Arts Centre Melbourne Presents Outer Urban Projects' VESSEL

A journey from one side of the world to another, through generations, time and parallel realities will be undertaken in the premiere of Outer Urban Projects' dance theatre work VESSEL at Arts Centre Melbourne's Playhouse Rehearsal Room from 20 - 23 September. Incorporating street, cultural and contemporary styles with text and an original sound score, VESSEL is about giving birth and circumstances people are born into.

Outer Urban Projects Artistic Director and VESSEL Director and Composer, Irine Vela, explains that when developing this new work, the 2001 SIEV X (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X) tragedy came to mind - it was a dilapidated fishing vessel that sank carrying around 400 asylum seekers from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

"The experience of the families that boarded the SIEV X was a stark contrast to the way we perceive the modern Australian family of 2.4 children. Three hundred and fifty three people died in the SIEV X tragedy, including 146 children, 142 women and 65 men,' says Vela.

"Some of the survivor testimonies are chilling and surreal. The words of one survivor are echoed in VESSEL by Iranian actor Sahra Davoudi."

"The womb is a vessel that protects and nurtures an embryo to survive long enough to be born into life. Asylum seekers board a vessel to bring their families to safety and security. When and how does a parent let go of its child and the child of its parent?" questions Vela.

VESSEL features an intergenerational ensemble whose origins span five continents, including the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, South East Asia and Indigenous Australia.

"I boarded the boat with 15 other family members, 9 drowned and 6 remained. We clung on to a plank of timber for 20 hours drifting in the water. Something I witnessed left a very strange impression, a baby with umbilical cord still attached to the mother was amongst those who drowned." Testimonial from a survivor of the SIEV X (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X) tragedy

Outer Urban Projects is a bold performing arts company that creates new forms of contemporary performance imagined from the life experiences of young emerging artists from the outer northern suburbs. The company gives voice to the unexpressed aspirations and creative potential of ghettoised, culturally diverse emerging artists whose origins span five continents.

Director and composer: Irine Vela
Choreographers: Thomas E. S. Kelly, Nebahat Eroplat and Demi Sorono
Dancers: Victoria Canning, Tehyali Malone, Damian Seddon, Simone Etheve and Josephine Pelman
Actor: Sahra Davoudi

Arts Centre Melbourne presents Outer Urban Projects'
VESSEL
20 - 23 September 2017
Times : Wed - Thu 10:30am & 1pm, Fri 12:30pm & 7pm, Sat 7pm
Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse Rehearsal Room
Book: artscentremelbourne.com.au or 1300 182 183