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The arts
cross the boundaries of religion, age, culture and bring
together an inclusive space where all people can be
celebrated and their stories heard.
We had the
opportunity to be part of a Youth Cultural Exchange to
Malaysia where we worked with Malaysia Muda (Malaysian
Youth) to devise integrative community arts projects.
Staying with Malaysian students at the University of
Kebansaan, and University Pertainian Malaysia we
examined the differences between the sense of community
in the UK and in Malaysia with one of the most striking
findings being the strength of Malaysian cultural arts
as the key leisure pursuit of Malaysian young people.
This sense of heritage enabled a closer sense of
community and meant that the senior generation would
often mix with the younger generation to pass teach
cultural dance in particular. While this art form would
be adapted and developed, it did not lose its sense of
origin and respect for those who performed it many years
before.
At the
request of the British High Commission in Malaysia, we
worked together to give short presentations on studying
in the UK to Malaysian students accepted at UK
universities; and at the request of the United Nations
Malaysia Association, we performed a show combining the
British pantomime style production “The Pocket Dream” (Elly
Brewer & Sandi Toksvig) we had produced, with Malaysian
traditional dances raising money for World Refugees.
We hope to continue learning from International Arts and
Culture and are currently working with professional
actor Ashley Alymann to develop a project on the South
East Asian art of Storytelling. |
