Duanama team was set up in 2011 and its name means a sacred land and it's also a space which gives structure to several forces whose interaction generate life. History and the origine of life; so close to theater research.
In Duanama we focuse our work on cultural diversity, interculturality, non-violent and horizontal relations between people and connexion with the deepness (this holy place in everyone where humanity and life appear).
Duanama, contact : cie.duanama@yahoo.fr
The project in 2013 " Where do I finish and does another one begin? " started in Mars 2013 and we aspires to become the base of the long-term collaboration between Poland and other countries. It will keep on in the show " Who is it?"
Apart from this exchange we are organising the residency about xenophobia with member from France, Poland and Spain in colaboration possible with Wroclaw ESK 2016.
Intercultural exchange project " Where do I finish and does another one begin? ", more info:
1. How? Short summary
Our proposal consists mainly in doing workshops in each participating country. It will be done in three theatre workshops, one per country, and each step would end up by a “work in progress” happening.All participants will assess themselves during these steps. Their work will follow the logic of encounter and openness and would give the possibility to travel inside themselves.
The goal of these workshops is to entry inside other culture thanks to/ by using theatre practice. Moreover, a journey in each host country would enable participants to plunge directly into its culture in order to know better. This situation would also give them the opportunity to check their stereotypes and their-own ideas about. This context changing would enrich their work.
As regards the psychological and practical work, it's possible to sum up it in the following stages: firstly connexion with myself, my-own culture ( me/ I), then the recognition of other one, openness on its culture (Other/ You), after entry in to the process of encounter (Me and other/you) , for finally create together (We). This path would work on opening their world vision, increasing tolerance and encourage non-violent habits and behaviours. They would face one another with an open mind and a willingness to learn from each other.
In March and April 2013 she led the first part of this project in France in order to introduce our work, that finished with the show “work in progress”. She will do the same workshop in Poland and in Algeria during the summer holidays.
Workshop in March 2013 in Marseille ( Theater Lenche) photos
Short video of our work https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=440557089367213
Show in Mai 2013 ( Tivoli Center) photos
Multidisciplinary meeting
We would like to meet the theatre with the other discipline of art like the photography and the movie. It's interesting to question what it will be born through this meeting and exchange, what could happen when theatre will open up on the others disciplines, how they can enrich each over, how the theatre can be related/ told by these disciplines in which an image is essential. Moreover, we think it's important to save via an archive the project destined to be acting on stage, so domed to be temporary.
Then, the idea is to catch an artistic and human experience via an other discipline than theatre. A photographer will be asked to recount this experience using images that will be shown during an exhibition. Similarly a film maker will create a documentary film about this venture, recording stories of participants.
And finally , a final show could be enriched by these images.
2. Objectives:
a) Intercultural exchanges and meetings, from multi to interculturalism.
b) Ignorance decrease, and so the potential violence linked to it, opening to others.
c) Better consciousness about cultural diversity, knowingness of oneself and others.
d) Active participation, creation based on a shared work in a group.
e) Encounters and ideas for the future artistic project of DUANAMA Company
f) Interdisciplinary meeting
3. Where?
This project is designed for 3 countries: Poland (Wrocław), France (Marseilles) and Algeria (Tlemcen). For centuries, France and Algeria have affected each other and this dialogue has impacted their own image and how they have looked at themselves. Other important exchanges occurred between France and Poland. The different links between these three countries are worth organizing a real encountering project. In Poland, there is some kind of ignorance toward « the Arab countries ». Such a situation can easily cause negative preconceptions, prejudices and fright. That's why, it is important to work with the underlying beliefs of the collective unconscious. Marseilles will be the European Capital of Culture in 2013 and so Wrocław in 2016. This is an opportunity to deepen exchanges between these towns. Moreover, Marseille 2013 is focussed on projects related to the Mediterranean. Marseilles is a port-city and the gateway to the Mediterranean countries,
containing a strong Algerian population.
4. When?
In October/November of 2013.The participants from each of three countries (Poland, France and Algeria) will meet up one time for one week and two times for ten days. They will work together during the whole project.
5. For whom?
21 participants from 18 to 25 years old: 7 youth from each country, with precedence for those from popular districts.
We are looking for social mix and gender balance (girl/boy) within each group to create a large diversity inside the team. Motivation and determination of participants are very important to ensure that the project is going well.
6. By whom ?
1 photographer / film maker: Edgar de Poray
3 leaders (1 for each country and 1 for the whole project):
Whole project Monika Smiechowska and Adeline Hocdet (actresses and theater directors)
France : Sandra Siloë Evek
Photograph : Marine Bugeia
Film maker : Manon Gary
7. Stages:
First stage: presentation, stories, meeting with my culture
(10 days 26th october-05th november)
We are going to usethe tools of recording reality theatre.The participants will present themselves, share their live experience through theatre exercises (speaking, movements, playing and acting). Here, we will work also with texts ( novels ; pieces, writing of the participants)
The objective of this step consists in the first reflection about an cultural identity. We are wondering about it through some questions as: Who I am ? What culture do I belong to? What is my culture ? What is my place in the a city or more overall in society ? What is my vision of a city or the world ?
For this part, it's really important to construct a space full of respect and confidence in order to work and surpass prejudices on the stage.
II. Second stage: know and recognize other one, between the particular and the universal
(10 days 05-17th november)
This step is about recognising the different, particular as well as the universal and commune side of other one. This experience enables one to recognise oneself in others while recognising others in oneself. To do this we propose two stages.
1 – Differentiation, particular:
Here, we are going to focus on differences and their cultural roots : Where and how do they appear? In this stage, we are going to work on tolerance, respect and acceptance. We will touch some subjects as beliefs, rites, customs, social habits, arrangements and values systems etc. All of that through acting, improvisations and the situation which would give more informations about and “enlighten” the reality of other culture. We will use propositions and the creativity of participants.
Even if this work is essentially corporeal, we will also approach this topic through language differences.
2 – Universal :
The second part consists in approaching the universal schemas, commune things. For this purpose, we would like to work with the cultural myths that are particulars for each culture but in the same time they send tothe fundamental themes which are common for everyone (seeLévi Strauss)
Some exercises will consist in showing their story to others and involving them in it. We will work also with languages (musicality, a common understanding etc.) and with body language
III. Third stage: an encounter, exchange and the creation together
(10 days 17-28th november )
At this stage our work will be divided in two parts : Me/ other one and Become We
1 – Me et Other:
Here, we are interesting in the process of interaction and mutual encounter. This step could be summed up in the following expression: « Me » who is tackling with « the Other ». Thanks to multiple exercises, we would like to construct the mutual agreement, that its purposeis to alter and adjust myself to other one.I entry in to a conscious exchange and I listen to. Questions are: How can this person enrich me and vice versa? In what is he? etc.
Apart from exercises we will use also different texts and the writing of participants
In order to understand the particularity of each one, we will propose an exchange of roles. This exercise would give participants the opportunity to entry by playing into « the skin of other one », to share its customs and that what is important for him. This step is the most delicate, so it's important to be attentive to taboo.
Furthermore, in the style of the forum-theater method, we will reflect on conflict situations in order to put in advancedifferencesof opinion and their source as well as the representation of “someone strange” for my culture. Participants will be asked to suggest different actions for the actors to carry out on-stage in an attempt to find the resolution of this conflict and change the outcome of what they were seeing.
In this stage, we will also treat the situation of exchanges with its logic “giving – receiving - giving back” and which could be positive/ equitable or negative/ abusing. One of the exercises will consist in imagining and improvising the situation in which they meet some tribe in an abandon island.
2 – Become We :
In this stage we will create a final show. Participants will work together and make up a team which we call « We », in witch every one has its importance and place. It's important that every participant should feel that its work is necessary for the performance and for this group. The materials that we will use in this creation come from previous stages. Here, we will make deeper these things and organise it. For us, materials mean moments, situations, encounters, stories, emotions, relations even some exercises which are able to catch our attention or these that are felt strongly by participants. So after being worked, these things could take part of our final show.
During all stages, each participant will take notes of the themes and subjects interesting for him and which we could use in this final show. Thus, the writing of the show will has been doing little by little during the whole workshop. Indications and instructions given by leaders would whip un propositions of participants. It is on the basis of these that the work of staging will become structured.
8 . Why theater?
The theatre questions a human being on the world and relations between people. It's the space of exchange and sharing. It doesn’t cancel the differences and use them as the basis of its research. The theatre gives people the opportunity to meet up profoundly and to express themselves frankly. By constructing the neutral ground, it permits to the differences interact in order to better know each other. Because of its attention about not to entry in the trap of ignorer and stereotypes, the theatre is able to work on make deeper the knowledge about human being and other one. It is for all of these reasons that the theatre with its artistic language permits to people express and may free them from prejudices. The meeting between cultures is a topic delicate and needs to be played down the importance. And this is possible in the theatre space.
We propose in this project a specific type of theatre and pedagogy. Contrary to the traditional theatre, where a stage director chooses actors for working some theatre piece, we chose another method more contemporary and experimental. Firstly actors will work with liberty for digging deeply inside them and using it. After leaders will help to structure and organise these materials. By using the theatre technique of creation, they will arrange it in some coherent order for giving birth to final show.
This method is near to the work proposed in the « theatre laboratory» or «theatre collective », in which the creation isn't based on the text, but on the daily research and progress of the collective. In this type of creation, personal research and find are important for a work progressing. Only at the end, this experimentation is stopped for moving on the final step which is the synthesis by using the classical theatre method like staging or dramaturgy.
9. Financing plan:
We have applied for grants to the institutions from these three countries and UE, among others: CG13, town hall of Marseille, and Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland, France Embassy in Algeria, Cultural influence algerian agency.
This project fas the grant of the European Union Programme " Youth in Actioné"
Our project has a recommendation of Wroclaw 2016 artistic director and it can take part of its programming.