Funnily I have seen them some months ago in “Kulturmontag” as the positive counterpart to folkloristic contemporary mainstream mumbo-jumbo, which by the way is sometimes politically, erm … problematic, like Bregovic (German link), who doesn’t care where his paycheck is coming from, nor what kind of PR his performance is giving the fascists in Austria.
But I digress, and remember that Jelena Poprzan and Rina Kacinari were the positive examples of Balkan music, but you have to hear (and feel, i.e. live) them yourself to wholly appreciate their work.

Audience eager for Catch Pop String Strong in Urania, Osijek 2011

The whole event was simultaneously organized as the farewell party for the historically prominent Urania Cinema in Osijek, which is going to be closed now.

Written protest against closing Of Urania (after Catch Pop String Strong gave last performance), Osijek 2011

The writing is on the wall, not everyone is keen on the suburbian Cineplexx crapness, not everyone wants to live in Disneyland.

Last Movie In Urania, Osijek 2011

I especially like the German term “Lichtspielhaus”, which freely translated means a house of luminouse performance (ok, ok, I am not a professinonal translator, stop giggling), which is so much more sensual than “cinema”. So, these were propably the last rays of light, emanating form the gallery, hurrying at the speed of timelessness through the air, landing gently upon the silver screen to draw flickering dreams of a bygone world with nervous brushes.
The closing of places like this tells so much about the condition of our societies, but also about our collective minds. We just bulldoze those structures away that are at the core of our cultural heritage. And we just don’t realize how dark it really is in front of those shiny ads and fuck-plexxxxxes that we worship.

Last Movie And Performance In Urania, Osijek 2011

After the performance, which was unbelievably good, presenting hard work as casual fun and joking with the audience, some people with hats took over the stage and had some more fun.

30's Party After Last Performance In Urania, Osijek 2011

Meanwhile outside at the popcorn lounge, we were positively suprised about the many who came properly dressed up for the ’30′s party.

The Girl Who Told Us

But we didn’t listen? Paula Rem was one winner of the text and photo competition from two days before (German link). She wrote about Urania in a foreseeing and warning manner, about the dark prospect of a future without such cinemas. I think that at the time of her writing she didn’t know about what was already in the plan, and seen from this day her text has gained some prophetic momentum. So it fits here nicely to mention Paula, please follow the link above for the text and the photo.

[[[ Overview: Kultur der Begegnung, Osijek 2011 ]]]