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Country(ies):
UK
Brazil
Trinidad

Contacting the World

International street festival
Partners:
Visiting Arts and DCMS, with involvement from Arts Council England, The British Council, UK and overseas
organisations/artists
Funding Bodies:
Visiting Arts, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS )
Project Description:
Contacting the World is an international theatre event addressing especially young people. It started in 2002 and
takes place in the context of the Creative Collaborations Programme, a joint initiative by Visiting Arts and the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport which fosters connections between UK and international artists.
Every two years, twelve companies of young international theatre makers are selected to take part in a UK
residency which creates new work for public presentation. The scheme aims to nurture creativity between UK
and international artists, support the creative industries and enable young people and local communities to
participate in intercultural arts projects.
Contacting the World Street Event, the last event in this initiative, took place on 23 July 2006 in Manchester.
Throughout the week leading up to the event, London artists Kinetika, Arts in Action from Trinidad, Brazilian
Meninos do Morumbi and Baraccudas from Barrow ran a series of workshops with a group of 30-40 young
people from Manchester, Liverpool, London and Belgium. The participants in the project were introduced to
different elements of Brazilian dance and music, Trinidadian carnival traditions, as well as a variety of other
styles of performance. They also attended other workshops and performances by the Contacting the World
companies. Through the inspiration of these workshops a new performance piece was created especially for the
street event, including music, dance and theatrical performance.
Lessons to be Learned:
The Contacting the World project provides opportunities for students and young professionals from around the
world to meet in the UK to exchange experiences and create a performance together which is presented to a
public audience.
Target Groups:
Young theatre makers and theatre groups from the UK and around the world, e.g. in 2006 from Brazil, South
Africa, Scotland, New Zealand, Rwanda, The Philippines, Trinidad, London and Manchester
Contact Details:
Donna Vose
Arts Projects Manager
Visiting Arts
Email: donna.vose@visitingarts.org.uk
Web: http://www.visitingarts.org.uk

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7/5/2015

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Additional Resources:
Contacting the World web site: http://www.contactingtheworld.org/
Visiting Arts training section: http://www.visitingarts.org.uk/training
Submitted by / Source:
Rod Fisher, International Intelligence on Culture, London

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Council of Europe/ERICarts, "Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 16th edition", 2015 | ISSN 2222-7334

http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/intercultural-dialogue-database.php

7/5/2015