arts workshops - wraptheworld

4 December 2015

Moving Through

presents

Moving Through

Noon – Midnight

Saturday 12th December

Sunbeach Hotel Hikkaduwa and Dodanduwa

On December 12th, Hikkaduwa and Dodanduwa will host an extraordinary international programme of performances, music and installations featuring performers and artists from 7 countries and Sri Lanka.

The programme is organised by Scottish based artist and producer Neil Butler of international arts organisation UZ Arts. Neil has been bringing international artists and performers to Sri Lanka since 200, organising the first Hikkaduwa Beach Carnival in 2005 and establishing the Sura Medura Residency for international artists the following year.

In 2007, Neil organised a Peace Concert with the Maharaja Organisation. Since its inception he has supported the Colombo Arts Biennale as International Curator and for the second edition as co-director. In February 2015 he brough an extraordinary range of artists to audiences in Hikkaduwa and Colombo, with the finale being the building of a life size paper boat by the artist Frank Bölter, which delighted and bemused audiences as Frank attempted to sail back to Germany.

For the December 12th event, he has brought together artists from Scotland, Austria, Nigeria, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

Over a 6-week residency the artists have created their own installations and performances as they response to the country and culture surrounding them. Over the last two weeks they have worked together to create a collective performance where they will be joined on the 12th of Decemeber for the finale by Sri Lankan artists and performers, and performers from the Afro Sri Lankan community of Puttalam and Sirambiadiya.

Said Neil Butler; “We invite the public to meet the artists, enjoy their installations and performances and then join in the party at the end of the day for a rice and curry banquet, singing, dancing and fireworks”.

The day starts at noon at Sunbeach Hotel in Hikkaduwa and continues with a journey to nearby fishing village of Dodanduwa, where there will be remarkable installations and performances centred around a wrecked trawler that has been turned into a musical instrument. There will be performances in and around the sea and then a party in the evening back at Sunbeach Hotel.

All the events are free but if you wish to join the artists for lunch or dinner, you should reserve a place by emailing – movingthrough@uzarts.com

25 August 2014

Sura Medura Winter Residencies for 2014 / 2015 Announced

UZ Arts are delighted to announce that they will be working with IN SITU to bring six European artists to Sura Medura Internationation Residency Centre through their Europeans Abroad fund. The residencies, which will take place in the winter of 2014/2015, will give the chosen artists the opportunity to explore and develop new work in response to their environment.

The international directors are:

Adrian Schvarzstein

Since 1989, Schvarzstein has been working as a clown, actor and theatre director after studying ‘Commedia Dell’Arte’ in Italy. Recent projects include the street theatre performance ‘Kamchatka’ (Miramiro Prize 2008) and directing the opera ‘La Barca’ in Holland. A Catalan by adoption, but really a mixture of various nationalities whose formation took place all over Europe, Schvarstein has spent his life avidly accumulating experiences and it would be difficult to find a field of artistic activity that does not interest him

Kitt Johnson

Danish dancer and choreographer Kitt Johnson has beeb developing her unique artistic universe for more than 25 years. Her style is at one minimalist, expressive and innovative. She has been artistic director of the company Kitt Johnson x-act since 1992. With this company she has created more than 50 productions nationally as well as internationally – her trademark is solo performance, but her repertoire is wide and also includes ensemble works, Cirque Nouveau, site-specific work and children’s performance. Kitt Johnson X-act also mounts and curates performance festivals with the company, including the site-specific MELLEMRUM biennale, contributing to her ambition to create a platform from which Danish and international performance art can engage in dialogue and share experience.

Alex Rigg

Alex studied Fine Arts at Glasgow School of Art and at the University of Ulster and has since had a prolific career in practising various art forms. As well as having thirty years of practical experience in building large-scale structures in timber, steel, cloth and stone, he has also been creating and delivering live events since 1982. Particularly iconic are the large-scale willow, steel and timber fire-sculptures that Alex and colleague Trevor Leat create together for festivals and events, including the Wickerman Festival and many par Hogmanay events. Similarly, his incredible work in physical theatre, dance, sculpture and design has been shown internationally, and his company Oceanallover has created many innovative events, bringing new audiences to physical performance.

Europeans Abroad aims to create bridges with artistic and cultural partners outside Europe in the form of residencies or co-productions. Calling on its experience throughout the European territory, the IN SITU network offers its partners and artists the opportunity to enhance their practices by discovering the realities of other continents.

4 February 2013

Eagle House: 2nd Anniversary Party

UZ Arts director, Neil Butler, has just returned from his time in Sri Lanka visiting Kit and the Sura Medura Centre, the Sunbeach Hotel and Eagle House, the new home of the art classes set up in Hikkaduwa after the tsunami of 2004. The “Hikkaduwa Area Relief Fund” created Chandrasevana, an initiative that originally helped locals rebuild fishing boats and businesses, supporting the community and then went on to open the Chandrasevana Creation Centre that provided arts classes for children.

When the centre needed to move premises, it was housed in Sura Medura for a while but then found its permanent home in Eagle House with lead volunteer Eddi Piper steering the helm. They celebrated their 2nd anniversary at Eagle House recently with a day of creative fun and games with art workshops and “Bat the Rat”. No animals were harmed in the making of this party!