Bridging Cultures Through Water, Myth, and Technology
The first day of the Telematics workshop brought together participants from Singapore, Romania, and Thailand to explore the theme of water through a digital medium, highlighting its importance to our survival. Helmed by Dr. Timothy O'Dwyer, the participants first broke the ice by investigating cultural differences, such as learning how to say the word “water” in different languages. As part of the devising process, participants shared water-related myths and personal experiences. This included icons like the Singaporean Merlion and narratives about the Thai Naga. Incorporating body movement and soundscapes, each country devised a short presentation to reflect the universality of water.
Improvisation Meets Innovation
After establishing the common theme of water on the previous day, the second day of the Telematics workshop began with an exploration of music language types. This included Staccato, Legato, Trills and Multiphonic. The participants then incorporated these types into their primary performance mediums, with actors speaking, dancers moving and musicians playing, which led to spontaneous improvisations and served as a basis for scene-building. The day concluded with shared reflections, highlighting themes of spontaneity and cross-disciplinary learning whilst ensuring water was a continuing motif.
Forging Bonds throught Technology
The final day of the Telematics workshop began with a desire to devise an additional element to the final performance, with the participants sharing their childhood experiences with water. These included joyful memories such as the festival of Songkran and scary ones such as near-drowning experiences. This continued the trend of having simple prompts for each devising session to aid in the development process, providing an entryway for the participants to create through the telematic medium. After crafting the scene and further polishing up the two other scenes from the previous days, the participants were ready to welcome the eager audience. The presence of audience members shifted the already energised space, contributing to additional feedback for the performers.
During the post-show discussion, participants shared that the telematics workshop experience was extremely enlightening, with them often forgetting that they were in different locations and creating a space in which they could seemingly interact with each other in person. Technology, in this case, offered more than just a means to connect as it provided a warmth that allowed genuine friendships to forge across distances. Through the process, it really showed how coming together across borders, cultures, and mediums can spark meaningful collaboration, as we tackle complex issues with sensitivity and care.