Goossun Art-illery

HamletZar is an international performance project focusing on research, exchange and education. It began in Edinburgh in 2008 and will conclude in 2012 with the performance premiering in 2011 followed by a tour of Europe and the Middle East. Alongside the performance itself, HamletZar is preparing a documentary film, an album of original music, a book on research and performance techniques and two conferences.  

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 harbouring in the bodies of the sick) through music, chanting and movement. 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.

From 2009 to 2011 HamletZar and its international partners will be hosting a series of residencies in locations around the world (Denmark, Canada, Lebanon, Greece, Egypt and the UK among others) which will bring together artists with varied skills and backgrounds. The residencies are cultural events devoted to exploring the techniques 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. Over the course of the residencies, specialized theatre practitioners will be invited to give masterclasses to the participants. There will also be intensive Field Work carried out to investigate the experiences of people directly affected by immigration – not only immigrants and refugees, but also social workers, politicians, policemen and home office officials. In the HamletZar Project, performer training, professional exchange and open dialogue are tools of art – and instruments of change.

FIRST PHASE EVENTS 2009/10:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

•1st Conference, HamletZar: Dissection, at The Barbican Centre, London, UK (8 – 9 February 2010)

SECOND PHASE EVENTS 2010/11:

•Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at John the Baptist Church, Lonodn, UK (March 4 – 5, 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 (June 21 – 23, 2010)

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

•HamletZar: Adorcism, at Maqamat, Beirut, Lebanon (October 18 – 31, 2010)

•Pre-Expressivity & Scenic Presence at MT Space, Kitchener, Canada (Dates TBC, 2011)

The HamletZar project is supported by:

1. •The National Lottery through Arts Council England
   

2. •The Danish Art Council