MISSION

Quo Vadimus Arts is a community of artists working to promote the exchange of experiences between cultures.

During the past five years, we have overseen cross-cultural arts projects based in Rwanda, Israel, and New York. We are currently producing Crossing The Line, a documentary film about the lives of medics working in Israel and Palestine.

 

OUR HISTORY

Quo Vadimus means 'where are we going?', and this is a question that our company seeks to answer by broadening the scope of dialogue at a community level.

We began in 2002 as a theater company dedicated to providing accessible performances to diverse audiences. Productions included Oh The Drama, featuring the work of Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, writers of the Nanny Diaries, Rain Falls, a play by Judd Hardy about his experiences in Kenya and Rwanda, and Jew Pain a solo performance by comedian Michael Feldman.  

Jew Pain, which explored Feldman’s belief in Judaism and emerging bisexuality, had very successful runs at the New York Fringe, San Francisco Fringe and Fresh Fruit Festivals. Quo Vadimus brought the piece to Israel in 2005. These performances were transformative both for Israeli audiences and for Feldman himself who changed the ending of the piece after his experience in Israel.

For our second international venture, Quo Vadimus Arts reunited with playwright/performer Judd Hardy to develop the Rwanda Folk Tales Project. Our goal was to help Rwandan children orphaned by genocide explore issues such as justice, peace, and reconciliation through theater. Judd and his team trained National University of Rwanda students as theater facilitators and organized workshops with children in neighboring villages. The children performed their own plays, using folk tales as a jumping-off point. The program continued after our team came home, and QVArts has maintained contact with facilitators, providing technical assistance from the US.

Our next project, the ID America Festival, was inspired by our concern over the polarization of media in America. We decided to create a festival that would encourage both artists and audience members to see American from a different perspective. We received 332 submissions from playwrights ages 17 - 83, from 33 states. Our 30 winning playwrights, who came from diverse backgrounds, each contributed a unique point of view to our exploration of what America means. The festival was held at the Clemente Solo Velez cultural center in 2007.