Tuesday 11 July 2017

Declaration Dramaturgy: Article 11 @ Edfringe 2017

ARTICLE 11 presented by CanadaHub in association with Aurora Nova presents
DECLARATION: Rematriation

CanadaHub @ King’s Hall 

Monday, Tuesday, Friday of each week: specific times below;
open as an exhibit space daily from 12-11pm


CanadaHub, in association with Summerhall and Aurora Nova, present a spectacular and diverse lineup of music, theatre and dance at The King’s Hall, bringing the best Canadian productions to this year’s Festival Fringe. 

At the centre of CanadaHub’s programme is DECLARATION: Rematriation, a live art exploration of Indigenous Canadian identity exploring a topic set by weekly open conversations in King’s Hall. 


What was the inspiration for this performance?

The performance installation DECLARATION uses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as its backbone.

DECLARATION takes its shape directly from the physical and cultural territory within which it is created. It is a living work.  It may, as will be the case in Edinburgh, be created by and for Indigenous artists from the many, diverse nations colonized by Britain to collaborate on and about the Queen Mother’s home turf.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

The medium itself is a real-time exchange of energies. How these energies are harnessed is the Art.

How did you become interested in making performance?

Beagan came at performance with the word, Moro with visuals. Theatre demands mutual acknowledgement and accountability from its creative collaborators and audience. It is a medium that can only be experienced and remembered. It cannot be owned.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show

DECLARATION is a celebration of Indigenous Peoples' right to engage to their fullest extent in the creation and development of arts and culture, as outlined in the 11th clause of the UN's Declaration on Indigenous Rights. At its heart, DECLARATION is rooted in land and people of the land. DECLARATION celebrates that land and people are inextricably connected. For this reason, we begin with place. The venue itself becomes animated and creative, transforming into a diversified environment. 

DECLARATION is a durational work of sound and visual installation, tailored to the guest artists, the curation of its occurrence and the land it is being hosted on. DECLARATION can conceivably take place absolutely anywhere.

As with past iterations, DECLARATION offers artists an opportunity to work outside their comfort zones. These are established artists whose bodies of work are familiar, working with artists they do NOT ordinarily collaborate with, toward an audience the day the ideas are sparked. It is an intensive, process expanding pressure cooker of community. There is no time for polish or perfection. The excellence comes in trusting process and each other. 

ARTICLE 11 creates an environment safe for risks and big on taking leaps.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

ARTICLE 11 has a range of works, divergent in mode of presentation, common in the employment of story toward activist ends. Out Activism is our Art. DECLARATION itself has morphed significantly between presentations at Toronto’s Fort York (war of 1812), The Royal Ontario Museum, Calgary City Hall and at the National Arts Centre in the nation’s capital. 

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

Authenticity. Indigeneity.
What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
Authenticity. Indigeneity.

ARTICLE 11, the work’s creator, is an Indigenous performance company led by Tara Beagan and Andy Moro. Occupying a permanent space in King’s Hall, visitors to the space will be able to see performance, engage in discussion and watch the project grow as a response to the space and the artists involvement in the world’s largest arts festival happening right outside their door. Artists from across the festival who will be collaborating with ARTICLE 11 include Hot Brown Honey, Santee Smith and Lee Maracle.

Hot Brown Honey are a hip-hop infused, politically vibrant, high-concept cabaret group who shatter preconceptions in an explosion of colour and controversy. Santee Smith is an artist and dancer whose work is steeped in her Native North American roots. Lee Maracle is a prolific First Nations author and poet, and a hugely influential indigenous voice in Canadian postcolonial criticism. 
Each of the five plays that sit alongside DECLARATION: Rematriation in King’s Hall work in tandem with the discussions and debates led here, creating a programme of work that’s vital, relevant, and engaging.  

ENDS

From the producer who brought 2016’s political theatre piece Counting Sheep to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe comes CanadaHub – a season of new and established theatre makers bring work from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary to King’s Hall as part of the award-winning Summerhall and Aurora Nova programmes. 

CanadaHub comes to the Edinburgh Fringe in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, and with support from the Canada High Commission in the United Kingdom and British Council Canada.


Week 1
Monday, August 7: 4.45pm – 6pm – Public time - £5
Tuesday, August 8: 3pm – 4pm – Public time - £5
Friday, August 11: 11.30am – 12.30pm – Paid showing; £10 full; £8 concession, £7 family

Week 2 with Lee Maracle, novelist and fabulous Auntie
Monday, August 14: 4.45pm - 6pm - Talk with Lee Maracle - £5
Tuesday, August 15: 3pm - 4pm - Public time - £5
Friday, August 18: 3.30 - 4.45 - Paid showing; £10 full, £8 concession, £7 family

Week 3 with Santee Smith, dancer, choreographer, clay woman
Monday, August 21: 4.45pm - 6pm - Talk with Santee Smith - £5
Tuesday, August 22: 3.30 - 4.30pm - £5
Friday, August 25: 3.30 - 4.45 - Paid showing; £10 full, £8 concession, £7 family
Box office enquiries: edfringe.com 

For more information, interviews and images, please contact the team at Storytelling PR 07825642225 / 07507888837 miriam@storytellingpr.com  miriamb@storytellingpr.com 


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