How to play?
EACH PLAYER THROWS THE DICE AND MOVES HIS PIECE FORWARDS. EVERY TIME HE LANDS ON A SQUARE MARKED WITH ONE OF THE FESTIVAL SHOWS, HE WINS A HEAD. THE PLAYER WHO NEGOTIATES THE 13 OBSTACLES AND REACHES SQUARE NUMBER 63 HAS COMPLETED THE GAME. THE WINNER IS THE PLAYER WHO HAS WON THE MOST HEADS.
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A common theme links the spiral of the inner ear, the centuries-old “goose game” (similar to snakes and ladders) and the kunsten festivaldesarts. A theme that unites sensibility, sense, and the nonsense of one-way traYc. The goose game is a boardgame in the shape of a spiral. Players start at the outer end and work their way towards the middle. Some squares are blank, which means you can continue towards your goal, others are obstacles best avoided. We have chosen the game to introduce the fourth Festival – and we have adapted it, making Brussels the centre square and endpoint. Between May 9th and 30rd, there will be 28 artistic productions in 17 theatres, cinemas and exhibition centres; 28 ways of joining the game, 13 obstacles to overcome and 21 blank squares. Wherever you choose to start, an artist will open up a world. Each square can connect to another, as there is an Ariadne’s thread to help you through the maze : the sensitivities that make the Festival. Let’s take a closer look.
KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS. There had to be more than one art. Each section of the programme was the result of an individual meeting with an artist, with his sense of urgency and the talent with which it has to be communicated. It is up to the artist to choose theatre, music, cinema and/or the visual arts – or to leave his usual discipline to tackle a new one. Head for the Trisha Brown, William Kentridge, Jorge León, Michel Khleifi,... squares.
KUNSTEN ET DES ARTS. Belgium is a federal state where many communities live together. Brussels is in the middle of the language divide. We felt we had to keep open this precious bridge between French- and Dutch-speakers. And let’s not forget that Brussels has more than two communities. What do immigrant artists have to say? We wanted to hear from them, without isolating them here or in their countries of origin. Try to connect the squares for Michel Khleifi, From here and there and Masrah el Rassif.
CONTEMPORARY. Contemporary here means sensitivity. Whether it’s Monteverdi, Sophocles and Shakespeare or Howard Barker and Stefaan Decostere, we are talking about the spirit of today. Everything is in the look. Famous or unknown, each Festival artist is first and foremost an autonomous personality who has seduced us through his independence. The artist is offering a poet’s vision. He focuses on human beings and, through them, our world is made, unmade or remade. Throw the dice again, as the above applies to all the squares.
INTERNATIONAL. The word contains “inter”, the idea of a reciprocal relationship : inter-cultural, inter-disciplinary, interaction. It happens on the inside, with many interferences. Our identity grows from confrontations with diverse experiences. What are these experiences in Buenos Aires, Damascus, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Italy? Or those of a young woman returning to the Vietnam of her childhood? Or of a Chinese composer exiled in New York? Find the squares of ten countries.
1994. 1995. 1996. 1998. The Festival has become a biennial event. We had to turn time into a trump card. We committed to creations. Eighteen of the twenty-eight squares in the game are world premières. Eleven are Belgian. The link is confidence and commitment. Risks are inherent. When a project demands respect, we have dared to make it possible by producing or co-producing it.
THIS IS NOT A GAME OF CHANCE. It’s a circuit. It’s up to you to discover it as you go down the path – a path which doesn’t end at the final square, number 63, because in the goose game this is also the square of infinity...
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