3 Norwegian performing artists to Edinburgh with the EU project PUSH+

PUSH+ is a 3-year Creative Europe collaborative project led by Imaginate (Scotland) together with Aaben Dans (Denmark), Krokusfestival (Belgium), Scenekunstbruket (Norway), The Ark (Ireland) and associate partner Bangkok International Children's Festival (Thailand).

The first lab will take place in Edinburgh from January 23 to February 1, 2019 and will focus on the theme HOME. From Norway, we have selected playwright Kristofer Blindheim Grønskag, actor and director Jo Even Bjørke and dancer and choreographer Ida Uvaas. Over the course of eight days, a total of 15 performing artists from Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Norway will work together on the theme of HOME:

With children in mind, what is home? How do we build a home? Who has the right to define what a home is? Can we establish a home for ourselves, or does it require a society and a community to allow it? Who can prevent one from establishing a home? Is this something to be dealt with in the local community or is it a national issue? Are children's voices heard in the discussion and decision-making process around this? Does the concept of home have different meanings for children and adults? Through this theme, we will explore the concept of 'home' and explore whether home is a permanent place or a point on the map where you come from. If you've grown up and educated in Tehran, lived there for twenty years and then move to Belgium and live there for twenty years, where is "home"? What is it like to live in limbo where nothing feels like home?

PUSH+ wants to stimulate European dialogue and initiate new artistic ideas and performances around three important themes in the performing arts for young audiences: Home, Failure and Different Bodies. Each theme will have a year-long focus that includes an artist lab, an artist residency and a festival visit/presentation. We will also explore three artistic formats - participatory, site-specific and intergenerational - across all three themes.

The project consists of the following programs:

• PUSH + Labs - an 8-day research lab around each of the three themes.
• PUSH + Residencies - two weeks of studio time to further develop an idea from the labs.
• PUSH + Festival Presentations - presentation of theme-related works in progress, or artistic events in public space staged by performing artists in the EU project at the partner festivals.
• PUSH+ Festival Visits - a group of 10 performing artists and their partners visit a partner festival to see productions, participate in PUSH+ events and get to know festival delegates and audiences.
• PUSH + International Workshop - a 5-day workshop in Bangkok, exploring the theme Different Bodies with 5 artists from Europe and 5 from Thailand.
• PUSH + Symposium - a day at The Ark in Dublin to gather, hear and share ideas and research at the end of the project.
• PUSH + Outside Eyes - an invitation to 5 experts or guests to provoke, bring out cultural context and reflect on the project.