Proyect Details

In Short

Debate and Commentary Play: The Kamza and Bar Kamza Project.
This project is a collaborative effort between Music, History and Economics departments.
http://kamzaandbarkamza.wikidot.com

. Research Lab: devoted to collection of materials related to a story and development of debate techniques
. International Symposium: we will organize a two day symposium in end of Feb. 2008 that will be organized into three plenary sessions, integrated with debatory performance of the story
. Debate and Commentary Play: the "play" will be held in a non-traditional manner. There will be no stage, no elevation or division between audience and the play-debate participants.

Using new media art and information technology we will bring the debate and commentary to the center stage of public performance. Inspired by the Talmudic text we will engage the public in a participatory play that promotes understanding, collaboration and tolerance.

We create the infrastructure and a system for collection of commentaries and conducting debates on socio-historical events and cultural myths. Technology is used for enabling alternative understandings of key cultural-specific stories, by combining scholar debate with an artistic presentation in a public performance setup.

The tools developed in the project include new multimedia environment for collection and recall of archival, documentary and original commentary materials, and their integration within a participatory public theatrical / operaic realization.

We will use a story to show the need of human collaboration to deal with contemporary conflicts in existential threatening situations. In today's world it is important to realize the consequences and the impact our actions have on others while taking a stand. Living in a multicultural environment requires the ability to appreciate multiple points of view and a willingness to engage in a dialogue.

See also Why

Practical Project Plan:

Create a multimedia tool that enables us to present the Kamza and Bar Kamza story. Dissect and define the points of meaning, in order to generate a library of media elements essential to the story. Design an organization and administration system for the data generated.
The resulting products will include visual and sonic elements, small narratives, space distribution, and movements as the materialization of the individual generated narratives.

All these elements would be used for the interactive “performance” of the story through their manipulation by the public. This interactive performance would involve the physical and spatial expression of the story in real time, as well as a DVD representation that would allow user interaction.

One is a recipient of a global history as hints for the generation of meaning, we krono- position ourselves within a further notion of time and history as we interact with mythology to generate our sense of identity and belonging.

History is generated by various personal accounts and interpretations of reality, in a sense; this process recreates the natural system of mythological construction.

This helps us to understand ourselves as active participants and products of historical-temporal proces, in opposition to the notion that we are detached and randomly appearing in time as well as mere recipients of occurring historical realities.

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