This year, SOCINTEGRA has become part of the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre “Homo Novus”, contributing its expertise to making three festival performances accessible to people with visual impairments. SOCINTEGRA has been involved in adapting three performances: “AAA”, “Dārzs virs kapa” and “Upes tūres. Daugava”.

Marija Kožarina, Chairwoman of the Board of SOCINTEGRA: “Taking part in ‘Homo Novus’ has been a very interesting and valuable experience for us. We are used to talking about tactile maps, models, Braille or audio description, but in contemporary performing arts, accessibility takes on entirely different forms. Every performance is different, so there is no single ready-made solution that can be applied to all of them. We need to understand the artistic concept of each particular performance and work together with its creators to find ways to make the experience more complete for people with visual impairments as well. I am very pleased that ‘Homo Novus’ is thinking about these issues and involving experts in the process of creating accessibility.”

The performances in the festival programme to which SOCINTEGRA has contributed differ significantly both in their artistic form and in the way audiences experience them.

“AAA” is a work by choreographer and performing artist Jana Jacuka that explores the voice as a means of choreographic expression. The voice becomes an extension of the body, while breath becomes a means of communication with the audience. The work is inspired by the vocal practice of yodelling, using extreme vocal techniques and unpredictable shifts in the voice. For this performance, SOCINTEGRA developed an audio description. A particular challenge was the improvisational nature of the performance - what happens on stage can change, meaning that the audio description must be able to follow these changes.

“Dārzs virs kapa” is a visceral audio performance created by the Finnish arts collective WAUHAUS and staged in a cemetery. It combines a listening experience with somatic practices, death meditation and rituals. During the performance, participants are invited to carry out simple actions - sometimes alone and sometimes together with others. For one hour, the cemetery becomes not only a place associated with the end of life, but also a garden where decay gives way to new life.

“Upes tūres. Daugava”, created by Latvian artists in collaboration with the UK theatre company Stan’s Cafe, invites audiences on a 45-minute journey along the Daugava River, exploring stories of flooded towns, elements of folklore, the history of hydroelectric power stations, the journeys of migrating animals and people’s lives.

SOCINTEGRA’s experience shows that the best results in cultural accessibility are achieved when the needs of different audiences are considered from the very beginning of the creative process and solutions are developed in collaboration with the users themselves - people with visual impairments. In contemporary performing arts, this approach opens up particularly broad possibilities, as an artwork can be experienced through much more than sight alone. Sound, voice, movement, space, touch and other elements can all become part of a complete cultural experience.

About “Homo Novus”

The International Festival of Contemporary Theatre “Homo Novus” is Latvia’s leading contemporary performing arts festival and one of the largest of its kind in the Baltic region. Held in Riga, the festival introduces audiences to both emerging and established artists whose work reflects an ongoing engagement with and perspective on the contemporary world and society.

Alongside its diverse programme of performances, the festival provides opportunities for creative experimentation, theoretical and educational programmes, and other activities. Since 1995, 21 editions of the festival have taken place in Daugavpils and Riga, presenting more than 400 guest performances and producing several dozen new works.