Image courtesy: Jake Oorloff
As a long time thespian and aesthete, I am always looking out for opportunities to involve myself in outside arranged workshops which expand my knowledge about the arts. And on the 17th of September, I stumbled upon a wonderful opportunity.
Arranged by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Arts Sri Lanka, they had invited Jake Oorloff (the co-founder of Floating Space Theatre Co.) to facilitate a workshop around the theme of “storytelling and its importance across all art mediums (visual art, performance art, writing, etc)”. Without much prior info about the session, other than a confirmation email the night before I went in with a mostly open mind. Though it was inevitable that there were some underlying doubts that clouded my mind. But within the three hours of the workshop, I can honestly say I came out of it with a deeper appreciation of my own personal narrative which is my life, as well as the diversity of other stories even though we may all share the commonalities like being Sri Lankan” or “a teenager”.
Set amidst the contemporary work of Sri Lankan artists, Jake facilitated a series of practical activities and discussions centred primarily around the conversation of how do we choose to tell our own stories and perhaps more interestingly how do we re-tell others. Since in total the workshop held around 8 people it held a sort of intimacy and a safe space that would not have been possible in a larger workshop. Over the three house as our small coterie become more familiar with each other (it was quite interesting because by the end of the workshop I was able to find some niche connection with almost everyone who had attended; further proving just how entwined all of our stories are, which makes the tapestry that is humanity all the more fascinating), the more interesting the discussion became.
One concept, which particularly resonated with me, was when we were asked to think about is what basic identities we affiliate with ourselves with (like gender, religion, race, sexuality, age, etc) and then think open a specific moment in time where one or more of our identities were challenged by external pressure or were in conflict with one and another. To respect that all of these stories were shared in confidentiality I won’t be mentioning any names or specific instances but it touched upon diverse topics like the interrelation between gender, class and higher education; the stigma and misconceptions that come with being a queer Sri Lankan teen; the burden of not knowing/having a mother tongue and the extent of authority teachers have over students. For the remainder of the workshops we worked in pairs and trios to further explore through the concept of storytelling, whether that be through a performative art, a visual art or a piece of writing, how can we in retrospect analyse our shared stories to shape it in a way that allows others to see new perspectives in a still respectful way to all parties involved.
By the end of the session the three hours had flown by there was an air of melancholy knowing that this may be the last time our paths will cross for the immediate future. But we also left that space with a sense of relief that maybe for the first time in our lives we felt that our stories were genuinely heard.
A piece of advice that was shared in the session that I would like to share with you dear reader to conclude is: when in a position to share stories you know you shouldn’t be the one telling, it a personal yet vital ethical resolve to be the one to use your place of privilege to let go of the mic and hand it over to someone who deserves it.
