SPACES is an immersive experience that merges contemporary performance and the ancient art of storytelling. The project simultaneously aims to challenge and reimagine the traditional model of touring in the arts sector : SPACES is a place-specific participatory work, created and performed with the local community that gives this place its life and identity.
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-07-30
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Kaimera Productions Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Valentin Last name of representative: Leveau Gender: Male Nationality: France Function: Creative producer Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Chez Monsieur Éric Bonnet, Boite 34, 8 rue Jean Nicot Town: Pantin Postal code: 93500 Country: France Direct Tel:+33 6 61 35 78 31 E-mail:valentin.leveau@gmx.com Website:https://www.kaimeraproductions.com/
SPACES is an immersive experience that merges contemporary performance and the ancient art of storytelling.
SPACES goes beyond site-specific, it is place-specific : each SPACES piece is built around the site of its performance, but above all, it is created and performed with the local community that gives this place its life and identity. At the heart of the piece, local residents share intimate real-life stories, which are interwoven with dance, music, and multimedia. More than a performance, SPACES aims to use storytelling, one of the oldest human traditions, to bring our focus back to our communities, one story at a time.
Gathered into groups of a dozen guests and led by charismatic dancers who double as silent guides, audience members embark on a journey on which they encounter storytellers who, through a tale, a poem, or a song, share authentic and intimate moments of their lives. Every turn is a surprise, as guests might come across a new story, a new world of music, projections and dance, or another group of guests, on a journey of their own.
The SPACES experience toes the line between the intimate and the grandiose, the personal and the communal, the quotidian and the magical. At its heart, it aims to remind us of the depth, diversity, and beauty of our communities.
In addition to strengthening the sense of belonging within communities, SPACES aims to reimagine the traditional arts sector touring model, replacing it with a local creation approach. A core team of only 3 Kaimera artists work with hundreds of local residents, partners and professional artists. By relying almost entirely on local collaborators and engaging in long-term local processes, SPACES explores a sustainable and low carbon impact way to promote an artistic vision on an international scale : since 2017, SPACES has happened in Harlem (2017), Oakland (2021) and Saint-Denis (2021 & 2022).
Community
Storytelling
Sustainability in arts
Live Performance
Diversity
Objective 1 : focus on what brings people together
The first iteration of Kaimera’s SPACES project was commissioned by the 2017 Harlem Arts Festival in New York City. The piece was created in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election in the US, at the height of the refugee crisis plaguing the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, and the populism-fueled border fortification initiatives that were expanding all over the globe. It was a time of division, putting into question our sense of belonging and our sense of community.
In order to bring people together, the team relied on the ancient art of storytelling. Kaimera organized a dozen workshops with the residents in social centres, institutions or directly in the streets, in order to connect with the local community, better understand the needs, and encourage engagement through storytelling.
Objective 2 : Taking back public space for culture, personal stories and connection
Reclaiming public space, for culture, personal stories, and connection is of utmost importance today. This is why SPACES always happens in public space : The Basilica Saint-Denis, the Saint-Denis market, the City Hall of Oakland. These are places that gather people, without necessarily encouraging them to actually meet. With storytelling and performance, SPACES creates a place and a time where people reconnect and reclaim public space.
Objective 3 : experiment with a new sustainable way of touring an artistic project and reduce carbon emissions
In order to achieve this objective, the team focuses on 4 exemplary and replicable processes: 1) doing the majority of planning remotely using digital tools; 2) traveling with a maximum of 3 core team members and relying on local teams that include community partners, residents, performers, choreographer, composer, producer; 3) planning extended stays and residencies; 4) developing templates and guidelines for local collaborators in the creation process.
Objective 1 : Mix the daily life and the magical, by creating a place-specific community centered work of art
An essential ingredient of SPACES is the connection between the magical and the quotidian in order to achieve a larger than life experience. It is all about weaving everyday stories with the magic of dance, music and multimedia, all of which are rooted in the local historical and contemporary traditions. We aim to create a beautiful layered piece of art that reflects the multiplicity of the community that created it, while simultaneously belonging to it.
Objective 2 : Use the immerse art form to immerse the audience in the place, its artistry, and its community
Our team, which is based between Paris and New York, has been creating immersive and in-situ work, and participating in the immersive community through conferences, training, and forums internationally for over fifteen years. We’ve noticed that the majority of immersive work around the globe is abstract and experiential, often focused on entertaining, instead of making a social impact. We are proud that SPACES does not only bring audiences into an exciting fully immersive environment, but that it also serves to be a powerful tool for community engagement and transformation.
Objective 3 : Use existing architecture as not only the setting, but also as a central character
In every single city where the project is performed, the performance space is of utmost value to the work that is created. Our goal is not just to perform in important and beautiful places, but to create work that is interwoven with their history, architecture, and meaning. It is to give these powerful spaces a voice and a role within the experience, which often results in creating a new relationship between local residents and these historical spaces that they walk by on a daily basis.
Objective 1 : deep local community engagement
Unlike a touring show, each SPACES piece is a brand new, original show created with and for each community that hosts it. In order to include communities in the creative process from the beginning, Kaimera created a replicable and adaptable methodology (see “methodology” section below).
Objective 2 : placing local community at the helm of the project
Building out a creative team that is as local as possible is key to the success of SPACES. It is especially essential for the Kaimera team to partner with a local producer or producing organization, that knows the local community and has experience in producing community-centered artistic events in the area. This collaborator is the liaison with the local community on all needs, including communicating with local partners, searching for local storytellers, fundraising, marketing, etc.
Objective 3 : Accessibility for all
Cultural events may feel out of reach for many due to financial and social barriers. To make the work as financially accessible as possible, in each city we created a payment model that fits that city. In Harlem it was free. In Saint Denis: free one year, but then a very symbolic fee the second year, to eliminate no show reservations. In Oakland, a sliding scale that permitted people to pay what they could. In addition, we mark very clearly on marketing materials that nobody will be turned away for lack of funds, and can claim a ticket by contacting the team via email or phone, or coming to the door at the show itself.
Over the last course of creating work internationally for over 15 years Kaimera’s team has discovered the sad reality that cultural institutions themselves could serve as social barriers. Due to a myriad of reasons, many people don't feel welcomed in, or are threatened by cultural institutions. This particularly applies to those already on the fringes of society.
The local community is central to SPACES and its success. Working closely with residents, local non-profit organizations, arts centers, and businesses, ensures that the project is relevant and that the community has an active voice in its creation and production. In turn, SPACES can then serve as a tool for local community engagement, in a way that leaves a lasting impact long after the curtain falls.
Community engagement before and after the show included :
Storytelling workshops for the local residents
The workshop begins with a short review lesson of storytelling essentials, followed by a story circle, which gives an opportunity for the participants to share short stories with one another in a safe and pressure free environment. The workshops are organized in partnership with local NGOs, community groups, religious organizations, municipalities, etc. With over 20 years of teaching and facilitation experience, members of our team cater each workshop to the needs, interests and ability level of the participants.
Corner Encounters
To connect with individuals who choose to never participate in any organized activities.our team has developed a street story sharing approach in which two chairs are placed in a busy public space with a sign next to them that reads “Tell me a story about [name of city]”. One of our core team members sits in one of the chairs, and passersby are invited to sit in the other and share whatever stories or experiences that they would like. Soft drinks and snacks are also provided. This has proved to be a powerful, and at times very emotional experience, with some local residents staying for over an hour to share their life.
Post show story sharing
We have learned that the show sparks the interest in audiences to share stories of their own. To address this, we have developed a pressure free to invite people to stay after the performance and engage with one another.
In each city we worked with dozens of local partners and stakeholders on every step of the process. In Saint-Denis (France), we would like to bring attention to a handful of these partners, before sharing with you the longer list.
Legendes Urbaines works at the intersection of urbanism, art and public space. With a decade of experience, they were our core producing and creative partner, working closely with the Kaimera team on every single step of the process.
The mayor's office, and particularly the department of culture of Saint-Denis were engaged from the start to not only permit us to work in public space, but also ensured that we partner with a wide range of local NGO’s, artistic groups, and social programs. This proved to be a very fruitful collaboration that helped make many lasting connections.
Our team worked with many local NGO’s, but we would especially like to highlight Femmes de Franc-Moisin, which works with women in one of the most impacted housing projects in Saint-Denis. We organized 3 workshops together (1 indoor and 2 on the street) and worked closely with many women from their association who shared their experiences during SPACES.
Here is the more complete list of partners in Saint-Denis :
- INTERNATIONAL : Institut Français (financial support), Polycarpe Foundation (financial support)
- NATIONAL : Centre des Monuments Nationaux (hosting of the show in the Basilica Saint-Denis)
- REGIONAL : Ministère de la Culture - DRAC Ile-de-France (financial support)
- LOCAL : Office du Tourisme de Saint-Denis (promotion & communication partnership), Syndicat des commerçants de la Halle du Marché (networking & contact with the merchants). Worshops organized with grassroots and local NGOs : Franc-Moisin Citoyennes, Mission Local, Dessine-moi Pleyel, Association A93C , Unicité 93, l'Echo des sans mots, Maison Jaune, Chapiteau Raj'ganawak, Association des parents, la Maison de la Jeunesse/Ligne 13.
From the inception of every Kaimera project, we bring together a wide range of collaborators and advisors with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to help steer the project. We call these individuals experts. An expert does not need to hold an advanced degree, but is someone who deeply understands the topic at hand. They may be a software engineer who specializes in data privacy, a psychologist who focuses on trauma, or a refugee who has traversed half the globe.
In SPACES, our central expert collaborators are local residents who have deep knowledge of the history and culture of their community, and whose experiences create the city or neighborhood they call home. In addition, through our collaboration with local artists we are able to tap into the history and traditions of local dance, music and visual art styles. Furthermore, by working with community organizations, activists, religious groups, municipalities, and urbanists, we get to understand and consequently bring to life the complex and constantly evolving socio-political identity and reality of the city where SPACES takes place. This intersectionality is at the heart of SPACES, and is what helps us create a nuanced and vibrant live experience, with lasting implications long after the show is over.
An additional goal of SPACES is to strengthen, build or rebuild local bonds. An added benefit is that as artists we are at times able to cross over or bypass existing conflicts and disagreements between local players, thus creating opportunities for collaboration, dialogue and even healing. Some such successes of past SPACES iterations include the start of numerous collaborations between organizations that have coexisted side by side but never worked together, helping local leaders be noticed and acknowledged for their contributions, and individuals from opposing political or social camps setting their differences aside, even if just for a moment, and sharing a positive experience together.
The last iteration of SPACES took place in Saint-Denis (France) from 2019 to 2022. Even during the Covid crisis, our team continued to build relationships and remain available for our partners in Saint-Denis, a city that was greatly impacted by the pandemic.
The following are measurable outcomes of the process:
- 2019-2020 : 6 storytelling collective workshops with residents, then 40 individual trainings with storytellers // 200 participants in the storytelling collective workshops, 15 identified individual storytellers
- 2021 : 7 storytelling collective workshops with residents, then 60 individual trainings with storytellers // 250 participants in the storytelling collective workshops, 15 identified individual storytellers // The process culminated with 5 sold-out shows (500 spectators)
- 2022 : 5 more storytelling collective workshops, then 95 individual trainings with storytellers // 35 identified individual storytellers // The process culminated with 8 sold-out shows (750 spectators)
- In Saint-Denis, through the whole SPACES process (2019-2022) 1605 residents, and 14 local organizations were involved.
Though we are proud of the abovementioned tangible results, the majority of the impact of SPACES is difficult to measure with numbers. This is why we would like to provide a few direct quotes from storytellers, community partners and audience members as indicators of the outcomes of SPACES :
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d278dMA0T6D7OwvBMf4uEenRgUdVH5gJiGmcJfPoiMQ/edit?usp=sharing
Saint-Denis Application for European Capital of Culture 2028
Through SPACES and since 2020, Kaimera Production has been partnering with Périféeries 2028, the team in charge of Saint-Denis application to European Capital of Culture 2028. This application prominently features the partnership between Saint-Denis & Oakland, which SPACES is a core part of. We hope that our project brings much needed attention to the vibrant and complex city of Saint-Denis.
Some of these points were mentioned above, but we would like to reiterate them in this section.
While there are many community centered participative projects, what sets SPACES apart is that it simultaneously blends a deep community approach with an artistic work of high aesthetic and production value. We attain this by working with some of the most deeply rooted community organizations, as well as some of the most exciting emerging and established local artists.
The choice to create this work site-specifically in a public space, is another essential element of the project that sets it aside. We purposefully left the theater to be more accessible and because we believe in the importance of occupying and reappropriating public space by tapping into its history, while infusing it with new meaning. The space is not only a performance venue, but a central character in the experience.
Our team has been frustrated by traditional touring approaches in which an “exemplary” company arrives, shows its “exemplary” work, occasionally teaches an “exemplary” workshop, and then leaves. We understand the occasional value in such experiences, but believe that they are one-sided, don’t create deep relationships and ignore the needs of the local community. In addition, with the climate crisis bearing down on us, taking a show and its team of 5-15 members on a multi-city tour is environmentally unsustainable.
Our team provides group and individual storytelling and public speaking coaching, which helps prepare local residents to share their stories during the SPACES performances, but also leaves a lasting impact by providing these essential soft skills for participants to utilize in the future.
Finally, we are proud that SPACES reimagines the immersive genre by creating an exciting fully immersive experience, while simultaneously serving as a powerful tool for community engagement and transformation.
We builds SPACES from the ground up following these main steps :
1. Establishing deep local partnerships : the foundation of the project are the partnerships with local NGOs, community organizations, municipalities, and artists. At this point, and throughout, we come in ready to listen, learn and imagine the project together.
2. Choosing a venue : The performance space must have significance to the community historically and/or socially. Occasionally the venue is selected first, and the theme of the piece emerges from its history and role in the community.
3. Finding storytellers : We find storytellers by using a combination of approaches, including reaching out to local partners, hosting storytelling workshops and events, and word of mouth.
4. Identifying theme(s) : Through research and dialogue with community members, the team identifies a topic that the community is grappling with. This will be the unifying element behind the stories, as well as be incorporated into the piece's design.
5. Recruiting local talent : Our team works with local dancers, composers, DJs, musicians, choreographers, and video artists. These collaborators are selected as early as possible in the process, and are instrumental in creating an authentic performance that represents the local cultural landscape.
6. Developing material: The creative team generates choreography, music and video content, based on the theme(s) chosen for the piece, and the stories prepared by the local residents.
7. Rehearsing : The final rehearsal period takes between four to six weeks and is focused on working with storytellers and performers, as well as bringing the different design elements together to form a cohesive and unique experience.
8. Evaluation and documentation : We take time to collect evaluations, debrief with local partners, and create photo and video documentation, which we found to be extremely important to all participants as a way to keep a trace of their experience.
In order to be able to replicate the SPACE project, our team relies on its core elements :
The dramatic structure of the show
In each city the form and structure remain the same, yet each final performance is drastically different from one another.
The methodology : process and creation timeline
The choreographer, composer and director have created supporting documents for local choreographers, composers, multimedia artists and storytellers to use in order to help them in the creative process. The documents serve as building blocks for the production, making it easier for the team to work together and overcome challenges based on language, working styles, cultural differences, etc.
We are in the process of creating a sharable manual that provides a detailed explanation of our methodology and includes guides for core artists (choreographers, composers and directors), templates for key moments within the experience, and agendas for workshops and trainings. The goal of this document is to be an open-source guide that would permit others to replicate, modify and evolve our model.
A long-term goal is to build the show in a way that when our team leaves, that the local partners can continue presenting and adjusting it for as long as they want. In this way, the work truly belongs to the local community.
We are currently in dialogue with multiple potential host cities for future SPACES projects, including Calais (France).. This SPACES iteration would be created in collaboration with ARTE TV, and address the layered topic of migration by working closely with the city hall, local social organizations, long-term residents, and the people in the process of migration.
1. The need for a new common and shared tale
SPACES, has developed into a larger multi-platform international artistic initiative. OURSTORY is a digital iteration of SPACES, which re-imagines the artistic elements at the foundation of SPACES into story-art “duets”, in which a dancer responds to a personal story told by a local resident. In 2022 five duets from OurStory were presented as part of the In the Banlieues: Oakland/Saint-Denis initiative at a series of exhibitions exploring the banlieues in France and the United States. These exhibitions tool place at Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris, SPUR in San Francisco, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Paris Nord in Saint-Denis, and Oakstop in Oakland.
2. The emergency to reduce human carbon emissions
SPACES explores a sustainable and low carbon impact way to promote an artistic vision on an international scale : since its inception, SPACES has happened in Harlem (2017), Oakland (2021) and Saint-Denis (2021 & 2022), involving hundreds of amateur residents and professional performers, with only a core team of 3 people traveling.
3. The need to provide an answer to the ascent of populisms
The first iteration of Kaimera’s SPACES project was commissioned by the 2017 Harlem Arts Festival in New York City. The piece was created in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election in the US, at the height of the refugee crisis plaguing the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, and the border fortification populism-driven initiatives that were expanding all over the globe. It was a time of division, putting into question our sense of belonging and our sense of community.
