I am one of 30 young international producers selected for SPACE - Supporting Performing Arts Circulation in Europe organised by ONDA in Paris and supported by the European Commission.
One of the festivals I have attended this summer is the Kunstenfestival des Arts 010.
The Kunstenfestivaldesarts' audiences are keen followers of contemporary, inspiring and atypical artistic offerings. The range of artistic creations in the international programme - both from more established artists and still fairly unknown talents - awakened people's curiosity and generated debate.
A large number of new works saw the light at this year's festival, for the most part initiated and co-produced by the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, and many of them held wonderful surprises in store for their audiences. Highlights include the premiere of the new work by Germany's Christoph Schlingensief, which proved a revelation for many, as well as the provocative new project from the Hungarian Kornél Mundruczó. There were also excellent creations from Belgian artists this year, such as Inne Goris, Etienne Guilloteau, Sarah Vanagt and Claude Schmitz: projects that have often allowed them to assert their artistic language and introduce it to a wider audience.
This 010 festival was also an opportunity for opening up reflection on the city and the people who live there, through artistic projects by Lotte van den Berg, Sarah Vanagt and ZimmerFrei for example, but also in a series of initiatives such as workshops, debates and a travelling theatre for children (the Kamishibai project) which have taken the festival to people who do not normally access the city's cultural offerings.
My personal highlight was in the form of Lotte van den Berg's piece - Het verdwalen in kaart
Dutch director Lotte founded OMSK when she moved to Dordrecht and set herself up in the Energiehuis. In order to get to know the city and its inhabitants, she invited them to create a show. A total of 72 residents, young and old, accepted her invitation, and Het verdwalen in kaart is the generous result. The sense of belonging, of individuality and of knowing oneself secure in a group is the red thread running through the silent performance. Lotte uses powerful, silently fading images to suggest extremes of joy and distress.
It is moving and extraordinary while being perfectly ordinary. A simple act of creating and destroying, doing & undoing. A gentle nudge to the edge of your seat, while all the time the very question of belonging is challenged again and again.
