Border Crossing Launches ORIGINS Festival

On March 1st, at an event at the British Museum, Border Crossings announced the programme for their upcoming ORIGINS Festival, which features work by indigenous artists across a wide range of London venues, including the Southbank Centre, Shakespeare's Globe, Rich Mix and many more.

Border Crossings' ORIGINS Festival is a multidisciplinary festival focusing on intercultural dialogue & showcasing the very best artistic work from First Nations communities across the globe, including indigenous Australians, Native Americans (North and South), Maori, Pacific Islanders and Inuit. The festival will bring theatre, dance, music, ceremony, visual arts, literature, workshops, food events, screenings & talks, as well as an extensive programme of participation & learning to London, with a strong emphasis on reaching new, diverse participants & audiences.

ORIGINS 2019 is the 10th anniversary Festival of First Nations to be produced by Border Crossings, building on the successes of biennial festivals since 2009, and will place particular emphasis on participation & dialogue. Events include:

-Multi-award winning visual and choreographic theatre piece INO MOXO, by Peruvian Grupo Integro, about an Ayahuasca shaman whose prophecies about climate change, conflict and changing human values resonate with us today, at the Southbank Centre.

-Community engagement dance piece WESTWAY SOLSTICE by dance artist brian solomon//ELECTRIC MOOSE, using a large, diverse cast of community participants in North Kensington. Brian uses his 'Awakened state' approach to demonstrate the huge value of First Nations arts to community cohesion, mental health & well-being.

-Dance artist Avatâra Ayuso and Inuk elder Naulaq LeDrew explore the migration experiences that took them away from their native lands in the Spanish Mediterranean and the Canadian Arctic in NO WOMAN'S LAND at the Place, digging deep into their cultural traditions, histories, humour, prejudices and fears.

-An exhibition of recent works by First Nations Canadian and Native American artists will be presented at The Baldwin Gallery. Participating artist Nadia Myre also presents the performance piece A CASUAL RECONSTRUCTION at Rich Mix, based on conversations around indigenous & mixed-race identities.

-Madeline Sayet, Mohegan theatre maker and recently named Forbes' 30 Under 30 List in the Hollywood & Entertainment category, presents WHERE WE BELONG at Shakespeare's Globe, a rich investigation into the impulses that divide and connect us as people, as well as the story of a wolf that learns how to become a bird and fly. She will also curate GLOBAL INDIGENOUS VOICES, featuring excerpts from 5 plays by indigenous writers from around the world at the British Library.

A full programme of events, which will be further updated before June, can be found at https://originsfestival.bordercrossings.org.uk/programme.

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