Art connects two cultures

Connections between Maori and Somali communities in South Wellington are at the heart of an exhibition and performance called Crossing Lines, on in the Capital from 9 to 20 March.

Crossing Lines is part of the Southern Corridor Project, initiated by participatory theatre company Eko more than two years ago. It offers a platform for people in these two communities to talk with each other and with Eko.

Director Heather Timms says the performance and exhibition promise to be an exhilarating journey as audiences travel though various sites in the large Cable Street warehouse venue.

“Through the arts, we have been able to explore the perspectives of 400 people, all of whom have been part of the project so far,” Heather says. “This is innovative art that looks at emerging and important questions from M?ori and Somali communities in South Wellington. It’s exciting to see all of the work culminating in presentations that will, I’m sure, inspire and entertain diverse audiences.”

Linking two cultures
Crossing Lines: The Performance flows from the exhibition space, beginning with larger-than-life projections and shadow imagery, before moving into intimate and personal poetics. Four young actors – two Somali, two M?ori – will bring to life the relationships and questions that link two seemingly disparate cultures.

“Somali people, or refugee people in general, stress their culture so much because of that fear of losing it,” says actor Umulkheir Amiin.

“I felt bound, and pushed and prodded … feeling like I have to be a certain way within my culture. Like I can’t be the big self that I am,” says actor Maria-Rose Macdonald (Nga Puhi, Te Arawa).

Crossing Lines: The Exhibition is an interactive installation of voice and image, representing all the people involved in the project over the past two years. Ranging from school children from Berhampore School, South Wellington Intermediate, Wellington East Girls College and Rongotai College through to the Wellington Tenths Trust and the Somali Council, people's stories are shown as both special and universal in their attitude to land, identity and relationships.

Exploration of identity
Neville Baker, Chair, Te Runanga O Taranaki Whanui ki te Upoko o te Ika, says: “The central elements of this project, including the exploration of identity and biculturalism, and the utilisation of the arts to communicate cultural perspectives and realities in the modern context, are valuable and important aims.” 

Adam Awad of the Somali Council talks about arriving in a country that offers you permanent residence. “When you get to that country, then that’s the end of the label of refugee. You’ve got a country. You are no longer a refugee. I am not stateless. I’ve got a country. I’ve got a home, where I belong to. It’s New Zealand.”
 
Crossing Lines is supported by Creative New Zealand, Wellington City Council, UNESCO NZ, Te Puni Kokiri, Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and Arts Access Aotearoa.

What: Crossing Lines
Where: 70 Cable St, Wellington (opposite Te Papa)
Dates:  9 – 20 March 2011
Exhibition: 10.30am - 5.30pm; free entry
Performances: 6pm & 8.30pm. No show Monday.  Tickets: $5 children, $10
concession, $20 waged
Bookings: eko.bookings@gmail.com