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Rockefeller Foundation Awards $250,000 to UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance

Carolyn Campbell (ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu) (310) 825-6540
For Immediate Use Tuesday, November 10, 1998.

The Rockefeller Foundation has awarded a four-year $250,000 grant to the UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance (CIP) to help fund the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX) Writers Fellowship Program under the foundation's Resident Fellowship in the Humanities program. The gift was one of nine given to new programs, and the only one awarded to a performing arts program this year. Announcement of the grant was made by Professor Judy Mitoma, director of the CIP.

The APPEX Writers Fellowship Program complements the CIP's existing APPEX Artists Fellowship Program. Together, they will place writers, artists and scholars in an interactive six-week residency program, providing them with a rich cross-cultural and interdisciplinary working environment. Four writers from Asia and the United States will be chosen as Fellows to work in residency with 28 artists during the summer of 1999. The program will run from July 1 to Aug. 14.

The program's theme, “Cross-cultural Collaboration -- Examining Creativity in a Performance World,” draws its subject matter directly from the activities of the workshops. As writers interact with artists and observe workshop activities, they will develop their research topics, begin writing, and within a year complete an essay that will become a part of a published volume.

"Having writers and scholars in residence in the APPEX program is a natural extension of our work here at UCLA," said Mitoma. "Thanks to the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the dynamic relationship between theory and practice will become a central part of our program."

APPEX is an international artists and writers residency program that promotes cross-cultural and interdisciplinary understanding; develops rigorous strategies for art-making that reflect the nuances of cultural differences; and fosters new ways to experiment, collaborate and interpret artistic expression. Since its inception in 1995, APPEX has brought together more than 45 traditional and contemporary performing artists from throughout the United States and Asia -- including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam -- for intensive residency sessions on the UCLA campus.

Applications for the APPEX Fellowships can be requested by calling (310) 206-1335. Information and applications can be downloaded from the CIP web site at http://www.arts.ucla.educ/centers/cip/cip.html. Applications are due by December 1, 1998.

The Center for Intercultural Performance, an integral part of the Department of World Arts and Cultures in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, is an institutional vehicle for interdisciplinary research, creative experimentation and public outreach. Whereas the department attends to the educational needs of UCLA students, the CIP serves as a link to the outside world by initiating and supporting intercultural exchange and collaboration. Its ultimate purpose is to connect multicultural arts education and research within the University to the real-world needs of artists from diverse communities and traditions.


Contact: Carolyn Campbell
Phone: (310) 825-6540
Email: ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu