PERFORMANCE: THE KEY TO RESILIENCE IN ASIA-AUSTRALIA ENGAGEMENT Annette Shun Wah – TAASA Review June 2021
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This article was originally found in the June 2021 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 30, Issue 2, Page 18).
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W ho would take on an international arts festival framed by the cultural engagement of Asia and Australia, at a time of highly strained diplomatic relations in our region, severely restricted international travel and rules that limit public gatherings? Well, that’d be me. In politically calmer times, Australian artists were encouraged to look to our north for creative exchange and collaboration.
Cultural engagement was the subtle approach to diplomacy that seems almost genteel in today’s climate.
Yet even with COVID-19 rendering live performing arts difficult if not impossible, it may be that the groundwork in forming strong, enduring person-to-person connections hold the key to resilience and recovery. Asian performance makers used to look towards Europe or America for collaboration and touring, but a new generation of artistic directors and programmers have shifted the focus back towards the region...