We invite you to a discussion titled Pilgrims in Ruins.
When? 7 December 2025
Where? Družba Drama Studio, Soblahovská 1508, Trenčín
What will we discuss?
Ruins disrupt the relationships between space and time – they decompose them, yet at the same time create new layers. They gain the ability to connect the past and the present, and to pose questions about the future.
We will follow up on the theatre performance Tankodróm, which is a long-term performative project. It examines a territory and its sediments, explores its former, current, and future significance, and maps not only its historical and cultural image but, above all, its socio-political transformations.
What will happen to the area of the Bystrička tank training ground?
Guests: Katarína Marková and Marlene Ruther – performance artists
Moderator: Milo Juráni – dramaturg and theorist
Free admission.
Capacity is limited.
The discussion will take place after the theatre performance TANKODRÓM, which is part of the 20th edition of Nu Dance Fest 2025 (International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Movement Theatre).
The performance Tankodróm starts at 18:00.
Where? Družba Drama Studio, Soblahovská 1508, Trenčín
Admission is free, capacity is limited. You can reserve your 0 EUR ticket at: Marková & Ruther (SK/DE): TANKODRÓM: Site of rifts and tank drifts | Tootoot
More information about the performance:
https://www.nudancefest.sk/clanok.php?lang=sk&id=327
Performance description
Marková & Ruther (SK/DE)
TANKODRÓM: Site of rifts and tank drifts
Tankodróm is a former tank testing and training ground near the Slovak city of Martin. Directly beneath it lies an abandoned steel industry factory of the Heavy Engineering Works, where tanks were produced from 1952 onwards. In the 1980s, partly thanks to this factory, Czechoslovakia became one of the world’s leading tank producers.
After the military activity ended, the Tankodróm was formally abandoned – but in reality, it transformed into a unique cosmos inhabited by various beings and stories.
Intermedia artist Katarína Marková has been exploring this site for four years and regularly invites different guests to join her. Last year, she examined the area together with artist Marlene Ruther. They discovered the Tankodróm as a place in constant decay, currently used as a dumping ground for soil from a hospital construction site. Equipped with cameras and audio recorders, they wandered through the 50-hectare area, tracking not tank traces but deer footprints, strange sounds and practices, and trucks loaded with tons of soil.
The result is a performative video essay that brings the Tankodróm to Bratislava.
Concept & Performance: Katarína Marková
Guest & Performance: Marlene Ruther
Dramaturgy: Milo Juráni
Language: English and Slovak
Duration: 40 min
Photography and video recordings will be taken at the event and may be published afterwards.
