World Premiere:  Fallen Fruit – now here, now gone  Katherina Radeva

Saturday 11 February, 7.30pm, ICIA (Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Arts), University of Bath

Under the banner of its Olympic year theme of ‘internationalism,’ ICIA presents the world premiere of Fallen Fruit - now here, now gone on Saturday 11 February, 7.30pm, at ICIA, University of Bath, before a short tour. This solo piece by Bulgarian performance-maker Katherina Radeva takes audiences on a journey through love, childhood and breaking free.

Fallen Fruit – now here, now gone began as a response to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Revisiting memories of growing up in her native Bulgaria before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Katherina questions our perceptions of freedom, whether walls protect or expose us, and asks why are we so curious about the other side?

Using 200 small boxes and a microphone, Fallen Fruit – now here, now gone incorporates three fragmented narratives – the stories of Jiji, a fictional popular TV presenter, a couple on the verge of breaking up, and the very first moments of a little girl encountering the West. 

A child of the communist regime, Katherina was seven when the Wall came down. Brought up in a period of exceptional change Fallen Fruit - now here, now gone reflects Katherina’s preoccupation with ideas of nationality, identity, and boundaries.

Katherina left Bulgaria in 1999 aged 16, coming to Bath on a full scholarship to study Art and Design at the City of Bath College, before going on to do a degree at Wimbledon. In 2006 Katherina was selected as an Artsadmin Bursary Recipient. Over the last ten years she has devised a number of performance pieces and also designs for theatre, dance and film. She continues her relationship with City of Bath College as a visiting artist giving a yearly lecture.

The project is supported by Trestle Arts Base through the Escalator Live Art programme, Arts Council England and ICIA, including the final development phase of the work. Collaborators include dramaturgy: Alister Lownie, sound: Tim Blazdell, lighting: Azusa Ono and mentoring: Sheila Ghelani.

Katherina has been involved in Practice, the region’s new work initiative, since 2008. In November 2011 she presented a work-in-progress at ICIA with Alister Lownie, under the company name of Two Destination Language. A Journey of a Home, an audio ‘one-on-one’ performance, will be presented at ICIA on Thursday 22 March. Practice is a partnership project with Salisbury Arts Centre from an original idea by CEW.

Workshops with Katherina Radeva 

As part of her visit, Katherina leads two one-day practical workshops at ICIA. The first, on Sunday 12 February, covers theatre techniques and includes devising text and physicality. The second, on Saturday 18 February, is a scenography workshop and includes approaches to set and costume design. All levels welcome.

Quote from Katherina Radeva

“Fallen Fruit takes me back to my childhood, but it deals with questions that we all find hard as adults. We long for safety and stability, and seek the excitement of change. It’s about a particular history – my history – and comes from a particular time, but it’s also about the things that made me who I am today, the ways history – not just personal but big important events – shapes an individual.”

2012 theme of ‘internationalism’

In response to the Olympic year, ICIA’s theme for 2012 is ‘internationalism’. The theme offers the opportunity for artists and performers to examine the relationship between national identity and internationalism in the cultures of sport and the arts, exploring where contradictions arise. ICIA is based at the University of Bath, one of the UK’s leading universities.

ICIA, University of Bath

ICIA’s professional programme includes visual arts, theatre, dance and music with an interdisciplinary emphasis, including exhibitions, films, discussions, practical workshops and classes. ICIA commissions and supports new arts projects, residencies, training opportunities, seminars and symposia exploring interdisciplinary arts practice.

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