[an error occurred while processing this directive]
What’s new?
23rd June, Lida Abdul, the Afghan video and performance artist has received the Prince Claus Award
On Saturday, 23 June 2007, the Afghan video and performance artist Ms Lida Abdul will be presented with the Prince Clause Award at the National Museum in Kabul.
Lida Abdul (1973, Afghanistan) is a visual artist who uses diverse media including video, film, photography and live performance to explore and visualise issues of ‘home’ and identity. She fights against the senseless destruction of cultural heritage in her country and highlights women’s role in society. The outstanding artistic quality of her work is combined with powerful political and social statements, and is recognised both within Afghanistan and internationally.
The award will be presented by H.E. Hans Blankenberg, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Works of Lida Abdul will be shown. Omara Khan Massoudi, Director of the National Museum and a Prince Claus laureate himself (2004), invites the audience to visit the museum after the ceremony.
Since 1997, the Prince Claus Awards are presented annually to individuals, groups and organisations from throughout the world for their exceptional achievements in the area of culture and development.
For more information, please contact the Royal Netherlands Embassy at Kabul,
Janneke Vrijland, tel +93.700.279.193
Chiquitanos’ voice, a new book edited by the Editorial Fund of APAC
This book is the result of an investigation done by local researchers. They were trained in a workshop funded by AVINA Foundation and managed by APAC. The book narrates the stories of five communities in the Chiquitos region as told by their inhabitants. It also has five chapters which provide an academic framework for the stories told by the Chiquitanos.
Munim Wasif, Pathshala Alumni and photographer for DrikNews has won an Honourable mention at the National Geographic All Roads Programme
Shahidul Alam’s radio interview on KPFK
http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=1577
Doli Akter, the rural photographer who obtained a scholarship at Pathshala in Bangladesh
http://www.dolibd.blogspot.com/
MYSA to participate in the East Africa Cup
Five Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) teams depart today for the East African Cup competition in Moshi, Tanzania. Last year MYSA dominated the podium at the East African Cup by winning the gold medals in all categories. This year over 765 youth on 51 boys and girls’ youth teams from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will participate.
The contingent of over 100 MYSA youth leaders, referees, photographers, first-aiders and players consists of an U16 boys teams, two U16 girls teams, an U20 boys team and an U20 girls team plus 15 MYSA Academy graduate referees and 17 MYSA first-aiders led by Norwegian physiotherapists Hilde Johansen and Marianne Solem who have been leading special MYSA training programmes on diagnosing and treating sports injuries over the last year.
The special theme of this fourth edition of the East African Cup is "Empowerment of Youth Through Sports”. Parallel activities during the tournament will focus on improving HIV/AIDS awareness, leadership training, first aid training, interfaith dialogue and networking and building of cultural understanding among youth in East Africa.
During the tournament a special seminar on "Youth Sports as a Tool for Development" will be held on Thursday, June 28 which will be addressed by Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa, Tanzanian Sports Minister Muhammed Seif Khatib and former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Other speakers include H.E. Jon Lomøy, the Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania; Marianne Bergh, the Chairman of the Norway Cup Board of Governors; Tor Elden of the Norwegian Peace Corps (Fredskorpset); and MYSA Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Munro.
11th July, launching of the international competition Sudapan / Endless strips in Buenos Aires at 19:00 at the Cultural Center of Spain
The competition is organized by Supersudaca and is one of the ongoing projects developed with the Prince Claus Funds network partnership program.
For more info:
http://www.cceba.org.ar/evento/evento.pl?evento=461
7 – 21st July 2007: Shatana Workshop – First Triangle Workshop in Jordan
The workshop will take place in the historic village of Shatana. The residencies and work spaces are set in historic stone houses and churches situated between olive and oak trees. Shatana has a population of approximately 150. Shatana is about 70 kilometers away from the capital Amman. For info click http://www.makanhouse.net/shatana
13th –15th July 2007: Launch of Triangle Arts Trust’s book – Beijing,
On the occasion of a conference on Artists Run Spaces in China, Triangle Arts Trust will be launching its first major publication charting 25 years of activities across the world. The publication aims to capture and communicate the experience of many of the artists and coordinators who have contributed to developing the network; and to inspire artists to take some of these ideas further. Triangle was set up in 1982 as an artists' workshop, bringing local and international artists to work together. This model was developed by some of the participants who returned to their home countries to start workshops of their own while maintaining contacts with each other. As a result, over 25 years, Triangle has developed into a worldwide network of artists and projects, including artist-led workshops and independent organisations.
The Triangle network now incorporates regular workshops in over 20 countries and several studio buildings offering international residencies, exhibitions, education programmes and off-site events. Each Triangle initiative is independent and responds to local needs, connecting with local audiences through its various projects. More recently, separately-initiated artist-led organisations sharing similar values and approaches have partnered with Triangle for international exchange projects.
The Triangle Network is constantly expanding through artist-initiated activities and now includes over 3000 artists who have participated in international workshops, residencies and exhibitions across the network over the past two and half decades. This publication is part of the Network Partnership between the TAT and the Prince Claus Fund. For more information on TAT please see www.trianglearts.org
August 6th to September 29th: First open workshop for dancers from all continents at the Ecole des Sables, Toubab Dialaw/Senegal
Germaine Acogny, the artistic director of the Ecole des Sables, would like to inform you about a new exciting event : After 6 professional workshops of 3 months each exclusively for dancers from all over Africa between 1998 and 2006, this year and for the first time the Ecole des Sables opens its doors for a 2 months workshop for dancers from all continents : so, about 20 dancers from outside Africa will join 15 African dancers to meet each others to discover and live the richness, variety, complexity and specific energy of traditional and contemporary African dances.
For more information please send us an email to : Jant-bi.acogny@wanadoo.fr www.jantbi.org
Bintou Were, a Sahel Opera
Premiere in Europe
The European premiere of the Sahel Opera has taken place in Amsterdam during the Holland Festival June 7, 8, 9 and 10 in Muziekgebouw aan het IJ. The reactions of the audience were very positive. All the performances were sold out.
Further performances are scheduled for October at the Théatre du Châtelet in Paris.
Premiere in Africa
The world premiere of the opera was on February 17th, a fortuitous date, which happened to be the 400th anniversary of the first opera performed in Europe, Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Bintou Were premiered in Bamako, on a specially built stage overlooking the Niger River. In attendance were an estimated 2,000 invited guests, including both Honorary Chairmen of the Prince Claus Fund, Their Royal HighnessesPrince Friso and Prince Constantijn, accompanied by their wives Princess Mabel and Princess Laurentien, as well as Malian Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi Maïga and Minister of Culture, Cheikh Oumar Sissoko.
The story of Bintou Were, a Sahel Opera
The story of the Opera is about the dream of many Africans to leave Africa and live in Europe. Young people in a Sahel village with no job prospects, drought, a failing harvest, a human smuggler who offers them a dream of a better life across the barbed wire that marks the border of North Africa and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. This time the story is told – or rather sung - from an African point of view. It’s told with humour, poetry and passion. And that was exactly what Prince Claus had in mind when he first proposed the idea of a Sahel Opera in 1996 to Els van der Plas, Director of the Fund that was being set up in the Prince’s name.
An extraordinary idea
Prince Claus believed in the wealth of musical and artistic talent in that vast, largely arid stretch of central-west Africa. He envisaged a spectacle of such quality and originality that it would win the hearts of people throughout the world. The idea was extraordinary. Africans and Europeans alike were struck by it. The project would be a uniquely African production, drawing on different cultures from throughout the region.
A competition was organised and an international jury including such renowned figures as Pierre Audi, Director of the Holland Festival, and Robert Wilson from New York made an initial selection of six composers. Eventually the field was narrowed to one, Zé Manel from Guinea Bissau, who took on the formidable task of composing an opera drawing on the many Sahelian musical traditions. An artistic team was also selected and a series of workshops were held to help shape the storyline, the music and dance.
Partners join in
The Government of Mali and Théatre du Châtelet in Paris joined the Fund as co-producers. Additional financial support came from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, the Van den Ende Foundation and the Ford Foundation, as well as the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Embassy in Mali. Tryouts for the cast took place in Guinee Konakry, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Ultimately, an international cast consisting of 58 singers and dancers was chosen.
www.sahelopera.com
July, Workshop for female theatre professionals, Sokan Theatre, Ouedraogo Abdoulaye Ablas, Ivory Coast supported by the Prince Claus Fund
The Project
During the past decade a new generation of contemporary drama writers has emerged who’s work animates the theatrical scenes of today. Unfortunately professional women drama writers are, as well as in other theatre professions, nearly absent. This is mostly the case during the large artistic professional events in Africa. The percentage of female writers, directors, or stage directors is almost non existent. In order to change this, Sokan Théâtre, in collaboration with Bureau des Arts et Communication (BAC) has taken the initiative to create le Chantier panafricain d'ecriture dramatique des femmes (CPEDF) in order to provide a platform for exchange, training and expression of professional women in theatre.
The third edition is now being launched after the first and second successful editions of CPEDF that took place in 2004 and 2005. The Prince Claus Fund has supported this activities with limited amounts. This time, it will include a wider circle receiving another nine female writers, nine female stage directors, nine actresses, four scene directors and four light directors who will receive training that will enable them to strengthen their capacity and to contribute to their work as drama writers.
During the workshops activities include: the staging of « Nuit Blanche » by Angeline S. Bonono from Cameroon, one of nine new plays that were written during the second edition of CPEDF in 2005, and that was chosen unanimously by experts and practitioners to be created during the 2007 edition. The play will be staged by one of the teachers of the precedent edition, assisted by the new trainees of the third edition. This way the trainees will be able to experience the process of theatrical creation from table to representation. The workshops will also address issues such as the dissemination of the production. Other activities include the realization of a documentary that will register the workshops, following the creative process of all women involved. This will stimulate work on audio visual work among women, and its potentially creative relation with theater. It is within this context that the CPEDF will invite, by way of experiment, 8 actrices to participate also in the workshop for scenario writing.
By doing so CPEDF will: Offer a platform of exchange, expression and dramatic creation; create the opportunity for a new generation of female theatre professionals to emerge; motivate women to be involved in various aspects of theater production (acting, staging, directing, lighting and writing); promote new communication technologies, and entice exchanges between writers, stage directors and other experts in the field.
Involved trainers
For the writers
- Kangni Alem - Jacques Jouet
For the stage directors
- Fabrice Gorgirat - Serena Sartori
For the actors
- Etienne Minoungou - Valerie Goma
For the scene directors
- Papa Kouyate
For the theatre directors
- Zié Coulibaly
Sokan-Théâtre of the Ivory Coast is a theatre company directed by actor and director OUEDRAOGO Ablas. The company was the result of the meeting of Josiane YAPO and OUEDRAOGO Ablas during the Rencontres Théâtrales Internationales in Cameroon. They decided to create a theatre company to make the voice of the region, and the voice of Africa heard (that is the meaning of the word SOKAN), to promote culture in general and the art of theatre in particular. Until today the company has animated and participated in several artistic exchanges, workshops and theatrical creations all over Africa and in Europe. The objective of Sokan-Théâtre is to create an avenue or place for exchange, training, and dissemination of artistic and cultural productions. To meet it’s goals, Sokan-Théâtre organizes a ‘chantier panafricain d’écriture dramatique des femmes’ (workshop for female drama writers in collaboration with BAC (Bureau des Arts et Communication).
May 2007 – April – 2008, Theatre Play by Théâtre Horizon, Youssef Raihani, Tetouan, Morocco supported by the Prince Claus Fund
Despite having a growing following, theater is still to be developed in Morocco. Only 3% of Moroccans see a play during a year. The Ministry of Culture has just enough of a budget for 365 theatre evenings a year, meaning one play per evening in the entire kingdom of Morocco. Theater Horizon advocates for fulfilling a growing need for a new theatre that opts for cultural exchange, opening up towards others and referring to tolerance. It is estimated that 95% of Moroccans have never seen a play by Beckett.
Theater Horizon’s objectives are to: create a new Arabic theatre, that will focus on the solutions of human problems; encourage cultural and civil exchanges; Reject all forms of fundamentalism and choose for tolerance and democracy; insert experimentation in the Arab theatre, and create innovative marginal theatre forms. These objectives are met by producing and disseminating plays and animation of workshops, by the publications on theater Collection Automne, and by hosting events and festivals. Collaborating organisations are Institut National des Beaux-Arts de Tétouan, Institut Français de Tétouan and Ministère de la Culture.
The Project
The project involves the translation and publication for the first time in Arabic of the play “Berceuse”. The project consists of the production and dissemination of a play that is radically different in the Arabic context. It is a play that represents a continuation of the project "La Contagion Beckett" (The Becket contagion), directed by the Moroccan Director Youssef RAIHANI since 2006, when he staged two short plays by Beckett : " la dernière bande " and "Eh, Joe". This project intends to realize the “arabization” of Beckett’s theatre, a sort of “sensitivisation” and determination of a theatre with universal values little known in the Arabic world. The project "La Contagion Beckett" will continue until the year 2014 (25 years after Beckett’s death). During these 8 years ( 2006/2014), Youssef RAIHANI will produce and disseminate all the short plays by Beckett, not known to have been played in Arabic before. The play " Berceuse" ( Rockaby) is considered one of Beckett’s lesser known plays. It will be the first time that it will be played in Arabic, creating a bilingual spectacle of 40 minutes.
The play will be performed by ZAHRA( Fatym zahra SGHIR), a professional Moroccan actress, laureate of L'Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts of Tétouan, who also has a teaching certificate in French literature (theater). The stage design will be realized by renown artist Abdelkrim OUAZZANI, director of L'Institut National des Beaux Arts. The Project " Berceuse" will be realized in the time frame of one year from the 17th of May 2007 to the 13the of April 2008). The play will tour diverse Moroccan cities (Tétouan, Tanger, Martil, Larrache, Chefchaoun, Fés, Meknès, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrackech et Agadir), and also other Arabic cities (Alexandria and Cairo). The play aims at introducing the Arab and wider public to these types of play. The premier takes place in La Maison de la Culture de Tétouan on the 17th of May, 2007, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 4ème Festival International de la Bande Déssinée, organized by L'Institut National des Beaux Arts in collaboration with the French/Belgian community.
The activities (from May 2007 to April 2008) involve more than 20 representations in cities where the opportunities to see theatre are scarce such as Martil, Chefchaoun et Larrache, the participation in Arabic festivals such as Festival Théâtre Experimental in Caire, Festival d'Alexendrie des Troupes Independantes, and Festival de la Bande dessinée de Tétouan, the publication of the Arabic translation of "Berceuse", for the Collection d'Automne, and the collaboration of Moroccan artists (these include Youssef Raihani, playwriter and director; Fatym Zahra Sghir (Zahra) actress; Dridd Iguella, technician; Abdeslam Sahraoui, actor and writer; Mustapha Chorfi, and Adel Harras, administrator). The play addresses female loneliness in traditionalist societies: an old woman dressed in a black evening dress rocks herself in a rocking chair while listening to her own recorded voice. The story tells of the character's seeking for another 'a little like' herself, in the outside world. The search ends as all the blinds are drawn and complete darkness descends (written in 1980).
The project is also funded by the Young Arab theatre Fund.
Associação Cultural Videobrasil, Artistic residencies
Associação Cultural Videobrasil will promote, in 2007, two meetings for Brazilian and foreign artists and institutions that offer artistic residency programmes. The first meeting will be held on July 28, at MAM Bahia, in Salvador, and will bring together representatives of the British Council, Instituto Sacatar, the Alliance Française, and the Secretariat for Culture of Bahia. In addition to the introduction of the programmes, the meeting will include screenings of works produced in residencies, as well as the launch of Caderno Videobrasil 2 – art mobility sustainability, which includes artistic residencies among its subjects of reflection. In the first week of October, in São Paulo, the 16th International Electronic Art Festival_SESC Videobrasil will promote a debate on the benefits and challenges of residencies to the creative process, counting on the presence of Instituto Sacatar, the Iberê Camargo Foundation, Capacete Entretenimentos, FAAP, the Secretariat for Culture of Bahia, Gasworks London, Kiosko (Bolivia), and the British Council. In addition to the debate, representatives of the institutions will participate in reviewing sessions for projects by artists interested in participating in residency programmes.
Robert Loder, Triangle Arts Trust, London, UK robert@gasbag.org
Alessio Antoniolli, Triangle Arts Trust, UK alessio@gasbag.org
Solange Farkas, Videobrasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil solangefarkas@videobrasil.org.br
Germaine Acogny and Helmut Vogt, Jant-Bi, Dakar, Senegal jant-bi@sentoo.sn
Martin Mhando, ZIFF, Zanzibar, Tanzania martin.mhando@ziff.or.tz
Nirwan Dewanto, Utan Kayu, Jakarta, Indonesia nirnd@indosat.net.id
Shahidul Alam, Drik, Dhaka, Bangladesh shahidul@drik.net
Cecilia Kenning, APAC, Santa Cruz, Bolivia info@festivalesapac.com
Bob Munroe, MYSA, Nairobi, Kenya munro@kenyaweb.com
Peter Karanja, MYSA, Nairobi, Kenya pkaranja@mysakenya.org
Felix Madrazo, Supersudaca, Rotterdam, Netherlands felixmadrazo@supersudaca.org
Daravuth Ly, Reyum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia lydaravuth@yahoo.com
Odile Gakire Katese, University Center for Arts and Drama, Butare, Rwanda cua_centre@yahoo.fr
Els van der Plas, Prince Claus Fund, The Hague, Netherlands, e.vanderplas@princeclausfund.nl
Joumana El Zein Khoury, Prince Claus Fund, The Hague, Netherlands, j.elzein@princeclausfund.nl