THE OTHER JOURNEY
2011
Theatre, Sound
S.Shakthidharan & Aimée Falzon
The Other Journey is a unique art work: a multi-sensory, immersive, storytelling experience.
The work is centred around honest, intimate stories from three people who fled a war in the villages of Sri Lanka to settle into Australia’s largest city. Set to a luscious score mixing South Asian and Western influences, the music and stories are played through portable audio players and headphones. During the work, the deep listening experience takes place in varied, beautiful settings: on a boat ride; under bird sculptures; amidst fire and oil lamps on a river bank; amongst whiffs of cinnamon and jasmine; surrounded by elegant, large-scale, outdoor video art.
We like to think of The Other Journey as an arts adventure.
CONCEPT
Created by S.Shakthidharan and Aimée Falzon, the work was originally produced for Parramasala, the Australian Festival of South Asian Arts, in 2011. It has subsequently toured to other arts festivals in Victoria and Tasmania.
The movement of refugees and immigrants across the world is usually relayed through statistics, news bites, policy and campaign. Through these channels, public responses generally alternate between scorn and pity. The Other Journey instead relays the intimacy, dignity and compromise that surrounds the decision to flee – and the courage, risk and transformation it takes to belong again to a new community. Through The Other Journey, audiences are taken across the face of the globe and back home again.
The show is still available for touring. It’s always adapted to its local environment and is most suited to quiet, reflective places (ideally by a river) just next to highly-visible, public meeting points. In special circumstances, the content itself can also be adapted to different cities and towns, with stories from the local Sri Lankan or a local migrant/refugee community in that place incorporated into the work.
The beautiful, downtempo, global music created for The Other Journey by Kurinji is available for sale as an EP or download.
To discuss touring this show, please contact S. Shakthidharan.
