2021.05.15
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從兩千年前開始，貫穿亞非歐的「香料之路」促成世界文明的流動——香料、糧食、商品、文化、權力、科技——帶來人類社會全球化的雛型。直至當代，一切看似理所當然地往前推進，無遠弗屆。
突然間，一場席捲全球的疫症打斷一切秩序，人的流動戛然而止；同時氣候及生態危機迫在眉睫，越見頻繁的大災難指日可待——海洋污染、極端高溫、乾旱、水災、飢荒。為了食物，為了生存，好些貧苦的人口更成為自己土地上的難民。這些是否預言著，人類社會的大限將至？
《香料之路》巡迴五個時區、串連九國的十位藝術家，同步實時演出食物與掙扎的故事、我們當下經歷的故事、世界被封鎖隔離的故事，尋找故事隙縫中展望未來、改變未來的可能。
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The Spice Road (Online Live Show)
Presented by: MA in Cultural Management Programme - Department of Cultural and Religious Studies - The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Produced by: Centre for Community Cultural Development, théâtre de l'ordinaire
Platform: Zoom
Synopsis: Since 2000 years ago, the Spice Road has become prominent when spices were treated as rare treasures that exist only in certain areas of the world. The trades of spices, goods, food also brought cultural exchanges, power and economic domination, conflicts and political struggles. Concepts, technology, religions, languages and arts were shared along the routes as the earliest form of globalisation. For centuries we thought that all these resources were Boundless. However, our resources are not inexhaustible, and the world today must face up to major ecological issues that call into question the way we eat. The idea was to bring together 10 artists from the same generation to create a show around the food and rethinking our own « spice-road ».
Based on the true stories and experiences of the artists sent by these groups, the team will create a theatre piece, fusing the art forms from all cultures to experiment with new interpretations of physical theatre, music and languages. The theme of the creation will focus on issues related to food, as materials and as metaphors, fusing personal stories of memories and ethical choices, social and religious decisions on food consumption, traditional practices that undermine certain populations, economic imbalance of corporate power and food producers, individual versus collective fight for dignity, and so on.
Now, for the first time in centuries a large part of humanity has found itself deprived of movement and of this ability to meet. Is it a harbinger that the world as we know it is not unlimited?
This “spice road” project, like many others, could not see the light of day. The team has however decided not to stop at the pandemic and to make this event a spectacle. Since food was considered essential unlike art in many countries in this strange period, let them assert themselves as essential. Imagine 10 artists deprived of their freedom to perform. Theater artists are limited in their movement and in their ability to express themselves. The idea will therefore be to create a form without worrying about the limits of these new borders because the power of the imagination is Boundless.
The Spice Road will therefore tell us this story. The story we are living right now through the eyes of these actors. The project will be the story of an unfinished project. It will be the story of a world at a standstill. And the possibility of thinking about the future. Think about the future to change it. No longer limit yourself. To be realistic and ask for Boundlessness.
Scheme/ Festival: Along the Edge Arts Festival 2021
Art Form: Drama
Director: Maxime Sechaud
Advisors / Dramaturgs: Mok Chiu Yu, Subodh Patnaik, Ashesh Malla
Producer: Mok Chiu Yu
Production Manager: Wan Wing Yan Tiffany
Technical Co-ordinator: Wong Kwong San Kelvin
Deputy Technical Manager: Chen Yi-ching
Performers: Benjamin Colin, Cristina Gutiérrez, Isra Abdulmawgod, Kathrin Goosses, Manoj Maharjan, Rogers Williams Mpaata Otako, Subodh Patnaik, Ng Man Kei Eric, Ng Yee Ki Kiki
