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“The Rubber Duck” to kick off International Festival of Firsts

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After stirring up crazes in Hong Kong, Sydney and beyond, Studio Floentijn Hofman’s “The Rubber Duck” will be making its U.S. debut in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s International Festival of Firsts.

Beginning Sept. 27, the four-story high duck will launch on the Allegheny River, setting into motion four weeks of diverse programming featuring acclaimed international companies and artists who will premiere works never seen before in the U.S.

These unique presentations of dance, music, theater, performance art and visual effects will be gracing several Cultural District venues.

“Pittsburgh has a confluence of international activities taking place during the fall of 2013,” said Kevin McMahon, president & CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “The city has been re-imagined and remade and is now hosting major international events – from the Carnegie International to the Remaking Cities Conference – that provide for an intriguing cultural climate.”

Artists and companies at this year’s International Festival of Firsts will be representing a variety of countries, including The Netherlands, Quebec, Belgium, Australia, Switzerland, Nova Scotia and the U.S.

“The works included within this year’s Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts will provide a diversity of disciplines (theater, dance, music, puppetry and physical theatre) and, it is my hope that they provide a snapshot of some of the finest work being created in the international contemporary performing arts field and will elicit a wide range of emotion, reaction and excitement from our audiences,” said Paul Organisak, vice president of programming at The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Organisak also noted that, as he has experienced each during various stages of development, he is “struck by how each artist is in some way redefining what we mean by ‘contemporary’ in today’s culture.” As the festival is “designed to ask that question and create an ongoing dialogue for Pittsburgh audiences and artists alike,” it is his hope that the festival will open people’s minds a little more to each art and country.

All visual art exhibitions are free and open to the public.

“The return of the Cultural Trust’s festival could not have taken place during a more fitting year, and we are glad to be part of the economic, cultural and quality-of-life transformation that is part of the region’s 30-year investment in the arts,” said McMahon.

For more information, visit www.pgharts.org.

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