Our Mission
We strive to facilitate, produce, promote and advocate for Asian performing arts.
Our Vision
We aspire to raise the bar of Asian performing arts by:
- being a sustainable arts body,
- nurturing performing arts creatives and producers in developing and creating Asian content,
- supporting the capacity building of Asian performing arts societies, groups and organisations,
- developing audiences both within and beyond the Asian community,
- fostering cross-cultural and multi-sector buy-in,
- challenging stereotypes,
- encourage authentic representation of Asian culture, and
- providing funding advice and support and creating business and networking opportunities.
Our Values
Our core values reflect and align with our mission and vision: expertise, openness, understanding, nurturing, bridging, inclusivity and excellence.
Our Key Competencies
- Familiarity with Asian cultures and arts.
- Strong, trustworthy and reputable management team.
- Extensive experience in arts management, particularly in theatre and film.
- Able to provide professional services, advice and support to Asian performing arts organisations and practitioners.
- Strong connections with the performing arts industry, organisations and practitioners, Asian communities, government sector, student and youth communities.
What does “Oryza” mean?
Naming ourselves was not an easy affair. We sought to reflect as wide a representation of Asia as possible and decided very early on that we needed to identify an element that binds Asia together. It is testament to the diversity of Asia and Asians, in terms of ethnicity, culture, heritage and of course, performing arts, that it took us a rather long time to find an appropriate name for the Trust - “Oryza”.
Oryza is a genus of 15-20 species of grasses in the subfamily Oryzoideae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa. They are tall wetland grasses, growing to 1-2 metres tall; the genus includes both annual and perennial species. One species, Asian Rice (Oryza Sativa) - and its close cousin African Rice (Oryza Glaberrima) - are food crops of major global importance.
Asia is bound together by this humble but important plant, which sustains and supports people and communities in over half the world. Almost all Asian cultures have a unique rice-based dish and whilst the Western world also has rice-based dishes, it is undeniable that rice has more importance on an Asian dinner table compared to Western cultures.
Therefore, Oryza was chosen as the symbol of The Oryza Foundation™, a charitable organisation set up to nourish and support a wide range of Asian arts communities, be it South East Asian, South Asian, Central Asian, Middle or Far Eastern, here in this corner of the world.
