From Ritual to Theater –
Asian Ritual Festival Workshop
Photo Selection
Aiming to promote multi-lateral cultural exchange, the first Asian Ritual Festival Workshop set off from Taiwan, featuring the grass-root religion ritual, the Ghost Festival. The workshop attracted international scenographers, folk arts scholars, live performance artists interested in blending folk culture and theater performance as well as those who were directly involved in folk arts practice. The participants had to break language and cultural barriers so as to work as groups. By seeking inspiration from the festival, the participants interpreted and deconstructed their festival experiences, and then transformed these ritual elements into collaborative presentation.
The international artists who took part in this workshop included Abdulla Al-Ghaith, Astrid Almkhlaafy, Alexandra Bonds, Hye-Sook Chang, Dorita Hannah, Pamela Howard, Cathie Mcclellan, Maija Pekkanen, and BlueScreen. They all shared a common feeling that the workshop was a unique and wonderful experience.
Asian Ritual Festival Workshop
USITT Sightlines Coverage
Sandy Bonds has wirtten an article on her first-hand experience of the Asian Ritual Workshop in Taiwan. The article was published in the October 2008 Sightlines
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"In Taoist practice, during the seventh month of each lunar year, the gates of the underworld swing open and the ghosts are free to wander among the living world. Ceremonies are held to both welcome the ghosts and provide for their needs, while discouraging them from staying longer than the month-long celebrations. In August, OISTAT, now with its office located in Taipei, Taiwan, organized an event to introduce the Ghost Festival to theatre practitioners from around the world and to engender conversations about the interconnections between theatre and ritual heritages. "
-- Sandy Bonds
To read more about the article, please click here .
To read Sightlines on line, please click here .
