{"id":69,"date":"2013-07-20T07:35:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T07:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/?p=69"},"modified":"2017-11-23T11:41:21","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T11:41:21","slug":"artscross-london-2013-leaving-home-being-elsewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/artscross-london-2013-leaving-home-being-elsewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"ArtsCross London 2013 \u2013 Leaving home: being elsewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0ArtsCross London begins, the\u00a0project\u2019s UK directors offer some of\u00a0their thoughts on\u00a0where the\u00a0next three weeks of\u00a0collaboration and\u00a0exchange might lead.<\/p>\n

Chris Bannerman writes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

I\u00a0believe it was Martin Welton who first proposed that the\u00a0theme should somehow refer to\u00a0\u2018home\u2019. After enthusiastic responses from Beijing and\u00a0Taipei, we each retreated to\u00a0mull over possible formulations, searching for\u00a0the\u00a0one that would best articulate the\u00a0inchoate sense of\u00a0the\u00a0zeitgeist, the\u00a0spirit of\u00a0the\u00a0moment in\u00a0London that would mesh with this moment in\u00a0the\u00a0project\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Perhaps strangely my\u00a0thoughts turned not to\u00a0\u2018leaving home\u2019 but rather to\u00a01965 and\u00a0Bob Dylan\u2019s seminal album released in\u00a0that year, Bringing it all back home<\/i>. What Dylan meant by\u00a0this title is open to\u00a0question, but in\u00a0the\u00a0case of\u00a0ArtsCross the\u00a0idea of\u00a0\u2018bringing it all back home\u2019 had for\u00a0me a\u00a0particular and\u00a0a\u00a0wider relevance. The\u00a0particular correlation arises simply from the\u00a0fact of\u00a0the\u00a0three previous ArtsCross editions: Beijing in\u00a02009, (called Danscross), Taipei in\u00a02011, Beijing again in\u00a02012; and\u00a0now in\u00a02013 in\u00a0London, my\u00a0home. Thus all of\u00a0the\u00a0experiences, the\u00a0intensity of\u00a0the\u00a0rehearsals and\u00a0performances, the\u00a0passion of\u00a0the\u00a0exchanges, and\u00a0the\u00a0late-night<\/nobr> problem solving with noodles, barbeques and\u00a0beer \u2013 all of\u00a0this was coming home to\u00a0London.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0wider relevance is more difficult to\u00a0articulate as\u00a0it involves broad sweeps of\u00a0history, and\u00a0concerns the\u00a0habitus, or\u00a0unstated assumptions, formed through a\u00a0western narrative in\u00a0which the\u00a0modern world, and\u00a0concepts of\u00a0modernity, has been constructed by\u00a0Europeans who shaped the\u00a0modern age. This lens, through which we view the\u00a0world, is of\u00a0course, out of\u00a0date, but more pertinently was never accurate.<\/p>\n

Now, ArtsCross in\u00a0its small way, is assisting in\u00a0a\u00a0reconsideration of\u00a0that world-view<\/nobr>\u00a0\u2014 bringing artists from Beijing and\u00a0Taipei to\u00a0London and\u00a0into a\u00a0dynamic and\u00a0catalytic space as\u00a0partners and\u00a0collaborators, and\u00a0acknowledging that the\u00a0economic and\u00a0cultural dominance that the\u00a0West achieved about 300 years ago, has now lapsed\u00a0\u2014 the\u00a0tide has turned and\u00a0the\u00a0world is finding a\u00a0new balance. It may not return in\u00a0the\u00a0immediate future to\u00a0the\u00a0Asian dominance that marked the\u00a0millennia prior to\u00a0the\u00a0Industrial Revolution, but certainly the\u00a0new world order is more complex, more pluralistic and\u00a0features multiple modernities.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0am not certain, however, that this changing order has been grasped in\u00a0the\u00a0UK. I\u00a0notice the\u00a0looks of\u00a0incomprehension when speak about the\u00a0Beijing subway (underground) system with its air conditioned carriages, flat screen displays adjacent to\u00a0every door, and\u00a0the\u00a0Wi-Fi<\/nobr> internet access available throughout the\u00a0system. This may not be the\u00a0only China, but it is China, and\u00a0to\u00a0paraphrase the\u00a0Beatles, have we noticed that the\u00a0\u2018lights have changed\u2019?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0tide of\u00a0western dominance that formed a\u00a0flood of\u00a0economic and\u00a0cultural hard and\u00a0soft power, coupled with empire and\u00a0arrogance, has turned \u2013 now we must deal with the\u00a0new realities and\u00a0re-examine<\/nobr> our narratives and\u00a0our place in\u00a0the\u00a0world. The\u00a0wave is rolling back, we are \u2018bringing it all back home\u2019 and\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0same time leaving our home, our habitus, our narratives. We find ourselves \u201celsewhere\u2019 and\u00a0now have to\u00a0make sense of\u00a0that place, and\u00a0our position in\u00a0this rapidly shifting, new and\u00a0strange dislocation. Nothing in\u00a0our education, national narratives or\u00a0discourses has prepared us \u2013 but to\u00a0paraphrase choreographer Hofesh Schechter\u2019s text in\u00a0Political Mother<\/i>: \u2018where there is pressure, there is dance\u2019.<\/p>\n

ArtsCross London 2013: Leaving home: being elsewhere<\/i> is beginning; as\u00a0it unfolds so does the\u00a0possibility of\u00a0new exchanges, new understandings, new beginnings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Martin Welton writes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

This weekend, choreographers and\u00a0dancers from London, Taipei and\u00a0Beijing meet together for\u00a0the\u00a0first time. At\u00a0this stage, we know little about the\u00a0works that will be made, but what we do know is that they will challenge our expectations.<\/p>\n

Some of\u00a0these may be cultural:<\/p>\n