Ria Soemardjo and dance artist Janette Hoe collaborate to create an ongoing exploration of contemporary rituals in response to urban sites in Australia. Their contemporary performance work draws deeply from their personal connections to Malaysian-Chinese and Indonesian ceremonial traditions.
echoes Project Presents The seafarer's welcome (2018) mapping Melbourne FEstival)
A journey through the spaces at Mission to Seafarers - a sanctuary for seafarers for the last 100 years and a symbol of old world generosity amidst the rapidly shifting landscape of the Docklands. The Echoes Projects artists evoke fragments of stories embedded in this site through mesmerising live soundscapes, movement and imagery.
Featuring intricate rhythmic compositions inspired by the rich heritage of Indonesian and Middle Eastern musical traditions, performed by Ron Reeves and Matt Stonehouse – two of Australia’s foremost world music percussionists.
Featuring intricate rhythmic compositions inspired by the rich heritage of Indonesian and Middle Eastern musical traditions, performed by Ron Reeves and Matt Stonehouse – two of Australia’s foremost world music percussionists.
Performers
Janette Hoe – dance artist
Ria Soemardjo – musician
Pongjit (Jon) Saphakhun – actor
Ron Reeves – musician
Matt Stonehouse – musician /instrument maker
Janette Hoe – dance artist
Ria Soemardjo – musician
Pongjit (Jon) Saphakhun – actor
Ron Reeves – musician
Matt Stonehouse – musician /instrument maker
Excerpt from the Mission to Seafarers AGM 1945
'Chapel services 499, entertainments 757, attendance at the three clubs 105,371, number of ships in port 1,503, visits to ships 3,748 , letters received 2,773, letters posted 24,602 , cables 1,032 , hospital visits: 708, Sunday teas : 149, Sunday drives 84 number in hostel: 4,315 , riding parties 23, Sunday dinners 4, airgraphs 808, billeting 88, new testaments 4, prayer books 85, football matches 45, baptisms 8, marriages 6, burials 5, food parcels to Britain 229, trips organised for the USN 64, theatre parties arranged 28, supplied to ships - gramophones, records, books, magazines, table games, playing cards, toys for British seamens children, woollen comforts and other clothing'
Background and Past work
MAPPING MELBOURNE FESTIVAL - DECEMBER 2017
The Echoes Project presented a public Showing of 20 minute pilot ritual/performance in Chinatown Plaza and Cohen Lane, CBD - 2017
Ria worked with Janette Hoe (dance artist) - researching the history of the bustling, laneway next to the Chinese Museum, in Cohen Place. They discovered that the 3 storey building backing onto the laneway was once a sweat shop, a brothel, a Chinese temple and now a busy bar /restaurant. In collaboration with percussionists Ron Reeves and Matt Stonehouse, the ensemble developed a contemporary performance ritual incorporating live music/dance.
Ria worked with Janette Hoe (dance artist) - researching the history of the bustling, laneway next to the Chinese Museum, in Cohen Place. They discovered that the 3 storey building backing onto the laneway was once a sweat shop, a brothel, a Chinese temple and now a busy bar /restaurant. In collaboration with percussionists Ron Reeves and Matt Stonehouse, the ensemble developed a contemporary performance ritual incorporating live music/dance.
'Under the Facing Heaven Archway in Chinatown Plaza, one dancer and three musicians take you on a journey, evoking fragments of forgotten stories from the surrounding laneways.'
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Photos by Max Milne and Damien Vicenza
Video(below) by Pin Rada |
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