Border Crossings’ ORIGINS Festival celebrates the world’s First Nations in an explosion of art, performance and debate.
ORIGINS creates a unique opportunity to engage with Indigenous artists and activists at the cutting edge of cultural resistance, environmentalism and spiritual tradition. Working with some of the most significant cultural institutions in London, ORIGINS brings the world's Indigenous artists and cultures to the heart of the capital.
Experience Another Way of Living.
During 2021-22, Border Crossings ran an extended ORIGINS Festival, focussing on the themes of Covid, Climate Change and Colonialism.
The pandemic prevented us from bringing large numbers of Indigenous artists to the UK for our usual two-week celebration, so instead we asked ourselves what our decade of Festivals had taught us - how we could learn from Indigenous cultures and incorporate their valuable principles into our own lives without appropriating. The Festival reached out into communities across the UK and beyond, developing new interfaces between online and physical activity, between Indigenous artists and British audiences.
Activities included:
- The journey of TOTEM LATAMAT to Cop26
- Our extensive Participation and Learning programme around plants and food: BOTANY BAY
- Jessie Lloyd's residency and the resulting installation, SONGSTREETS
- A ceremonial dance project for Birmingham 22: REMEMBRANCES
- A plaque installed on DOVER BEACH.
Many of these activities have left digital traces that you can follow online, particularly our videos and the two guided tours, SONGSTREETS and WALKING INDIGENOUS LONDON.
Click here for the FESTIVAL PROGRAMME, which summarises all that happened and gives you links to all the videos, podcasts and apps.
