September 1, 2005

Five Streams Music/Theater/Dance Piece at MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.)-- Conceived by renowned conceptual artist and director Ibrahim Quraishi, the multimedia performance work Five Streams melds voice, live and pre-recorded sound, movement, video, and three-dimensional animation at MASS MoCA at 7:30 P.M. on Saturday, October 1 and at 4:00 PM on Sunday, October 2, in the museum's Hunter Center. A host of collaborating artists -- including Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky) creating an interactive sound mix and Xavier Hool designing spaces and costumes -- make this piece a full-sensory journey. This feast for the senses will take viewers through the beliefs, mythologies, and cultures of the five nations of modern South Asia by exploring the underlying - and too often overlooked - shared stories and philosophies of three ancient Muslim and Hindu texts. The performance is a work-in-progress showing after a two-week residency by Quraishi and some of his collaborators.

"Disarmingly bright and quick, Quraishi is undoubtedly one of the most cutting-edge directors," according to Ego Magazine which went on to describe another of his pieces as "an unprecedented visually stunning and intellectually stimulating examination of intercultural dialogue."

Anarkali, a tragic court romance of Maghal India; the Bhagavad-Gita, the deeply philosophical climax of the Indian epic Mahabharata; and Who Knoweth Himself, a mystical treatise by the great 12th -century Sufi philosopher Ibn Al-Arabi, all serve as the backdrop for this piece as the audience is led through three distinct spaces where live voice, movement, contemporary electronica, performance, and immersive installa-tions are intertwined with these canonical texts to create a stunning examination of Islam and Hinduism in the five nations of South Asia - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Born in Pakistan, and now living in Paris and New York City, Quraishi has collaborated with artists from all cultures to showcase his unique interpretation of the socio-economic, artistic and cultural fabric of indi-vidual communities. Quraishi has presented his multi-media installation performances all over the world, including Munich, Paris, New York, Sarajevo, Tel Aviv, Kyoto, New Delhi, and Tokyo; all to extraordinary critical acclaim. He founded his company Compagnie Faim de Siècle in Paris in the late '90s. Realizing that his work was increasingly about bridging the cultural divide, he started a non-profit to promote immigrant culture and conflict resolution. Quraishi has won a number of prestigious awards including the Na-tional Endowment for the Arts Grant (2005), The Rockefeller Fellowship (2000 & 2004), the Islamic World Arts Initiative (IWAI, 2004), and Arts International award grant for 2001 and 2003.

Collaborators on this multi-faceted piece include Norscq and Paul D. Miller creating composition and live sound installation and Marc Perroud (a.k.a. t-zéd) as video artist. Parul Shah choreographed the piece and performs in it. Other performers include Arthur Aviles, Rosa Sanchez, and Sabarna Kumar Thapa. Fawzia Afzal Khan also provides vocals and Nicolas Le Lievre live percussion.

A collaboration of MASS MoCA, the Asia Society, and Compagnie Faim de Siecle, Five Streams is made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts; Multi-Arts Production Fund; The Greenwall Foundation; the Islamic World Arts Initiative, generously supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; and Étant donnés, the French-American Fund for the Performing Arts, a Program of FACE and Douglass Rice and Cynthia Elliot.

Tickets for the work-in-progress showing of Five Streams are $14. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% dis-count. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org