THE RAIN PROJECT – NEWCASTLE, is a collaborative multi-disciplinary project developed and directed by acclaimed Iraqi born writer and director, Niz Jabour. The project facilitates artistic collaboration between artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and creative practices, using the concept of rain to create new live performance.
Rain is universally significant, bringing people together from all walks of life, regardless of cultural boundaries, religious beliefs and personal backgrounds. Rain figures strongly in everyone’s personal stories and memories as well as in world cultural heritages, through mythologies and historical narratives. We all have our own relationship to rain, how it has figured in our lives and how our perceptions of it have shifted over a lifetime.
Over three years, Niz Jabour will work with artists and local Newcastle and Hunter Valley communities to explore the rain as a theme, context and metaphor for a range of public events. Workshops and creative developments will culminate in an exhibition and showcase performance at The Lock-Up in 2019 followed by a larger scale performance and installation in 2020.
THE RAIN PROJECT is an ongoing and evolving collection of works that gather people from all walks of life experiences including refugees and migrant through memories, oral narratives, feelings and stories about rain, relocated into new situations that speak to us all and is the current iteration engaging diverse artists and communities across Newcastle from 2018 to 2020.
THE RAIN PROJECT – NEWCASTLE is The Lock Up’s first major performing arts project developed in partnership with community organisations and funded by Newcastle City Council.
INFORMATION SESSION & LAUNCH: 6PM WEDNESDAY 2 MAY 2018
WORKSHOPS: TBC
ABOUT NIZ JABOUR
Niz Jabour trained in theatre and directing at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, Iraq. Since arriving in Australia in 2000, he has continued to work as a playwright, performer and director in Regional NSW (Bathurst and Newcastle) and across Australia including at Metro Arts Brisbane, Jute Theatre Cairns and La Mama Theatre Melbourne. Niz’s work has been nominated for various awards and his roles have included Artistic Director of Full Throttle Theatre, Townsville (2013-15) and Newcastle Theatre Festival (2006), and Independent Artist in Residence at La Boite Theatre (2014-15) and Queensland Theatre, Brisbane (2017).
Niz has developed a very detailed collaborative process rooted in contemporary performance and created in partnership with artistic institution and community participants. He has continued to explore and teach this practice at Griffith University and James Cook University, and has undertaken research and directed performances at Newcastle University and Curtin University where he completed his PhD in 2013.
