XENON Explodes at Canterbury Festival

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Canterbury Festival

7Tuesday 26th October 2010
St Peter's Methodist Church, Canterbury

International artist Mikhail Karikis presents XENON, the interdisciplinary
“exploded” opera at the heart of the East Kent Festival Cluster project
which sees the region’s leading cultural festivals work together for the very
first time.

A collaborative project by renowned artist Mikhail Karikis, XENON explores the theme of “The Stranger” through six separate but linked events taking place throughout East Kent during 2010. An opera in six acts, XENON has
manifested itself through public participatory performance art; an intense portrayal of the rights of man; a choral performance by former quarrymen; a colourful costume for a daytime parade through the streets of Folkestone; and
a silent disco with a difference at Broadstairs. It now comes to Canterbury, bringing all the elements of the commission together for a multi-disciplinary performance in Canterbury on Tuesday 26th October.

A first for regional arts festivals, the East Kent Festival Cluster offers visitors the chance to follow the “exploded opera” through its many and varied incarnations whilst simultaneously enjoy the wealth of entertainment each individual festival has to offer. Behind this unique project is the Kent County Council's Arts Development Unit who have brought together the region’s leading arts festivals as a way to diversify the festivals’ collective offering for cultural visitors and to raise the profile of East Kent as a centre of excellence for arts events.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Canterbury Festival Director Rosie Turner commented: “Mikhail Karikis’s exploded opera has been a fascinating experiment and we are looking forward to its climax on 26 October during the Canterbury Festival. Throughout the year, Mikhail has created a series of performances and interventions across six diverse festivals in East Kent, from the theme of ‘Xenon – the Stranger’. His work has been inventive and quirky and has stretched the boundaries of our audiences while giving us as Festival Directors a strong sense of the region in
which we work.”

Rosie added: “Festivals have a clearly defined sense of time and location, so such artistic collaboration has at times been challenging but ultimately has been very rewarding. We have sent a clear message that East Kent has a rich and
imaginative cultural programme year round, and we very much hope to see increased cross-over both within our existing audiences as well as even greater visitor numbers in future years. “

XENON Explodes at Canterbury Festival

Tickets £8.00

For more information visit:
www.canterburyfestival.co.uk/eventdetail.asp?id=1173