Queen Mary Univeristy, Mile End Road, Arts One Building 25th, 26th and 27th July 2014
Reaching into the past to reinvent the future, the Sankofa! Festival presents performances, playful interventions, workshops and debates that explore old myths and new realities.
The Sankofa! Festival is created and produced by Phakama’s Spotlight interns – a team of emerging artists and producers aged 18-24. The Creative Producer Internship is a six month paid opportunity for unemployed young people offering a training in the behind the scenes areas of the arts industry.
Sankofa! Festival is the culmination of the project and marks an important moment in their careers as they take a leap into the unknown, move forward on their journeys and forge new creative identities. Join us at the festival to discover their journeys – past, present and future – with Phakama.
PERFORMANCES 7.30pm
Ivory Tower From high above you look down on the people below. From your lofty heights you think, judge and make assumptions. Embark upon a journey through the lands of ancient gods and immerse yourself in different stories and spaces. Drawing inspiration from myths and legends, Ivory Tower explores the question: who is judging who?
There will be a special pre show Festival Launch ahead of this performance to mark the beginning of the events. Come celebrate with us from 6pm.
Dream. Cease. Repeat. Do you have dreams you aspire to? Do you fight with every inch of your life to get what you are driven to achieve or do you fall by the wayside? From the battlefields of World War I, through the streets of East London in the 70’s, to a family home in 2014- three stories reveal the struggles of obligation and sacrifice and pose the question What matters most to us?
Rivers of Love Two different worlds live side by side in the same city. Two families joined by young love – but will it unite or divide them once and for all?Taking inspiration from Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood Speech, Rivers of Love is a new version of Romeo and Juliet for today’s audience that seeks to reinvent this classic tale and challenge our expectations of what it means to live side by side one another in 21st Century Britain.
This Saturday performance will be followed by an Open Mic Night featuring up and coming musicians and performers.
DEBATES: Mind Snacks 3pm
Feed your mind and let the creativity flow – the interns have identified their BIG issues in the arts sector today. Join us for chilled food and heated debate at these events to kick off the day. Argue about everything from gender inequality in the arts, the relationship between religion and music, disability & access to the decrease in publicly funded arts projects.
WORKSHOPS 5pm
As part of Sankofa! Festival we are inviting audiences to participate in a series of afternoon workshops that explore movement, physicality and identity. Choose from experimenting with the use of masks to create characters and stories, to an introduction to Indian Classical Dance.
PLAYFUL INTERVENTIONS
Throughout the festival there will be a chance for audiences to view an array of work by young emerging artists aged 16-25 outside of the Spotlight internship. These pieces range from film, to performance, to sculpture and art.
For further information, and to book your tickets, please visit our event page below.
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sankofa-festival-tickets-6801392147?aff=eac2