Asian Performing Arts Farm APAF 2020 - call for participants

A call is open for performing arts creatives based in Asia, aged up to 35 years, to participate in a two-month online performing arts camp held by Tokyo Festival APAF2020 from August 20 – October 25 (Language: English, Free Participation). APAF2020 will be held online under the theme “Anti-Body Experiment.” The camp will bring together talented independent artists set to shape the future of Asian performing arts. Up to 10 participants will be selected and receive a grant for their engagement and final presentations. Sessions take place through regular Zoom sessions with experienced Lab Facilitators: August 20 - October 25, 2020.

APAF Lab places emphasis not on the final product, such as the work itself, but rather on cultivating the creative foundation of the participants through discussion and research, and on expanding their perspective on their own practice as well as the future of the performing arts.

Participants will be joined by three Lab facilitators during the course of the two-month camp (late August – late October), and give public presentations on the final day. This year’s APAF Lab will be held as an online camp due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

APAF2020 Lab Facilitators: JK Anicoche, Arsita Iswardhani, and Riki Takeda

In light of the current situation, many artists in the performing arts have already started to take action online, streaming footage of past performances or performing conversational theater works on Zoom. These efforts, coming from a love for this art form, have been captivating audiences through their screens. But this conversion of performing arts into online content is ultimately a simulated theater experience for riding out the present situation. We must instead transform online content into performing art, by creating work specially for the online platform or devising new ways of communication where the online environment itself sparks new discoveries. Having the intelligence and resilience to persevere until the spread of the coronavirus subsides is essential, but intelligence and resilience that come into play in keeping the performing arts alive in the current circumstances, is one of the “antibodies” that will be developed in our exposure to the coronavirus, an antibody against “not being able to gather.” Whatever the circumstances may be in October, in Tokyo and across Asia, we will earnestly confront this reality of “not being able to gather” at APAF2020, as well as carefully consider the tragedies brought about by the pandemic, and the ruptures that it has exposed.

APAF2020: “Anti-Body Experiment” involves developing resistance, or “antibodies,” that allow us to engage in the performing arts even during future pandemics; it is also an experiment in transforming the online world, in other words the realm of the non-physical (anti-body), into performing art. The choice to hold the APAF program online is not pessimistic in the least. Through a combination of the strengths of online formats, which overcome distance to create connections, and the performing arts, which help us become aware of what is happening in the here and now, we will work towards creating a future post-coronavirus, or where we can coexist with the coronavirus.

◼ Eligibility - Participants must meet all six conditions.

1. Must be based in Asia.

2. Must have played a key role in the creative aspect of performing arts productions or projects in the past.

3. Must be aged 35 or younger (as a general rule).

4. Must be able to attend the entirety of the program.

5. Must have access to a suitable online environment that includes the following: - A secure internet connection. - A robust internet connection able to support group video calls, video streaming, large file downloads, etc. - A device on which the participant can use online tools such as Zoom’s video calls, Slack, or One Drive (the tools used may vary according to participant circumstances and program content) *System requirements for Zoom: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023 - We do not encourage the use of smartphones as the only device for communication.

6. Participants are expected to demonstrate the following attitudes and interests: - A willingness to actively communicate in English. - A motivation to communicate with people of different backgrounds and values, and gain new perspectives. - An interest in exploring and practicing communication strategies in international collaboration settings. - The intention to continue international activities in the performing arts after APAF.

Deadline for applications: 4 July 2020