Press release 27.5.2014

Russia hosts the opening of the international project: Meeting the Odyssey

An Adventure beyond Arts, sales Myth and Everyday Life in Europe
“Hoppet”, price the artistic ship, vialis 40mg arrives in Saint Petersburg – and the adventure begins.

SAINT PETERSBURG: May 22, 2014 – Arts Center Skorohod Platform is abuzz with a large crowd of local and international media there to attend a press conference with the organizers of the international collaboration project Meeting the Odyssey, along with special guest Slava Polunin, from e Caravan for Peace-1989, a revolutionary of traveling theatre. e conference will not only kick o the 4 year Odyssey project and the St. Petersburg festival inspired by it, but will also present a discussion on the subject of collective traveling theater, and the impact it can have on personal and artistic development and international relations.

The atmosphere at the press conference was more like the atmosphere of a friendly conversation – sincere and open – and less like a formal event for the media. e opening speech was given by Olga Arshanskaya, representative of e Committee for Culture of the St. Petersburg Government, who emphasized that the collective art process can be the cure for all life’s ailments. e creators of Meeting the Odyssey went on to tell in detail about origins of the project, its nature and purpose. e project will travel to 12 countries over 4 years, doing workshops and performances with local people, exploring themes relevant to Europe today through the myth of  “The Odyssey”.

During the press conference, the creators of Meeting the Odyssey told in detail about origins of the project, its nature and purpose. us, the art director Michele Losi said that the first thought of creating the project appeared in 2011, when the economic crisis hit the South of Europe. “In this difficult time, we wanted to create a project that could unite people from all over Europe. All we heard were talks about money, money, money. But the most important thing for us was to talk about what lays beyond the material, and at the same time what remains in common for people from completely different countries and cultures, creating a strong link between

Southern and Northern Europe”. Matilda Sundström, producer of Meeting the Odyssey, added: “We are all Oddeseuses and we are all in the same boat literally – we need each other. The main aim of this project is, with the help of art, to emphasize the common roots of our existence, the connection between East and West, North and South”.

There was also a fascinating panel discussion on the subject of travelling theater, during which Slava Polunin, a pioneer of this form, told the assembled guests that 25 years ago, at the time when he started e Caravan for Peace-1989 with his colleagues, no one believed in the success story of this kind of artistic project. “Despite the fact that on our way we`d met a huge number of challenges – starting with resistance from the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union and the Ministry of Culture, and ending with the constant breakdowns of the Caravan`s 125 cars, we still continued to do the project and it finally happened. We united Europe!”

Slava Polunin and Matilda Sundström found the main contact point between the two unique theater projects –The Caravan For Peace-1989 and Meeting the Odyssey-2014 both started their journey at moments of modern history when the world needs to be reminded that isolation, closure and an abundance of borders (national, political, cultural) is a road leading to nowhere.

There was also a presentation of Memories for Life, a main production of the Odyssey project directed by Maria Lundström of the Viirus eater in Helsinki. The show was created from research with elderly dementia patients, tackling the issues of memory and aging, inspired from parts of the original story of Homer’s “e Odyssey”. It is a poignant and sensual journey into the human psyche and the blur of memory, fantasy and reality that often accompanies old age, with beautiful movement sequences by the Czech choreographer Lenka Vagnerová and original music by the Finnish composer Robert Kock. is show gathers artists from Finland, Estonia, Italy, Czech Republic and Denmark on one stage, going far beyond the traditional co-production model of two-country cooperations. Memories for Life is the first of four main productions that will be created internationally through the Meeting the Odyssey project. The show finished with a standing ovation by guests and media representatives.

The Meeting the Odyssey festival in St. Petersburg will also include “Instant Performances” created with local Russian artists, directed by Giancarlo Bi of Cada Die Teatro, Italy. e project will end its St. Petersburg residency and begin its long journey on June 1, with a theatrical picnic on the beach of the famous Peter and Paul fortress and a formal farewell to the Meeting the Odyssey ship. is ship, the majestic sailboat “Hoppet” carries a name that is meaningful to the project – it means “Hope”. Meeting the Odyssey – An Adventure beyond Arts, Myth, and Everyday Life in Europe sets sail in St. Petersburg with the hope for artistic, cultural, and personal unity of international peoples.

Meeting the Odyssey Project Schedule 2014

23.05 – 1.06 St. Petersburg (Skorohod Platform)
5.06 – 13.06 Hanko (Viirus Teatre, Hanko Theatre Festival)
13.06 – 19.06 Tallinn (NO 99)
19.06 – 24.06 Hiiumaa (NO 99)
24.06 – 29.06 Saaremaa (NO 99)
5.07 – 12.07 Opole (Opolski Teatr Laiki I Aktora)
12.07 – 20.07 Berlin (Per Aspera Productions)
20.07 – 29.07 Prague (ProFitArt Company)
1.08 – 17.08 Copenhagen (Asterions Hus)
23.08 – 1.09 Helsinki (Viirus Teater, Helsinki Festival)

http://www.meetingtheodyssey.eu