Miami, Nov. 12, 2021 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Live Arts Miami (LAM) performing arts series and Juraj Kojš are thrilled to present the world premiere of Where Home Is, a music and multimedia game-inspired navigational experience through a fictive territory that stretches over several levels of the MDC Wolfson Parking Garage in downtown Miami, Dec. 9-11, 2021.
Inspired by migrants and immigrants, Where Home Is aims to remind us about the incredible fortitude, resilience and courage with which people have been navigating the world. With his troupe of artphibians (Kojš’s term for artists whose practice is defined by a commitment to interactive experiences and migration between art disciplines), the piece imagines a country in which participants traverse through physical and conceptual pathways to find their Where Home Is citizenship. Engagement is central to the experience. Audiences immerse themselves in an active, site-specific sonic, visual, and movement encounter experiencing the world from the perspective of a recently naturalized U.S. citizen.
Kojš masterfully combines movement, music composition for voices, instruments, and laptops in this dynamic multidisciplinary performance work. The experience culminates on the top floor of the parking garage, the final level to Where Home Is, citizenship, with a celebratory happening that includes a large-scale video projection display featuring historic footage of the Freedom Tower provided by the Wolfson Archives (as the actual building looms in the background), a market of ideas, dance party, historical tours, and games.
Where Home Is was selected as a winning project of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s 2020 Knight New Work program. The initiative provides funding to nine Miami-based artists and organizations, to bring their innovative ideas to fruition by the end of this year. The project has also received additional support from the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
COVID-19 Considerations and Precautions:
Live Arts Miami is fully committed to the health and well-being of every visitor and staff member. LAM staff with guidance from the CDC has developed the following protocols for safety: All visitors and staff will be required to practice physical and social distancing and must wear a face mask or other facial covering at all times. No visitor or staff will be granted entry if they are demonstrating symptoms of COVID-19 or have been determined to have had trace-contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19. Capacity will be limited.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Juraj Kojš (Slovakia/USA). Miami New Times described his muscle-powered multimedia Neraissance as “striking and unforgettable,” MiamiArtzine called his Signals “enthralling and immersive,” and Miami Herald praised his Bang for the Train as “the most profound…unexpected and enjoyable.” Kojš’s commissions for acoustic, electroacoustic, multimedia and installation pieces include The Knight Foundation, Meet the Composer, Harvestworks New York, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Deering Estate, Miami Light Project, Miami Theater Center and Live Arts Miami. His works received awards at Europe—A Sound Panorama, Miami New Times Best Off Award, Eastman Electroacoustic Composition and Performance Competition and the Digital Art Award. His research articles are published in Organized Sound, Leonardo Music Journal, Computer Music Journal and Journal of New Music Research. Kojš directs Foundation for Emerging Technologies and Arts (FETA) and teaches at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. www.kojs.net
WHAT: Where Home Is
WHEN: Thursday – Saturday, Dec. 9 – Dec. 11, at 8:00pm
WHERE: MDC Parking Garage (Building 7)
500 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL, 33132 → Buy Tickets
For more information, visit www.liveartsmiami.org. Click here for photos and video.
ABOUT LIVE ARTS MIAMI
Live Arts Miami is one of the city’s oldest and boldest performing arts series: an action-driven, people-centered platform for powerful performances, impactful community programs and learning experiences that spark dialogue, raise awareness around pressing issues, and open minds and hearts in all who take part. Live Arts Miami is proud to be a part of Miami Dade College’s celebrated Department of Cultural Affairs. For three decades, Live Arts Miami has featured extraordinary performing artists and unforgettable performances, collaborations and public art projects from all over the world. Today, Live Arts Miami is a regional model of principled innovation and excellence in public arts programming. A place for artists, audiences, and students to come together as one. For more information, please visit www.liveartsmiami.org and follow @liveartsmiami on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The programs of Live Arts Miami are funded by Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council; the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; the National Endowment for the Arts; National Performance Network (NPN); the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Live Arts Miami is a Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). Major NPN contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION
We are social investors who support democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and in the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once had newspapers. Learn more at kf.org and follow @knightfdn on social media.
Live Arts Miami Contact: Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director, 305-237-7733, kgarcia4@mdc.edu.