Goossun Art-illery

WHAT IS ON

After having concluding the HamletZar: Overease residency, the Goossun Art-illery team is working on making the evaluation and reports on the past activities. Here is a documentary video of HamletZar: Overseas by Ronit Meranda.

At the moment there is no upcoming HamletZar activity planned except for workshops in a number of difefrent countries. 

The next residency of the HamletZar project will take place in 2013.


HAMLETZAR: OVERSEAS
Research Residency in DK & UK 2011

Goossun Art-illery organizes the upcoming HamletZar residency, entitled Overseas in July and August 2011 in Denmark and the United Kingdom. This residency continues the research process of the project with a special emphasis on MUSIC in relation to performer’s physical and vocal action in the one hand and in the other with overall theme of the project, Immigration (that which we in HamletZar vocabulary refer to as Encounter of two Worlds).

The Residency explores and experiments on the Zar music and related Middle Eastern musical traditions in conjunction with that of the Western musical tradition. This Residency continues to work with and develop the principles, which underlined the previous residencies in terms of research, innovation and sharing, providing a platform for professional development to artists from various cultural and professional backgrounds.

The process will be shared with artistic and cultural community as well as general public in the form of work demonstration presentations in Bournemouth and London always followed by a discussion with the audience.

The timetable of the HamletZar: Overseas residency is as follows: 

1. •14 – 30 July: first part of residency at Odin Teatret, Holstebro, Denmark
   

2. •1 – 13 August: second part of the residency at Pavilion Dance, Bournemouth, UK
   

3. •15 – 21 August: third part of the residency at John the Baptist Church, London, UK
   

In addition to and during the main work in studio, the HamletZar team will also organizes various activities such as workshops, company class and screening of films. These activities are addressed and open to local communities in which the HamletZar residency will take place.

WHAT IS HAMLETZAR

HamletZar is an international performance project focusing on research, exchange and education. The project develops through residencies with participation of a large number of dancers, actors, musicians, scholars and artists of various disciplines. HamletZar residencies are periods of intensive cultural events, offering professional development and concentrating on experimentation in the field of performing arts, its craftsmanship and socio-ethical relevance.

The HamletZar project began in Edinburgh in summer of 2008 as the result of a collaboration between producer, Lene Bang and Vahid, director of Goossun Art-illery and it is an ongoing activity of the company, organized sporadically in different locations and in partnership with a number of art organizations and academic institutes such as Goldsmiths, University of London, Barbican Centre, Odin Teatret, Dance Base etc.

The activities and outcomes of the HamletZar project include residencies, workshops, conferences, performances, documentary film, records of music and a book. These diverse artistic initiatives are arranged and produced over a long period of time depending on sufficient human and financial resources.

THE DRAMATURGICAL CONCEPT
As the title suggests, HamletZar is a fusion of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Zar ceremony. Zar is a Middle Eastern ceremony whose function is to pacify malevolent spirits (believed to be harboring in the bodies of the sick) through music, chanting and dance. The story of HamletZar performance takes place on the ship in which Hamlet returns, having hoist Rosancrantz and Guildernstern by their own petard, to Denmark. In this version of the tale, the ship is not filled with pirates, but rather with immigrants, and the two stories – Hamlet’s own and that of the stowaways – emerge through this encounter. The immigrants try to appease the spirits raging in Hamlet by performing a Zar ceremony on the dispossessed Prince; what follows is an exploration of his affliction and ills, of a condition which is ultimately a mirror of their own.

WHAT IS A RESIDENCY

The HamletZar residencies are cultural events devoted to exploring the craftsmanship and practices of performance as well as the issues at the heart of the HamletZar project: immigration and citizenship and their relation to personal and political identity. The
Main Work is a professional development opportunity for participants and consists of experimentation on various aspect of performance making. Over the course of the residencies, specialized theatre practitioners, scholars and artists will also be invited to give master classes, work demonstration and lectures to the participants and the public. In the HamletZar Project, performer training, professional exchange and open dialogue are tools of art and instruments of change.

CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES

HamletZar project’s preparation began in 2008 with several workshops in various places. The first residency  took place in June 2009. For more details of HamletZar activities and info regarding the upcoming residencies see the calendar of activities below. 

ACTIVITIES 2011:

  •HamletZar workshop at Københavns Musikteater in partnership with Dansbyrån, Copenhagen (10 – 21 Oct, 2011)

   •HamletZar: Overseas III residency at John the Baptist Church, London, UK (15 – 21 August, 2011)

   •Work Demonstration of the research process of HamletZar: Overseas for public, London (20 August, 2011)

   •HamletZar training Workshop, London (15 – 17 August, 2011)

   •HamletZar: Overseas II residency at Pavilion Dance, Bournemouth, UK (1 – 13 August, 2011)

   •HamletZar training Workshop, bournemouth (3, 9 & 13 August, 2011)

   •HamletZar: Overseas I residency at Odin Teatret, Denmark (14 – 30 July, 2011)

   •HamletZar Selection Workshop at John the Baptist Church, Lonodn, UK (March 17 – 18, 2011)

ACTIVITIES 2010:

  •Workshop in Athens
Athens , Greece, 6 – 10 October 2010

   •Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at John the Baptist Church, Lonodn, UK (July 19 – 22, 2010)

•Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at John the Baptist Church, Lonodn, UK (June 21 – 23, 2010)

•Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at Kinitiras Studio, Athens, Greece (April 6 – 11, 2010)

•Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at John the Baptist Church, Lonodn, UK (March 4 – 5, 2010)

•HamletZar: Dissection, a two-day conference at The Barbican Centre, London, UK (8 – 9 February 2010)

   •HamletZar: A Journey, at At 176/Zabludowicz Collection (29 January 2010)

   •Lab Experience: a week of exploration at Laboratoriet, Århus, DK (11 – 15 January 2010)

ACTIVITIES 2009:

•Truth is Fragmented: 7th Nov 09, Pinter Centre, London, UK

   •HamletZar: First Glance, a work demonstration at Performance Research Forum, Goldsmiths, London, UK (October 7, 2009)

    •3rd Residency: Songs of Angels Wings, at Dance Base, Edinburgh, UK (September 19 – October 2, 2009)

•2nd Residency: Outside the Text, at Goldsmiths College, London, UK (August 10–25, 2009)

   •1st Residency: Exodus, at Odin Teatret, Holstebro, DK (June 7–27, 2009)