| AdminHistory | 'Gor Hoi' - 'Crossing the Water' - was a spectacular outdoor summer festival at Shadwell Basin. It was put on by the South East Asian Arts Project as part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) in 1987. The Gor Hoi Festival lasted three weeks 15 July - 1 August 1987. The event incorporated a specially built floating performance stage constructed over the Shadwell Basin. The festival brought together musicians, dancers and performers from Britain, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam as well as involving the local community. Shadwell Basin is one of the old London Docks built by the London Dock Company at Wapping.
Peter Gibson as Head of Area Docklands for the Tower Hamlets Adult Education service, was able to support this event through the budget he managed alongside sponsorship from the London Docklands Development Corporation and News International Newspaper. Peter Gibson and Alex Hooper interviewed many of the participants and managed the project. The combined budget from these organisations was £280,000. The intention of the event was to raise the profile of the Chinese and Vietnamese communities in the area. The project was directed by Pip Simmons, who Peter Gibson referred to as 'the renowned "enfant terrible" of British avant-garde Theatre'.
South East Asian Arts Project was based at The Shadwell Centre at Tower Hamlets Institute, The Highway. The Project's registered office was Arts Admin Limited, Unit 361, 27 Clerkenwell Close, Islington. |