Moments of celebration
A friend emailed, said come round for a BBQ, bring a salad and a celebratory moment from the year. It’s tricky to share BBQ on-line – but how about a celebratory CCD moment from your year?
My moment?
Last night I went to see Te Rakau Hua o Te Wao Tapu perform their new play The Ragged. On stage - a huge cast. Amongst the cast 8 or so young Maori men - no more than boys - all part of the company as an attempt to keep them out of jail - to give them a different framwork. Their performances were extraordinary. Movement-based. And so committed. Straight out to the audience, solid, listening to each other - being birds, lizards, a storm. Clearly part of a family. Enjoying themselves. I remembered being an 'at-risk' youth and joining a theatre group on a work-scheme at 17 and how much that experience shaped my life - and I could see it with these young men last night.
What's a moment from your CCD year? A moment of celebration, of delight, realisation? Add it to the comments box below.
Also by this member
- Submitted27 Dec 2010InDevelopment Resources
- Submitted27 Dec 2010InDevelopment Resources
Comments
One highlight for me was seeing HUSH in Auckland. This is a verbatim piece of theatre from Dunedin about families under pressure. The actors interviewed people with experience of family violence and the agencies, councellors, doctors, police etc who support them. They listen to their voices as they perform through MP3 players and become 'avators' to their stories. I worked on the project as dramaturg helping to select, edit and stucture the material into a 75 minute script. The audience feedback has been extremely positive but fear of the subject means that some people do not come. The work is not po-faced or finger wagging but really makes you think. The stories each have a possibility of change and participants were chosen because they are now is a position where they have processed their experience. Each performance is followed by a discussion with the team. HUSH is touring community centres throughout south island during february - do tell your friends and family to go.
13 December 2010 - 15:56 PM
Your comment just reminded me. Renee Liang did a great interview with Stuart Young about Hush - check it out here. It added a whole new level of understanding for me.
Margaret
14 December 2010 - 8:38 AM
We opened the HUB at Toi Poneke (Wellington's arts centre) this year. That feels like a moment to celebrate. A physical space for artists to gather, share ideas and grow projects http://toiponekehub.wcc.govt.nz/index.html. Slowly the space is growing, as the flesh gets layered on the bones. And the bones (which we developed with the help of Teina Moetara) are a really exciting framework that we're now using in conversation with a whole range of people http://toiponekehub.wcc.govt.nz/bones.html We've still got areas to grow but like all CCD projects these things can't be rushed.
I had a moment of lucidity late this year during the CCD seminar administered by the Auckland City Council. I realised the solution toward generating deference for community practices is in developing a robust network and distinct critical discussion about them alongside other practices – in order to facilitate cross-disciplinary conversation and debate. It seems obvious now I’ve said it, but this realisation came after several years of futile lobbying for the recognition of community-based practices within contemporary art discourse. The value systems inherent in the notions of ‘community’ and ‘contemporary’ in reference to art are at odds. However, I see now, there is enough room for compelling discussions around more than one position. What I am getting at is that rather than bucking against contemporary art’s gate, community practices can instead borrow its tools – like rigorous methodology, research practice and sound contextual writing – and thereby critical authority.