We’re just about to venture into the next project for my Masters, which is a video production containing information regarding the HPV Vaccine in Arabic, focussed on the African communities in Melbourne.
For starters, we are a very multi-national class. While the class is being conducted in English, I think I was the only person in the room which has English as a first (and only) language. Perhaps this puts me at a disadvantage in some respects in this class, as I’m so used to the western way of working and possibly an old dog who struggles with new tricks. Fortunately I’ve been working in a very multi-cultural art form, opera, since 2006, and I’m quite familiar with working around language and cultural differences.
Since leaving the world of opera and becoming a student, I have taken a job at The Lion King musical, and I’m working there with a range of people from the African continent, mostly South Africa, but also Zimbabwean and Ghanaian people. Our common language is English, but the chimes and clicks of Zulu often ring in the corridors. I think theatre is a really international medium which is always open and accepting of cultural difference. People aren’t forced to work a particular way as ultimately the art form relies on expressing oneself, and the differences are celebrated. Because of this I think I come at international collaboration with a very open mind.
In terms of working, there are some practical issues. To find out the limits of working with another community, I have found myself working from assumptions which could prove problematic if I’m not careful. For example, we have been talking about filming someone getting the vaccination. My understanding was that the Arabic community would be mostly Muslim, and that the vaccination is administered into the upper arm. When I asked Hamdi, our cultural liaison, if the amount of flesh shown would cause problems, he just shook his head and shrugged. So covering arms appears not to be a problem, and I perhaps mildly embarrassed myself through my assumption. I am glad I asked though, I think it’s good to be asking the stupid questions at the beginning of a project, as problems near the completion have much bigger consequences.
I’m looking forward to producing this piece, and can’t wait to see the ideas my classmates have so we can start to take this thing to the next step.
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