Theatre from the Jungle (2018)
Theatre from the Jungle
Solo Exhibition
Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba
Brandon, Canada
Curated by John G. Hampton
April 12 - June 9, 2018
Theatre from the Jungle is a collaborative experiment in theatre and installation that emerges from the unique landscape of immigration and labour in Brandon, Manitoba. The artists spent two months working with recent immigrants living in Brandon, conducting interviews and workshoping performances built from lived experiences and literary sources. The project begins with selected passages from Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle-a story which documents the struggles of immigrant labour in the Chicago meat packing industry at the turn of the century. Participants rehearsed a script that weaves together the events depicted in the novel and the present-day situation in Brandon. The workshops were then filmed and are presented alongside participant interviews in a multi-channel video installation that gives an intimate yet theatrical representation of a dynamic that has a profound impact on the fabric of the Westman community.
With the participation of: Weldemariam Bahta, Mekides Belete, William Lopez Beltran, Tesfagergis Geberezgabier, Miao Yan Huang, Robel Kibrom, Jianwen Kuang, Belaynesh Mekonnen, Juan Mendez, Eduardo Rogriguez, Chen Xuhong, and Yanfang Yang.
Work presented: Theatre from the Jungle.
