Work “Being a foreigner in Chile”

Work “Being a foreigner in Chile”

• Valparaíso Cultural Park Theater, Cárcel 471, Valparaíso.
• Saturday, June 8 – 7:00 p.m.
• Free.

Given the need to reflect on the migration crisis that impacts realities worldwide, the Teatro en Casa Cultural Group together with the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritagethey invite the community to be part of the experience “Being a Foreigner in Chile”.

During 2024, the group will carry out the first tour of the play “Ser extranjer@ en Chile” through the four regions of the country that concentrate the largest number of foreign migrant population, performing in the communes of Iquique, Antofagasta, Valparaíso and Estación Central. This circulation is financed by the National Fund for the Promotion and Development of the Performing Arts and includes performances of the work, accompanied by workshops and meetings in collaboration with local migrant groups. All activities are free entry.

In the Valparaíso Region, the play can be seen for free at the Valparaíso Cultural Park Theater on Saturday, June 8 at 7:00 p.m., and has the collaboration of the NGO Integra-Valpo and the Communal Office of Migrants of the Illustrious Municipality of Valparaíso.

Addressing topics that question concepts of identity, territory, racism and gender, The staging invites the public to rethink the experience of living in Chile and transcend cultural borders.

With a multicultural cast from Colombia, Serbia-Canada, Venezuela and Haitithe work captivates with stories and experiences that invite deep reflection on the political, social and emotional structures that surround the migration phenomenon.

This way, testimonies, movement, singing, music and collagemeet under the co-direction methodology of 4 stage directors of the Teatro en Casa Group: Nicolás Fernandois, Belén Alfaro, Paulina Moreno and Marcelo Salinas, who led the process between the months of June and August 2023, within the framework of the “Creative Community” project.

This scenic creation establishes cultural action and territorial linkage as a fundamental axis in the production of the assembly, focusing the gaze on the citizen not as a mere consumer, but also as a protagonist and co-creator, proposing a more horizontal cultural participation, an exercise to ‘take part’ in cultural life.

The creation was born due to the importance and urgency of making visible the diversity of stories and perspectives of those who migrate to Chile. For the Group, migration must be recognized as a key factor for cultural, social and economic development, its positive contribution must be recognized, its ability to regenerate diversity, while guaranteeing the protection of the cultural rights of those who migrate.

Co-director Paulina Moreno considers that currently “judgment and prejudice around migration is in vogue, so it has been very important to deconstruct the concept of identity and belonging in this process.”

“Migration is a right and is inherent to human beings, so These collective reflections are a contribution to the new society that we want to build; a more loving, tolerant and integrated societyl”, adds the director.

Nicolás Fernandois, co-director and member of the Teatro en Casa Group, expresses that “We currently live in a migration crisis where governments toughen hate speech and discrimination, Therefore this work is a meeting of critical humanity regarding the paths that contemporary life has taken.”

“In this work of collective creation we have tried to scenically exhibit reflections of vindication and valorization of migratory processes”, Fernandois points out.

In addition, the project includes participation activities with local migrant communities, in collaboration with the NGO Integra-Valpo. One of these instances will be a workshop guided by members of the Soy Alma de Negra Platform.

And what does it mean to be a foreigner?

For the Serbian-Canadian communicator and part of the cast, Irina Kovacevic, “I am moved and surprised by the shared feeling that we found in the cast, at an identity level, about our conceptions of what it means to migrate. The feeling of ‘no return’, of belonging neither here nor there and being somewhere in between”.

“What Teatro en Casa managed to do with this work is show the diversity of what it means to be a foreigner, a phenomenon that tends to be homogenized”says Angie Mercado, who is part of the cast and is also a Colombian researcher and activist defending the rights of Afro-descendant women. “It takes a lot of love, courage and creativity to stage our life stories,” adds the member of the Soy Alma de Negra platform.

The cast member, Marcelo Torrealba, lawyer, musician and performing artist from Venezuela, “The invitation is for the public to accompany us in the midst of the greatest universal understanding that unites us, which is the notion of knowing ourselves to be vulnerable. We hope that the work touches your hearts and materializes the world that we are all invited to build from our spaces of influence and action.”

About Home Theater

The Teatro en Casa Cultural Group was created in 2014 in the city of Santiago, and since then it has functioned as a community platform for the exhibition of performing arts in unconventional spaces. In its 10 years of history, the group has consolidated itself as a cultural organization aimed at encouraging the creation, production, research and circulation of AAEE, generating binding bridges with citizens and territorial particularities, encouraging access and active participation of communities, enhancing the identity of a territory and influencing its visibility, dialogue and reflection about its aspirations and concerns.

Equipment:

General co-director: Nicolás Fernandois and Marcelo Salinas.

Co-direction and staging: Belén Alfaro, Paulina Moreno, Marcelo Salinas, Nicolás Fernandois. Cast: Wolinsky Phadael, María Fernanda Gómez, Doralí Lobo, Angie Mercado, Johanna Boya, Yury Escárraga, Maya Rodríguez, Irina Kovacevic, Marcelo Torrealba.
Cultural Management and Communications: Javiera Severino.

Circulation coordinates:

Valparaiso

DATE: Friday, June 7

ACTIVITY: Meeting “Migrant trajectories and perceptions in Chile”

PLACE: Republic of Mexico School, Placilla

TARGET AUDIENCE: Migrant community

SCHEDULE: 6 to 9 p.m.

Free activity, in collaboration with NGO-Integra Valpo

DATE: Saturday June 8

ACTIVITY: Workshop “Mapping Emotions an Anti-Racist Work”,

PLACE: Republic of Mexico School, Placilla

TARGET AUDIENCE: Migrant community

TIME: 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Free activity, in collaboration with NGO-Integra Valpo (@integravalpo) and Platform Soy Alma de Negra (@soyalmadenegra)

DATE: Saturday June 8

ACTIVITY: Play function “Being a foreigner in Chile” + conversation

LOCATION: Valparaíso Cultural Park, Jail #471, Valparaíso

TARGET AUDIENCE: General public, from 12 years old

TIME: 7 p.m.

Free activity.