03 Feb 2010
Māori storytellers, playwrights, choreographers and performers are being invited to apply for the 2010 Toi Sqwigwialtxw artist-in-residence programme at Evergreen State University in Olympia, Washington.
The biennial is supported by Te Waka Toi, the Māori arts board of Creative New Zealand, and the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, based at the university.
Applications are being requested from established performance artists of Māori descent by 5 April 2010 for the six-week residency, starting in July.
“The successful candidate will be an ambassador for Māori arts and culture while participating in campus activities but also performances and festivals in local Native Amercan communities,” said Te Waka Toi Chair Darrin Haimona.
“They will go beyond a classroom setting to experience a true exchange of cutural and artistic practise.”
The artist will be able to undertake their own project while also working with established and emerging Native American artists including renowned Tlingit artist Gene Taga, and local Alaskan and Coast Salish drum and dance groups.
Longhouse Education and Cultural Center Director Tina Kuckkhan said, “we’re very excited about the opportunity because this is the first time that a performance artist from Aotearoa has been invited to be a Toi Sqwigwialtxw artist-in-residence”.
The artist will be able to explore the similarities and differences between Māori and Native American culture and also collaborate on the creation of a performance piece expressing cultural identity.
The collaboration will be documented by the university’s Centre for Creative and Applied Media, which includes a high-definition television studio, so it can be made available to other students, performers and cultural institutions.
Candidates for the residency will need to demonstrate excellence in their chosen artform and be available to travel to the United States by late June.
The residency programme will also coincide with the Tribal Canoe Journeys cultural festival and the Spirit Northwest Native Arts Festival.
Artists can find more information and guidelines on the Special opportunities page of the Creative New Zealand website or contact Puawai Cairns on 04 4980705 or puawai.cairns@creativenz.govt.nz
For more information about the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at Evergreen State University visit http://www.evergreen.edu/longhouse/
Notes to Editors: Sqwigwialtxw means ‘house of welcome’ in the language of South Puget Sound Salish.
For more information please contact:
Hannah Evans
Media Strategy and Communications
04 498 0725
027 677 8070
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