The Nine Jewelled Deer

LUMA Arles presents The Nine Jewelled Deer in partnership with the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

A thousand-year-old cave painting in China depicting a drowning man saved by a marvellous deer whose existence he must not reveal; a cramped kitchen in modern-day India where an old woman takes in victims of life’s misfortunes and heals them through song; the garden of a former prostitute, where a monk teaches the secrets of “Enlightenment” – that supreme state of knowledge and compassion: these are the elements that make up the plot of The Nine Jewelled Deer*, a world premiere opera born of the encounter between composer Sivan Eldar and singer-improviser Ganavya Doraiswamy, heirs to musical traditions that may seem far apart – classical and electronic music for the one, traditional South Indian music and jazz for the other – but brought together by a common desire to be open to one another, to care and to listen.

Three exceptional artists are taking part in the adventure, in partnership with the LUMA Foundation: director Peter Sellars, visual artist Julie Mehretu and writer Lauren Groff.

* Texts by Ganavya Doraiswamy and Lauren Groff, based on the tale of The Nine Jewelled Deer (Ruru Jātaka, from the Jātaka, 3rd century BC - 3rd century AD), the first chapter of the Vimalakīrti’s Sūtra (406 AD) and the life of South Indian musician Seetha Doraiswamy (1926-2013).