Adelaide Festival Centre is pleased to announce its programme for the 2008 OzAsia Festival, which will run from 14 - 28 Sep 08.
Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, will deliver the keynote address at the Festival's Symposium, exploring the challenges and opportunities for closer cultural engagement with Asia in the 21st Century. The OzAsia Festival Symposium commences on Saturday, 20 Sep in the Festival Centre's Banquet Room. Throughout the day a wide variety of topics will be explored, featuring local, national and international experts from backgrounds such as education, philosophy, government, the arts, international relations and cultural studies.
The Festival Centre's 2008 OzAsia Festival programme also includes an eclectic mix of dance, music, theatre, visual art, food and free events, involving a wide variety of Australian and Asian artists and a number of Australian premieres. For the first time, in 2008 the OzAsia Festival also includes a film component: OzAsia On Screen.
Premier and Arts Minister Mike Rann said, "I am delighted that the Prime Minister will be playing a key role in the evolving and increasingly important OzAsia Festival, which is reflecting a national move to further our engagement and links with Asia."
Adelaide Festival Centre CEO and Artistic Director Douglas Gautier said, "We warmly welcome Prime Minister Rudd, as well as all of the speakers and artists involved, to the 2008 OzAsia Festival programme. We were delighted with the response to the inaugural OzAsia Festival in 2007 and I encourage everyone to sample the delights of Australasian culture that are on offer in this year's programme. The Festival is an exciting time for the Adelaide Festival Centre as we continue to cultivate relationships with our Asian neighbours as well as Australian artists with an Asian heritage."
As per the Festival tradition, the OzAsia Festival will open with the free Moon Lantern Festival. Elder Park will come alive with community dance and music performances and workshops, and a parade by hundreds of South Australian school children with beautiful hand-made lanterns. Guest artists from the 2008 OzAsia Festival programme will also perform, and a delicious selection of Asian cuisine and moon cakes, and traditional lanterns, will be available for purchase. |
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In an Australian exclusive, Zhengzhou Song and Dance Theatre will present the epic dance drama Shaolin in Wind at this year's Festival. This stunning production features over 70 performers onstage and incorporates classical ballet, martial arts and acrobatics combined with lavish sets and amazing costumes in an epic tale of love, loss and finally justice.
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