Send THE IDEAL WOMAN to Adelaide
WHO ARE WE?
We are Cognatus, a theatre company co founded by 7 female artists from 6 countries who found a collective spirit and desire to explore not just the differences in the cultural and language aspects of our respective countries but more importantly, the similarities and the parallels.
As social rebels, we want to colonize the world with the female voice, advocating for work produced and created by women not just for women, but for the world.
As artists, we aim to engage communities not just through sensitive and inquisitive work that is a reflection of the community we’re performing it for, but also to connect people with the space around them.
Keywords:
Multicultural
Multilingual
Multidisciplinary
WHAT DO WE DO?
This past summer, we workshopped and created our first show The Ideal Woman, which was performed for the very first time at the Southend Fringe Festival.
"The idea of what a woman should be is deeply engraved in our culture, history and evidenced in the language that we use. This is a juxtaposition to the kind of language we use to describe an ideal woman in a contemporary setting; independent, strong, confident, motivated.
The Ideal Woman aims to dig into this time warp of the transcendental woman; will we ever be able to find a space where the past and the present exist in peace?
Or would it be a war that can never end with a truce?"
As a company, we are in the process of planning our upcoming year to further develop The Ideal Woman into a full fledged show and bring it to several fringes and performing arts festivals next year.
WHY ARE WE HERE?
Fast forward a few months later, we found out about the Pitchpad Sessions at the Borak Arts Series Conference which will be held in Adelaide this year; a platform that would give a chance to artists to pitch their works to festival directors and venue directors from various countries.
The Borak Arts Series (BAS) is an annual arts conference for creative practitioners and business leaders. Here they gather to discuss new and upcoming projects, as well as local and international policy and trends. In this way, BAS hopes to break boundaries and encourage collaboration between practitioners, and the public and private sectors.
Borak Arts Series has become a platform that creates opportunities and builds capacity through the congregation of South East Asian and international cultural leaders, artists, presenters, producers, intermediaries, funders, academics and students.
The conference aims to promote accessibility of information, tools and ideas on how to bring works or discussions forward, encourage cultural mobility and create alliances that would assist in building a robust performing arts ecosystem via the various panel discussions, networking sessions, one on one meetings with international programmers and workshop sessions amongst others.
For more information and the full schedule,
head to www.borakarts.com
So we decided to take a chance and submit The Ideal Woman.
And guess what?
Our proposal was chosen to pitch at the conference this coming November!
However, as Cognatus is based in London and as a new company, we currently are still working on setting up, getting funding, etc.
Which means that we are still self funded and do not have the financial freedom to afford a round trip ticket to Adelaide at such a short amount of time.
So instead of giving up the chance of pitching our show at the conference just because of a financial setback, we've decided to start a crowdfunding campaign to #sendcognatustoadelaide!
WHY DO WE WANT THIS?
Only one reason:
We are determined to have this very important story told.
WHAT DO WE NEED?
We will be sending our Malaysian co founder, Vinna Law to represent Cognatus at the conference. She is currently based in London and after some research into air ticket prices, a round trip ticket would cost around £1000.
As there will also be local travel costs, accommodation and food that needs to be covered, we would really need all the help we can get in order to cover as much of the air fare as we could.
WHEN DO WE NEED IT?
The conference is happening on the 1st of November to the 3rd of November.
In order to have enough time to get the air tickets and make accommodation arrangements, we will only be crowdfunding for a week.
Our cut off date is on the 22nd of October.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
If you are interested in what we do and want to help us develop our work, do donate as much as you can spare so we can have the chance to pitch the show at this year's Borak Arts Series and potentially secure some financial support, performance engagements, and touring opportunities.
If you're very keen and want to help but do not have the means to, it would also be a great help if you could help us spread the word and the news to your friends, family, and community.
No help is too small or too big.
WHAT WILL YOU GET? 
A giant thank you via video and a social media shout out for being part of our journey!
And for those who donated, you will be the first to hear about any news on the development of The Ideal Woman, and will be given 2 complimentary tickets to the premier of the show next year, including two sets of The Ideal Woman merchandise (EP, script, poster and programme).
For those who are not in the UK and are unable to redeem your tickets, we will ship the items over to you and will keep you updated on our touring locations and dates so you can be invited to the show happening closest to you.
LEARN MORE ABOUT US
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @cognatustheatre.
Check out our website: www.cognatus.co.uk
Co Founders personal websites:
www.vinnalaw.com
www.siiripartanen.com
www.susannahyvarinen.com
BORAK ARTS SERIES 2018
All images and video credits to Vincent Rosec
