ARTHANATOS
Philosophical-musical expression about art and death (thanatos)

Authors and performers:
Vasko Atanasovski – composer, saxophone, flute
Dr. Magdalena Germek – author of philosophical text, philosopher, storyteller

Arthanatos is not an invitation to eccentricity, although we do not reject eccentricity.
It is not an invitation for the special, because we all carry the special within us.
This is a call to the curious, to those who reflect, to those who ask questions – even when those questions disturb or frighten them.
We are not inviting you to an apocalypse event.
We invite you to ARThANATOS.

ARThANATOS is a unique stage creation that connects philosophy and music – two worlds that rarely meet, but here they merge in an intimate and spectacular dialogue.
At the center is a theme that is both the most hidden and the most sublime – death.
But why talk about death? Isn't that morbid? Isn't it frightening, even distasteful?
Maybe.
But perhaps it is death that teaches us the most about life. Perhaps art has always been drawn to death because it is through it that it most deeply understands existence. Perhaps death is the mirror in which we see most clearly what it means to be alive. Just as we would say that understanding the deepest existential problems requires the most basic existential starting point – the one that defines us all: death itself. In fact, perhaps the most precise definition of a living being is the simple dialectical statement: a living being is that which can die.
ARThANATOS combines philosophical thought with musical impulse – in the moment, on stage, in dialogue. Through historical, artistic, anthropological and psychological reflections on death, the philosopher shapes a narrative that provokes a musical response. The musician responds – not with words, but with tones, melodies, emotions.
ARThANATOS is philosophical-musical storytelling. A space where thought is transformed into sound, and sound into thought. A stage where the sublime is spectacular, and the intimate is sublime.
You don't come here for answers.
Come for new questions.
Come to ARThANATOS.

Vasko Atanasovski, composer and musician, is best known for his transgenre collaborations with world-renowned jazz, rock, classical and traditional musicians, as well as for his masterful approach to all musical styles. With his music, he has traveled all over the world, from India, China, Argentina, the USA and Europe, where he has performed at many prestigious venues, such as: Festival Ljubljana, Town Hall New York, Athens Jazz Festival, International Festival Muenster, Sava Centar Belgrade, Sally Can't Dance Festival Beijing, Mood Indigo Mumbai, Niceto (Buenos Aires) etc. He has collaborated with names such as Vlatko Stefanovski, Marc Ribot, Hindi Zahra, Living Colour, Gibonni, Tommy Emmanuel and many others. He is the founder of numerous musical ensembles, and is also a composer for chamber, orchestral and choral ensembles, as well as for puppet, dance and theatre performances. To date, he has released 17 albums of his own work, the last two of which, in collaboration with MoonJune Records in New York, have received positive reviews worldwide.

Dr. Magdalena Germek is a philosopher who received her PhD from the PŠ ZRC SAZU in Ljubljana, where she currently teaches visual epistemology. She is also a member of the research group working on the Visual Literacy research program at ALUO UL. In 2023, she conceived and realized a four-part series of literary-musical events called Books and Intermezzo, which she performed at Drama Kavarna with theater actor and performer Marko Mandić and numerous musicians. She used a similar format for the spectacular event "Sleeping Dreaming", organized by Kooperative THD on the main stage of the 39th Slovenian Book Fair at the Gospodarsko razstavišče exhibition center. In 2023, she joined Glasbar: Institute for Music and Humanities, where she develops interdisciplinary projects based on the collaboration of arts and humanities with Vasko Atanasovski, including the ARThANATOS project.