Swan Festival of Lights: Reimagined Press Release 2020 Perth’s premier Deepavali event is set to take audiences once again on an artistic and cultural journey of the senses; only this time, the Swan Festival of Lights replaces its renowned Swan River foreshore stage with a digital platform in a relaunch entitled Swan Festival of Lights: Reimagined, powered by ‘Inspire’.
Taking into consideration the unprecedented times this year has thrust upon us, our 2020 event is a humble offering to audiences around the world as a way to reunite, reconnect and heal through the arts. We have reimagined our regular celebratory festival approach into a universally accessible online platform featuring various heartfelt dance and music experiences to rekindle connections with our global roots and cultures.
Our newly-created digital content sharing platform ‘Inspire’ allows us to showcase a diverse range of art forms and artists like never before as we take our physical stage and transform it into an immersive online experience. Launched through SFOL during Deepavali, our ‘Inspire’ platform will also continue as an online stage for our artistic institution Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya.
SFOL: Reimagined will be featuring 2 past productions I Am Ravana and Vishwa Vinayaka, a brand new digital venture titled Who Am I?, and a Community of Light space.
Vishwa Vinayaka was performed in 2006 at the then Burswood Theatre to much appraisal, and will be featured on ‘Inspire’ on Thursday 12 November. It is a true renaissance dance production of Indian culture and fine arts, combining traditional and contemporary dance movement and expression to present a dynamic visual presentation. The music composed by Atul and Ajay and the songs rendered by the late SP Balasubramaniam and Shankar Mahadevan brings alive a divine symphony, transpiring visual dimensions to capture the universality of Lord Ganesha.
I Am Ravana is an alternate take on the Indian epic Ramayana, and engages the audience to consider the shades of good and evil. It is framed by the last moments of Ravana's life when Ravana asks humanity, "why do you rejoice in my death?". The quest for meaning, purpose, and fulfillment is timeless and universal. Ravana's hubris is ours today - personally, politically and globally. The production will be showcased on Friday 13 November. Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKuVbRT_Wp4.
The Who Am I? site –specific digital production encompasses themes of Darkness, Empowerment, and finally, Light. It was filmed at sites across Perth and regional WA. It is in collaboration with award-winning musician and choreographer Olivier Tarpaga, who has previously graced our SFOL stage. Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya artists and creatives have envisioned a memorable production emphasising the journey from darkness into light. This digital rendition will be available for all to enjoy on Saturday 14 November.
SFOL: Reimagined’s Community of Light consists of three categories where various artists, from young pioneering professionals and local Perth artists to the more experienced and international virtuosos, come together to share their love for the arts through their contribution of music and dance performances, storytelling, workshops, and even cooking classes.
The Festival looks to reignite the spirit of Deepavali primarily by providing a digital space and platform for audiences to immerse, enjoy and interact with multicultural experiences, while also encouraging support for those in need.
Our digital platform will also include a convenient option to donate directly to Siva Shantha Mother and Child Health Centre, an incredible healthcare institution helping thousands of women and children access basic and complex medical services. Originally initiated by HH Swami Shantanand Saraswati in 1986 as a small clinic called the ‘Temple of Service’, it was transformed into a fully comprehensive maternity centre in July 2010.
SFOL is hosted by Saraswati Mahavidhyalaya (SMV) and Annalakshmi Cultural Centre of WA, both not-for-profit institutions and staffed largely by volunteers. We are guided by the principles of our late patron His Holiness Swami Shantanand Saraswati - “Serve, Love, Give” and “Art, just for the love of it”. In previous years, SFOL was a prominent annual Perth event, bringing together the melting pot of cultural communities WA boasts, as well as world-class international artists, in celebration of Deepavali’s universal themes of finding light through darkness, good triumphing evil, and knowledge overcoming ignorance. The Festival attracted crowds over 30,000 each year, all of whom eagerly anticipated our humble offerings of dance, music, the arts, culinary delights and collaborations with various multicultural organisations.
With offerings of colourful, meaningful, and invigorating content, SFOL: Reimagined provides a place of creative and artistic sanctity where audiences and contributors can reignite their inner light through an extraordinary and unique online experience of sights, sounds and spirituality. For more details on Swan Festival of Lights: Reimagined, please visit www.sfol.com.au or contact us via marketing@smv.org.au. Photos for media use can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nosqmuo098627k0/AAAY3UdmD1f4d61GX3GSKMpJ a?dl=0