In a first-of-its kind collaboration, artists from India and Scotland will be telling a story that transcends language and ethical barriers
Eilidh Firth
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The idea of A New Conversation was conceived as a platform to kick-start a dialogue between young storytellers from India and the UK. In collaboration with the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburg, in February this year, two artists from Scotland and two from India were selected to collaborate on a new performance. This has evolved as an art residency in Mumbai at G5A cultural centre, wherein theatre director Sheena Khalid, and Kashmiri poet-singer Mohammad Muneem Nazir are exchanging ideas with Glasgow-based fiddle player Eilidh Firth and Scottish writer and storyteller Daniel Allison. The key objective of the exercise is to help artists from both countries get their stories across to audiences who do not speak their language.
The end product will be a story telling session interspersed with music and songs, based on what's being narrated. Khalid who has been a part of this residency for a week now, has been finding it an enriching experience. "As with any other collaboration, it's about understanding what unites us and what makes us different from each other. The aim is to resonate as a collective through our stories." The theme chosen is "places". "We are exploring the notion of places - the places where we come from, the myths associated with the same. Daniel has a great knowledge in Norse and Gaelic myth, Mohammed is bringing to the table his stories from Kashmir, while Eilidh is a repository of stories from Dundee, where she comes from, and I come with my Mumbai tales," says the 29-year-old, best known for her play The Gentleman's Club AKA Tape.
Daniel Allison
While Allison has stories from African and Amazon jungles where he has lived, Nazir is known for his live act, Alif, which is a fusion of contemporary music and poetry with an ethnic sound. Even as the cultural differences are as challenging as they are exciting to work with, what's making the task uphill is the limited time in their hands. "Owing to the sudden snowfall in the UK, the residency got delayed. We are working daily from 10.30 in the morning to 6 in the evening to make up for lost time," Khalid tells us.
Divya Bhatia, the mastermind behind the project, travelled to Edinburgh over January and February earlier this year to meet and brief the Scottish artists. "As creative producer, I felt this would be a perfect opportunity to build on my experience of working in Scotland for 18 years and develop a new and deeper dialogue between two countries, even as the artists remain rooted to their respective ethos. I think this is the first project of its kind between India and the UK. The artists would be challenged and would learn collaboratively, as would the curators from both countries," Bhatia says of the collaboration that is being supported by the British Council, the Scottish government and Creative Scotland.
When: March 24 and 25, 8 pm
Where: G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture, Mahalakshmi
Entry: '250
Log on to: bookmyshow.com
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