Darkroom Contemporary presents:
We, the transposed
We, the transposed, is a sound installation dance work, driven to
further dialogue around identity as it expresses SA’s cultural diversity.
Darkroom Contemporary is launching a crowd funding campaign to share this exciting new project with our supporters. Get involved and you not only ensure the creation of We, the transposed, but you also have an opportunity to share in the process of bringing this work to life. All funds raised through Thundafund will supplement actual project costs and ensure the work can be shared with audiences in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Darkroom Contemporary, one of Cape Town’s leading independent contemporary dance companies, collaborates with Swiss South African sound designer Mischa Mathys, to create a unique installation work. Inspired by the truly integrated community of peoples settled in Johannesburg, as cultures are transposed from their origins to the city limits, the work questions what it means to “be from” any given place. The sound installation will attempt to reconstruct the divergent cultures as they come together to form the single cultural identity that is Johannesburg. As a result We, the transposed indirectly joins in the dialogue that has been raised often in the preceding months around the xenophobic attacks around South Africa, and a question that can easily incorporate Europe in the wake of the Mediterranean disaster.
By placing this work against the sonic backdrop of the City of Cape Town, we hope to initiate a conversation amongst the listeners, about the cultural diversity of the host city against that of Johannesburg, a city where no person can truly claim to be native.
The work will consist of various sampled sound events recorded within the Johannesburg CBD district, portraying a different part of the City’s identity, with Darkroom Contemporary’s dancers creating movement dialogue in response to the contrapuntal sound composition. The composition will be constructed to react with the listener on the spatial plane. Each sound event will be dedicated to specific points within the performance venue and thus naturally affect the listening experience as the listener moves within the space.
We, the transposed will premiere in Cape Town at Younblood Gallery, during the highly popular First Thursdays event in March 2016. Youngblood/Beautiful Life as a public gallery will avoid an admission fee, meaning the work will be available to everyone, regardless of socio-economical standing. After the premiere, the work will have an additional performance run at Youngblood Gallery over the first weekend in March 2016. It will then be shown at HAZARD Space in Johannesburg in the following weeks.
In Cape Town, Darkroom Contemporary will present an additional educational performance event of the work, aimed specifically at young people from outlying communities. This event will include a performance of We, the transposed, followed by a Q&A session with the creative team and a work session unpacking issues around identity and diversity.
This project will entice conversations around identity and cultural diversity, create a unique and engaging experience for its audience and offer youth development opportunities through arts education.
Milestones
Milestone 1 – R15 000
The Tipping Point
The support of our Thundafund backers will enable Darkroom Contemporary to stage this work in Cape Town and Johannesburg by supplementing costs of producing the sound installation and accompanying movement element. This tipping point will also enable the organization to present an accompanying youth development performance event.
The Department of Arts & Culture guarantees to match-pledge an amount up to R10 000.00, once we reach our first milestone, to further enhance the quality of this project.
Milestone 2 – R25 000
This amount will supplement additional project costs related specifically to staging the work in Johannesburg including travel & accommodation
Milestone 3 – R33 000
This amount will be utilized to further enhance the project through marketing elements such as design and printing of posters and programs.
Help Darkroom Contemporary stage and produce We, the transposed!
Buy Rewards and share the crowdfunding campaign: www.thundafund.com/WetheTransposed
Contact:
www.darkroomcontemporary.com
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