This intercultural workshop brings together people of all ages, cultures and walks of life, to explore and discuss the meanings of the lyrics of each others’ culturally significant songs, and then sing them in each others’ languages.
Conducted with Bengali, Chinese, Tamil, West Indian, Ethiopian and Spanish Participants, this workshop was hosted by Harmony Hall Centre for Seniors in Toronto, resulted in a three-year program and culminated in several successful public performances. Read more
This workshop brings together people of various cultures to discuss the similarities, differences and varying interpretations of symbols occurring in weaving patterns
Amanta conducts Artist Talks and Walk-throughs for exhibitions
Participants discover hidden gems and delicious treats in previously unexplored neighbourhood restaurants. Here, Participants may also tour the kitchen, meet the chef, discuss the making and presentation of the food, and experience the art and music of the culture as they dine.
The Chef speaks with Participants at Hirut Restaurant on the Danforth in Toronto.
Designed for arts schools, this workshop introduces young participants to the basics of syncretic art, integrating visual art, music, theatre and dance.
pictured here: workshop participants performing at TASIS school in Dorado, Puerto Rico
a performance workshop designed to honour and illuminate aspects of the refugee experience, commissioned by UNHCR
This workshop empowers participants to find their own interpretations of artworks; create personal responses to artworks through sound and movement; and use an art exhibition as a catalyst for presentations integrating voice, percussion, sound, movement and visual arts.
First offered during the exhibition of Lockdown and 15 Minutes of Fame at Art Gallery of Algoma this workshop was conducted with the public twice daily throughout a 3-week period.
Rooted in stories of our lives, this workshop enables participants to develop powerful choreography, music and performances.
pictured here: Shellshock performance presented at Music Gallery, Toronto, and developed in collaboration with University Settlement House Choir
A 6 month Syncretic Art project commissioned by HRDC - Human Resources Development Canada - for 16 youth deemed to be "at risk" in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Through daily workshops in a wide range of artistic disciplines the youth developed a series of performances — integrating sound, voice, movement and sculpture —which toured to over 25 seniors' homes, festivals, fairs and art galleries across Central Ontario.
Designed for university level participants in arts colleges, this workshop explores multiple interpretations of liminal space, interpreting the symbol of the doorway through the creation of found object sound sculptures with sound, movement and performance.
pictured here: participants consider their installation addressing the takeover of Hong Kong by China and the potential situations that might result, at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Designed for arts schools, this workshop empowers Participants to express powerful emotions through sound and movement.
pictured here: student performance at Claude Watson School for the Arts
This workshop brings together people of all ages and cultures to share stories and explore common phrases and expressions.
Cultivating unity in diversity this workshop was first conducted with Ethiopian, Burmese, Spanish and First Nations people in Toronto.
Dragon Tango features two dragon sound sculptures created entirely out of found objects.
In conjunction with exhibitions of these works, Syncretic Art workshops were offered twice daily over a six-week period for school groups and the general public following exhibitions of Dragon Tango at the Edmonton Art Gallery and Royal Ontario Museum.
Students also participated in the initial stages of Glove Forest, donating single gloves accompanied by messages of hope and pledges to protect the environment.
Arising Phoenix features a sound sculpture of a magical phoenix created in performance.
pictured here: installation at National Gallery of Canada
workshops introduce participants to found object sculptures and performance
Syncretic Art workshops were offered following performances of Arising Phoenix and Dragon Tango in theatres — including Yilan Cultural Centre Theatre, Taiwan; Academy Theatre, Lindsay; and Market Hall, Peterborough.
To the delight of the audience and performers alike, the performance of Arising Phoenix at the Yilan Cultural Centre Theatre culminated in an impromptu jam-session with members of the Taiwanese National Orchestra.
Everyone has lost a glove. Somehow we find it difficult to part with the other one. We keep thinking somehow it will return. We have the same unrealistic ideas about the environment. Unless we do something drastic our environment will be lost forever.
This installation is created with spare gloves from Visitors. Each glove included a pledge to protect the environment.
Workshops explored environmental and social issues.
These workshops invited people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to get involved in art — to contribute to the initial stages of Glove Forest by donating single gloves accompanied by messages of hope and pledges to protect the environment; and — share their stories by participating in audio/video interviews which were edited into the resulting surround sound audio score and video for Glove Forest.
These outreach sessions were conducted at Art Gallery of Algoma, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Peterborough and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in 2004.
Arising Phoenix features a sound sculpture of a magical phoenix created in performance.
pictured here: installation at National Gallery of Canada
workshops introduce participants to found object sculptures and performance
Syncretic Art workshops were offered following performances of Arising Phoenix and Dragon Tango in theatres — including Yilan Cultural Centre Theatre, Taiwan; Academy Theatre, Lindsay; and Market Hall, Peterborough.
To the delight of the audience and performers alike, the performance of Arising Phoenix at the Yilan Cultural Centre Theatre culminated in an impromptu jam-session with members of the Taiwanese National Orchestra.
Participants of all cultures welcome the opportunity to share their stories of their journeys from their homelands to settling in Canada.
This workshop can be conducted indoors or outdoors as required. Pictured here is an event created for World Refugee Day hosted by United Nations Refugee Agency: UNHCR.
Participants discuss issues of importance in conversation with the Artist, documented on video
Spontaneous collaborations result in exciting performances.
pictured here: Amanta Scott, piano, Peter Mika, dance for the Escuela de Misterios conference at World Trade Centre, Barcelona, Spain
At the request of William Crane, Arts Consultant for the Peterborough Board of Education, Dragon Tango was imported from Japan to Canada. The PTBO hosted two weeks of performances and engaged artists Amanta Scott and David Tomlinson to conduct Syncretic Art workshops for 7000 students of the Peterborough Board of Education.
Thanks to funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation an on-line Curriculum Links Document was commissioned: outlining a series of activities connecting Dragon Tango and Amanta's work to all aspects of the school curriculum. This document is still in use today.
While in Taipei for the exhibition of Oh . . . Canada, Syncretic Art workshops and on-site studio tours were conducted with students of Kaiping High School.
Students participated in creating sound sculptures, and explored the integration of music, visual art, theatre and dance.
Staff and students, as well as the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, were very pleased with the experience.
Amanta's syncretic art installation Arising Phoenix featured at the Yilan County Cultual Centre Theatre in Yilan, Taiwan. While in Taiwan Amanta conducted a workshop on graphic scoring and syncretic art for 200 students at the GuangFu School.
During the workshop invited students leapt onto the stage, each of them eager to draw graphic scores - lines, shapes, contours and colours to which which their colleagues enthusiastically gave voice. Students learned to conduct the entire assembly leading them in dance choreography inspired by the scores.
Workshops integrate visual art, music, theatre, mask, dance and storytelling,
Pictured here: Participants in our DoorWays Workshop, sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada for the City of Kawartha Lakes.
While in living in Japan Amanta conduced a series of Syncretic Art workshops and presented the first stages of Dragon Tango to locals and students at schools and community centres in Hino Hara Mura, and Musashi Itsukaichi, towns in the mountains, 80 km west of Tokyo; and also in Shikoku, Japan.
Participants created their own percussion music upon the sound sculptures and discussed the varying and contrasting significance of the dragon in Japanese and World mythology and in contemporary culture.
In 1996, Amanta directed a 6-week syncretic art workshop resulting in an opera, created and performed by the students, entitled Gaggle Goes to Canada. This project was funded by the Canadian Opera Company "Create-an-Opera-in-the-Schools" program which partnered professional composers and artists with local schools.
Students were largely new Canadians just learning to speak English. The theme of the opera was a gaggle of geese flying across Canada, discovering each region through its geography and history - all of which was expressed through sound and movement and costumes created by the students. The resulting opera was so adorable it was featured on the local Toronto news.
A 3-week Syncretic Art workshop for 35 first and second year students — exploring interpretations of the doorway as a symbol — through sound sculpture, voice and performance.
Syncretic Art workshops offered following performances of Arising Phoenix in the schools and art galleries introduced audiences of up to 19,475 students to the fundamentals of Syncretic Art.
Workshops were conducted in primary and secondary high schools throughout the Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay areas in 2004 and 2005.
This tour was made possible through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Trillium Foundation and Ontario Arts Council.
Syncretic Art workshops following exhibitions of Arising Phoenix at Art Gallery of Algoma, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Art Gallery of Peterborough introduced 19,475 students and the general public to the fundamentals of Syncretic Art.
Workshops — conducted throughout Central Ontario from 2002 - 2005 — were made possible through the generous support of Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Trillium Foundation and Ontario Arts Council.
A three week Syncretic Art Workshop for 80 students ranging in age from 7 to 14 years old, culminating in a performance for staff, parents and peers.
Exploring the contents of a suitcase to create personally significant art installations and share stories.
Creating paintings inspired by a person, creature, object, photograph or story that touches your heart.
An introduction to the fundamentals and origins of encaustic painting.
Exploring artworks in galleries and museums to determine: How might representations of women have a bearing on our current attitudes and perceptions? How might this influence or contribute to the issues facing society today? Contact Amanta for details
In-gallery Workshop with Amanta Scott
From chasing dragons while living on a mountaintop in Japan to performing in Detroit with a horse-drawn theatre, Amanta has stories to share. Coming from over ten generations of storytellers, human rights activists, artists, performers, rabbis and refugees, Amanta has travelled, performed and exhibited around the globe.