Sharing Moments: Memory, Space, Expression
Welcome to Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM) 2017.
BIPAM is a cooperation between Bangkok Theatre Network (BTN), International Association of Theatre Critics - Thailand Centre (IATC), and Alliance of Performing Arts in Higher Education of Thailand (PATH). Our goal is for BIPAM to become a global platform for everyone in performing arts ecosystem to come together and create a cumulative network, leading to endless possibilities in the world of performing arts.
“Sharing Moments” is the main theme of this year’s BIPAM. In recent years, the world has witnessed countless critically significant incidents, controversies over the issue of immigrants and even calamitous consequences sprung from terrorism all of which undoubtedly cause many great losses. More often than not, such incidents bear lasting consequences that extended far beyond the initial impacts. These consequences reach us no matter who or where we are in the world. As human, we all collectively receive and then express what has affected us through our perceptions and feelings. We share, in various ways depending on our own background and experience, not only stories, but also thoughts, sentiments, and empathy. Through arts, these three components transform in to the three keywords which will be the focus of this year’s BIPAM: Memory, Space, and Expression.
We share memories in form of history. Whether it be good memories of celebration or mourning for horrific incidents, these shared memories define who we are and what it means to be human. They are our foundation and stepping stone towards the future.
We share space in which we live. We, at all times, occupy certain kind of space throughout our lives: the space we live in, the overlapping space we share with others, the space we build our life, our family, and our culture on, the space we lost in order to take refuge in fear for that life, that family and that culture. We always share space, whether it be physical space in which we exist, or abstract space which we cannot perceive but can acknowledge and share.
We express to share. Expression is a form of sharing. How we express ourselves differs depending on our cultural background and our individual uniqueness. In this day and age of globalization and technological advancement, we find more and more ways to express ourselves and to share ourselves to the world. The more we discover, the more sharing and expressing experience intrigue us.
Memory, space, and expression, these three concepts have long been at the heart of the discussion and creation amongst performing artists and academic all over the world. Many performance and arts are derived from these concepts due to the belief that performing art is the only form of art where live sharing between performers and audiences occurs. The performers share their skills, messages, and feelings while the audiences share their ambience and experience throughout the performance. The performers derive their performance from memories while the audiences perceive and understand the performance through their memories. Both share space in which the performance takes place. And above all, performing art is all about expression. It is what makes performing art an art form with its own distinguished characteristics. Thus, “Sharing Moments” of memory, space and expression is the perfect theme for BIPAM 2017