A Beautiful Cockroach

Maja Simišic received a grant to develop a new theater performance. A Beautiful Cockroach is an interactive performance that combines performance art, video, installation, satire, and camp aesthetics. The show explores themes of migration and survival, featuring the unlikely protagonist of the cockroach—a symbol reclaimed from xenophobic language into an icon of resilience and adaptability. A Beautiful Cockroach presents an absurd world where humor gradually reveals the realities of post-migration life. The performance will premiere at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival 2026.

Maja is a multimedia artist focused on overturning existing gender and class struggles. As a woman from the Balkans living and working in the Western world, her artistic practice is deeply influenced by, on one hand, the perception of Eastern Europeans in Western society, and on the other, the way people in the Balkans are raised, their fundamental beliefs, and the role of women in both contexts. With lightheartedness and humor, she challenges her audience to question what lies right before them. With a touch of absurdity and a healthy dose of satire, she helps us see that all our realities are interconnected.