Diaspora

Diaspora

Supported by Homecoming Scotland, Visting Arts, National Arts Council Singapore and the Singapore Arts Festival

About the Performance

Diaspora is a sweeping, panoramic performance exploring memory, migration, assimilation and the triumph of the human spirit. Ong Keng Sen's visionary production is an intricate layering of music, video and live story-telling.

Keng Sen and a group of video artists have searched for real-life stories of diaspora and displacement. Through the personal stories of Vietnamese Americans, Indonesian Chinese, Indians in South East Asia, Orang Laut (or sea nomads) and Scottish Muslims, Keng Sen explores notions of home, identity and the dispersion of peoples through war, through birth and through choice.

This epic panorama of image and sound is underscored by a timeline of Chinese music spanning 2000 years, ranging from mountain songs to contemporary compositions, performed live by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

'Ong Keng Sen is one of Singapore's cultural jewels.' The Guardian

Supported by

      

Supported by

  

Performance Details

By Ong Keng Sen

European Premiere

Ong Keng Sen Director and writer
Tsung Yeh Conductor
Choy Ka Fai Video installation
Toru Yamanaka Electronic composer
Scott Zielinski Lighting designer

Video artists: Rabiya Chaudry, Ariani Darmawan, Zai Kuning, Dinh Q. Le, Navin Rawanchaikul, Tintin Wulia

Actors: Koh Boon Pin, Janice Koh, Lim Kay Tong, Nora Samosir

Ong Keng Sen is Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.

Booking Information

Performance Dates:

August 2009
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Tickets: From £8 - £30
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes approximately
Venue: The Edinburgh Playhouse
Series: Bank of Scotland Connecting to Culture
Edinburgh - The city of edinburgh council Scottish Arts Council

Edinburgh International Festival Society is a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in Scotland (SC024766)
with its registered office at The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NE. Registered Charity No SC004694