JinnD Productions is a newly established dance platform to promote cross-art creation, sharing, and collaborations at both national and international level. It is also to provide art education through creativity, interest and stimulating thinking, to help more young dance creators. Simultaneously this enables more people to experience and have access to art making that is ….,
A platform that nu
rtures local young art workers and artists for international exposure. A somatic practice based on philosophy of Ashtanga yoga, Body-mind Centering, Chinese Classical Dance. The Beginnings of Cross-Cultural collaborations
In 2016, with the support of the Royal Art Gala Fund 2015, Malaysia and a partial venue sponsored by DPAC(Damansara Performing Arts Center), JinnD Productions produced “Where Two Seas Meet ''. A dance/performance piece that brings together Malaysian dancers in collaboration with cultural philosopher Marc Colpaert (Belgium) and choreographer Katja Grässli (The Netherlands). This inter-cultural project shown in Malaysia further extended into a working performance piece collaborating with Katja Grässli, Marc Colpaert, Dutch photographer Claudia den Boer (The Netherlands), dancer Nathalie Wagner (Switzerland) , coached by dance dramaturg Guy Cools . This cross-cultural exchange between Malaysia and Europe accumulated into a performance in Belgium and the Netherlands in March 2018 . Both of these projects intend to bring a dialogue between the multiplicities of Malaysia and Europe. These international collaboration projects help me to see and consider the multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual aspects of Malaysia from another perspective. This also creates awareness for me as a Malaysian and to improve a sense of belonging together by appreciating the presence of the ‘other. On the other hand can European artists become more aware of their own ‘fixed’ patterns, bringing an awareness of their own lens which they look upon at the South East Asian societies? The hope is that through exchanges and being in dialogue, we can come to a place of clarity and openness within and without the ‘otherness’.
“Your Memories, Our Identity (YMOI)”
Coming back to the local arena in 2018, we produced “Your Memories, Our Identity (YMOI)” . YMOI is a project focusing on the oral history of traditional jobs and skills on the verge of extinction in Butterworth city, Penang, Malaysia. It is an interdisciplinary and collaborative project engaging dancers, photographer, film artist, and artisans to present artistic research within site specificities. Three different discipline of artists group presenting their observations and research culminating in
a documentary installation ‘The Fading Hands’ by Malaysia Film Company, VFilm Productions,
a full length dance performance ‘Shǒu’ choreographed by Lau Beh Chin. a photo series ‘Silent Witness’ Dutch photographer, Claudia Den Boer,
“In the attentive way of how they were doing these jobs, jobs that to me seem a very specific feature of Malaysian culture, I feel a connection of what photography means to me. What I loved about working on this project is that as someone born, raised and living in Northern Europe, therefore being from a culture, environment and climate that is quite different, I could observe with the outlook of ‘the stranger’ to whom everything is sort of new and different. This outlook is what made it possible for me to create a photo series and videos for the scenography of ‘Shou’ in a short amount of time.”
~reflection by of Claudia Den Boer on “Your Memories, Our Identity (YMOI)” project
The success of YMOI brought in more stakeholders and was invited to be co-produced and participate in the Butterworth Fringe Festival 2018. This was well received from the audience and the project continued with the support of Think City Sdn. Bhd., INXO Arts Fund, MyDance Alliance and private fund AuntArt (NL). Residency supported by Hin Bus Depot, Zart, Rimbun Dahan, Casa Ninda, Bilqis Hijjas, Carbon Art Space, C-Section, Choong Fatt Sze. This project is possible with thanks form the hospitality of these artisans in Butterworth: Mr. Leong Yu Hin (Coconut Shell Craver) & family; Mr. Sim Ah Ba (Tau Sar Piah Biscuit Maker) & family; Mr. Chong Kean Soon (Rattan Weaver) & family; Mdm. Lim Teng Feng (Kopitiam Coffee Master) & family; Mr. Visualingam A/L Vai Thilingam (Typist). The beginning: https://youtu.be/Q4FtzwCUQ64
Project trailer: https://youtu.be/fiwybirVapA
Anjez Art Project(AAP)
Concurrently with YMOI, JinnD Productions also began working with refugees from Myanmar in 2018, by initiating the Anjez Art Project(AAP). This art education project initiates activities to help realize the potential of Burmese refugees which comprise two main programs: Art for Refugee and Refugee Artisan Program. Together in collaboration with MyDance Alliance (MyDance), the Art for Refugee programme educates young Burmese refugee students in Malaysia on different types of arts forms to express themselves. This programme also - provides performance by the refugees and voluntary opportunity to connect with the local community. In parallel to the arts education programme, AAP’s Refugee Artisan Program is created to further develop refugee artisans’ skills in handicraft making and e-commerce management thus helping refugee students and their mothers in earning basic living wages
Moving with artisans(MoA)
In 2020, our production received funding from CENDANA to produce a project continuing from the development of the work from YMOI titled, “Moving with artisans(MoA)”
