For promoting Asian contemporary theatre, the Asia meets Asia would like to formally issue invitation to theatre companies and individual artists in joining the theatre festival in Tokyo from 17 to 23 Oct. 2005.

The executive committee of this biannually-held festival is self-organized by artists. It is non-profit-making activities, aimed for realizing artistic self-autonomy. 

The event of Asia meets Asia is to provide its participants with an opportunity to meet fellow artists, to present and see performances and to exchange artistic ideas with each other. The festival is paving ground for a network of Asia meets Asia artists to be formed in the near future, thus to create further intercultural collaboration of theatrical arts. We would like to put forward a question of how to be of multicultural coexistence to the whole world through activities of Asia meets Asia.

The festival is held in every two years in Tokyo. In the past, we had collaboration projects mostly in between festival years. 13 countries have participated in the festival so far. The countries are South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. Besides Tokyo, the festival has also been held in other Asian cities: Sendai, Hong Kong and Taipei.

The last festival, we focused on presenting contemporary theatres from Islamic countries. The rendezvous in Tokyo in 2005 is intended for artists gathering from far sides of the grand Asian neighborhood. Shifting away from featuring firm concepts on particular civilizations, we attempt to illuminate fragmented kaleidoscopic Asian phantasmagoria of arts.

Asia meets Asia 2005 invites artists from Afghanistan, Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mindanao, Taiwan, USA, and Vietnam. Afghanistan and Central Asia are from the world of ancient Silk Road cultural connection. While in another world of Southeast Asia, extensive networks of trading routes among people of Angkor Empire and Srivijaya Empire existed from 7th century to the period of European colonization. The networks extended even further to Sulu Sea regions. The Mindanao, Cambodian and aboriginal Taiwanese are from missing links of indigenous cultures being re-puzzled. Their indigenous performing arts are living treasure which provide them with means of re-discovery of their cultural cousins or even twins. They have spent decades to research and restore their indigenous performing arts. The “cousins” met in a recent workshop for the first time, and enjoyed mutually enriching their vocabulary of physical languages.

In continuation of collaboration performances by Asian artists for the “Unbearable Dreams” program, we have new comers to join from Diaspora Asia, Bangladesh and Assam in addition to the original participating countries.

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■Schedule　October 17-23, 2005

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 Please give us your name and advanced fee at the door