Created by Shakthi Sivanathan and Aimée Falzon from CuriousWorks
Commissioned by Parramasala, Australian Festival of South Asian Arts and presented as part of Parramasala 2011
From the first few moments it took my breath away.
So incredible. My heart… I don’t know how to feel. So beautiful.
Gut wrenching. The music just takes you in there.
Considering the tragedy inherent in these stories this was a wonderfully uplifting and amazing experience…. beautiful.
This is another level of experience – thank you for the journey, the senses are buzzing.
A sensory delight; informative, dream-like and profoundly moving. Thank you!
Totally immersive! I loved the creative use of space to tell a really engaging story. It will stay with me forever.
I was so moved by the whole experience… Thank you for putting together such a sensory odyssey. Will tell everyone about this.
I just spent three weeks at [international arts festival] being bombarded by art from around the world. This was a breath of fresh air.
The Other Journey is a unique art work: a multi-sensory, immersive storytelling experience.
The work is centred around honest, intimate stories from three people who fled a war in the villages of Sri Lanka to settle into the largest city in Australia. Set to a luscious score mixing South Asian and Western influences, the music and stories are played through portable audio players and headphones. During the work, the deep listening experience takes place in varied, beautiful settings: on a boat ride; under bird sculptures; amidst fire and oil lamps on a river bank; amongst whiffs of cinnamon and jasmine; surrounded by elegant, large-scale, outdoor video art. We like to think of it as an arts adventure.
The movement of refugees and immigrants across the world is usually relayed through statistics, news bites, policy and campaign. Through these channels, public responses generally alternate between scorn and pity. The Other Journey instead relays the intimacy, dignity and compromise that surrounds the decision to flee: and the courage, risk and transformation it takes to belong again to a new community.
The show is always adapted to its local environment and is most suited to quiet, reflective places (ideally by a river) just next to highly-visible, public meeting points. In special circumstances, the content itself can also be adapted to different cities and towns, with stories from the local Sri Lankan or a local migrant/refugee community in that place incorporated into the work.
Contact the director Shakthi Sivanathan to discuss further: shakthi@curiousworks.com.au.
Video footage from the Parramasala preview night with the community and collaborators (courtesy of Guido Gonzalez and Matta Media)
News story from SBS (an Australian TV channel) of the Parramasala preview night with the community and collaborators
Image from Parramasala closing night
Images from the Parramasala preview night with the community and collaborators (courtesy of the festival Guido Gonzalez and Matta Media)
The Other Journey is created and presented by artists Shakthi Sivanathan and Aimée Falzon