Collaboration

I've just come back from a two-week residency for a current collaboration project I've been involved with since April. The project, involving seven women artists from both Indonesia and abroad, will result in a multidisciplinary performance this coming Thursday, the 31st of July, at the French Indonesian Cultural Center (Lembaga Indonesia Prancis, LIP) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. For more information about this project, please visit this website: http://www.kemanasaja.com/. I've learned a lot about myself as a performer and my own process during this collaboration, and along with the other artists, faced the difficulties of collaboration. Collaborating isn't easy. Especially when you have seven female artists from different art backgrounds and creative processes. Despite the difficulty, however, this has been an invigorating project. My own theater background has been challenged and given the opportunity to flourish. I thought my character days were over for the time being, but suddenly they've reappeared with more energy than ever. The biggest learning that comes from being involved in a collaboration is being offered different perspectives on how to create and interact amongst artists. Like a mirror, your own methods are reflected back on you, while other methods are presented as new possibilities of ways to explore and create.