Becoming […]

Becoming […] is a long term project that utilises performance workshops and presentations in an exhibition setting to talk about national identity through the lens of first generation immigrant experiences. Part exhibition, part documentary theatre, it is adapted and transformed to different nations and their local context using a project/creation model that works locally with different communities and builds on common themes of immigration and nation building.

Made up of Lora V Krasteva Ltd (UK), Terén, Center for Experimental Theatre (Czech Republic), REPLIKA Educational Theatre Center (Romania), and Oyoun Kultur NeuDenken gUG (Germany), the timely partnership is testing Becoming’s framework internationally for the first time. At the centre of the partnership is a residency style touring that allows for local connections between first generation communities, migrant artists, and the producer.

To make the work relevant to local contexts, the partnership is commissioning local migrant artists, creating a common evaluation framework and exchanging skills, in order to build relationships where there might not exist any yet. Lora will also share her knowledge of working with community organisations, as well as professional artists; her experience in advocacy and engaging with policy making and her work with cultural spaces wanting to better fulfil their civic role.

The residency style also means that the travel cost and carbon footprint are minimum, with only the lead artist and her producer as well as a few artefacts travelling abroad each time. There are no sets and the public presentation of work is adapted to the spaces available and the technical equipment on location.

Becoming […] raises questions on how artistic concepts and frameworks that respond to local contexts and communities can be toured in a sustainable way. How can they ensure local, long-term legacies for artists, audiences and communities alike? How can they both be reactive to the world outside the artistic space, whilst creating a sense of Belonging within? How can they build meaningful transnational collaborations?

The first leg of the tour has already shown tangible outcomes and the first presentation hasn’t even happened yet – the open call has put 30 new, first generation, local artists on the venue’s radar, artist collective meetings have taken place in Prague and Brno, and 12 writer’s from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus were offered writing commissions to reflect on the themes of ‘Becoming’.