Thread by @NYUADArtsCenter

Greeting to everyone at #apam / #asiatopa in Melbourne. We’ll be here all week looking for new relationships and new work.

“Inclusivity is a fundamental condition of excellence”

“Commissioning as an act of faith, courage and speculation.”

Acknowledging and appreciating the welcome to the unceded land of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation, as we visit the city known as Melbourne.

“Lament between crisis and enlightenment” - a provocation by Garin Nugroho in conversation with Jala Adolphus. Crisis = danger + opportunity @APAM_Office

The lament not only as a cry and mourning, but also a celebration of the values of the dead.

“They put the money in the table and we made the show. To me, that was a really good way of collaborating.” - Rachael Maza of @ILBIJERRI @APAM_Office

Striking, committed performances, beautifully designed. The Seen & Unseen. #AsiaTOPA

Before any cross-collaboration: asking the question “Why?” Why is it interesting and meaningful to have this collaboration? Best when the idea doesn’t come from outside but from the artists.

Just adding @Asia_TOPA properly into this thread.

Stop. Cross-Collaborate and Listen. The title of the panel but also, Amber Curreen notes, an important direction about considering the implications. Why? What is to be achieved ? How to navigate different paces, practices and needs?

Communication is important in all artistic pursuits. But when working cross-culturally, you don’t know what you don’t know. And you need to be ok with that and be responsive and reflective.

“They felt they had power because the we’re providing the money” - Amber Curreen about how power can play out in collaboration between Maori theater company and non-Maori org.

Every work you do is a cross cultural collaboration, because every collaborator brings their own cultural lens - Amber Curreen

Trust, time, face to face communication is necessary. And expensive. What are the alternatives? - Kate Ben-Tovim

If you can share a meal and really talk ($&/¥), you can really do something together. Can we treat one another like family members, rather than being “highly professional”

The foundation of a good collaboration is a good relationship. It’s almost impossible to do with an imbalanced power dynamic.

Patience. And the humility to listen well and with generosity. Stripping out your ego. #collaboration

Knowing one another personally is one thing. Knowing how one other works is a separate matter.

Equilibrium doesn’t mean everything is flat and easy. Sometimes it’s (negotiating waves hand gesture)

Writing an MOU as an advance way to open hard questions: such as: What happens if we don’t raise all the money? What happens to intellectual property rights? Bringing a clarity to the conversation.

A lot of people don’t think they have a cultural view. They think that the way they do things is the norm.
- Amber Curreen

Using the contract rider as a way of educating the presenters of values of the community (Land acknowledgements, pricing, backstage access for kids and families, staffing, language) - Rachael Maza of @ILBIJERRI

Learning the traditional names of the land. Learning the significant cultural and spiritual figures. Understanding the bigger histories of a place.

Writing into contracts that artists need to be introduced to the “local mobs” of First Nations people. This can be rewarding for artists on tour but also bring presenters closer to their own communities they don’t know.

How to avoid diluting the interesting particularities in cross-cultural collaborations so that everything just doesn’t become beige?

Even when artists may be speaking the same literal languages they may be speaking different subtextual languages.

Importance of the role of dramaturge as a cultural bridge and interlocutor. Explaining, clarifying. - @GohChingLee

One strategy @Asia_TOPA used to to stage a lab with artists who are considering working together. Give them time and space to see if the collaboration clicks. Can an artistic crush develop into more?