Bangkok--17 Jan--Media Plus Connection
British Council Thailand delivers the “New and Best” of UK Arts with three major new UK Arts projects including the first ever UK microfestival to be produced in Asia at the iconic Scala cinema, together with “iN-PUBLiC” an exhibition of Street Photography and “A Midsummer Nights Dream”, Benjamin Britten’s opera, with Grand Opera Thailand and the European Chamber Opera.
The British Council will write a new chapter in the Arts and cultural scene of Thailand’s artistic community by introducing the micro festival - “Live at the Scala” at the Scala cinema, Siam Square from February 7- 9, 2013. “Live at the Scala” is a unique event in Asia for the first time, featuring the daring and unconventional works of Forest Fringe, the UK’s leading non-profit artist collective and producer, which promises to add a breath of fresh air for the local artistic community. More importantly, the British Council aims to highlight the best of UK contemporary performance art, together with local Thai artists.
“The Scala cinema has always been rich in heritage and is considered an iconic building in terms of architectural, cultural and nostalgic value.” said Simon Farley, British Council’s Head of Business Development, Creative Industries. Mr. Farley added that this unique event will enable unprecedented professional networking for the arts and cultural industries between Thailand and the UK., “The artistic talent represents some of the best contemporary new performers from the UK, and is a great example of the British Council global Arts strategy of bringing such work to local audiences in action, and an indication of the priority we place on the value of arts and cultural exchange between the UK and Thailand.”
In addition, the BC Arts programme for early 2013 features a stunning new visual arts project, and another first for Thailand, a street photography exhibition from QUAD and iN-PUBLiC, both leading and contemporary photography organizations from the UK, in collaboration with the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) and the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC).
The British Council and TCDC will jointly present a three-day workshop "Bangkok: Street Photography Workshop" by highly acclaimed British photographers David Gibson and Richard Bram on 1-3 February, 2013. Workshop recruitment will be held till 15th January, 2013. Applications can be sent to
[email protected]
David Gibson, one of the founder members of iN-PUBLIC has exhibited his work at the Museum of London, while Richard Bram, a New York-based photographer has had work held in the Biblioth?que Nationale de France and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography.
Wrapping up this current British Council created UK Arts and Cultural programme is a full scale opera production of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in celebration of this most prominent of all UK composer’s 100th anniversary of his birth. This is a truly high-profile joint UK-Thai Arts collaboration with leading singers and dancers from both the UK (Nonsuch History and Dance) and Thailand (Jittee Chompee’s 18 Monkeys) with the Grand Opera Thailand and the European Chamber Opera which will be performed at the Aksara Theater from March 28-30, 2013.
“Live at the Scala”, in a nutshell, is a UK Arts and Cultural showcase of the best of contemporary UK performing arts featuring live performances, video and installations by leading UK performance artists together with Thai artists. The event will be held on February 7-9, 2013 at 19.00hrs at the Scala cinema, Siam Square.
The Asian-premiere of this UK-produced performance exudes the creative juices and extraordinary talent of Forest Fringe, and being staged in Bangkok at the Scala says Forest Fringe Co-Director Andy Field will deliver a most thrilling exploration of our relationship to cinema and cinema buildings.
“We [Forest Fringe] have always been unconventional and daring when it comes to the field of performance arts. The Scala cinema is an iconic building which is why we see it as the perfect venue for performance arts to explain the intangibles between cinema and the building itself,” said Mr. Field as he added that Forest Fringe was founded in Edinburgh in 2007 and has always been cutting- edge which is why “Live at the Scala" extends beyond the traditional theatrical performance thanks to the presence of “highly acclaimed works and new pieces made in response to the architectural significance of the building.
The micro festival will feature the following performers from the UK: Action Hero, a collaboration between Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse on the Upper Foyer Festival Bar and Cafe; Brian Lobel’s interactive performance installation featuring 4 television sets, 12 headsets, a bed and 100 classic musicals to explore isolation at the street-level lobby area; Tania El Khoury, at Scala’s backstage dressing room; and Richard de Domenici one of the UK’s most intellectually gifted, imaginative and dedicated performance artist at the dressing room and screening area of the Scala cinema, Gob squad at the corridors surrounding the main cinema auditorium, Tim Etchell's provocative installation work in a Scala dressing room and a stunning performance by Dickie Beau, one of the hottest alternative performance artists featuring “queer performance” work which is regarded as avant garde, a blend of cabaret, music hall, mime and clowning as a fitting finale to the production inside the main Scala auditorium.
Also featuring are performers from Thailand: B-Floor Theatre, Thailand’s vanguard physical theater company and Messy Gallery and Project Space who will showcase rare documents, books and an in-house library to stimulate collaboration and intervention and artistic exchange.
For further details please visit the British Council www.britishcouncil.or.th