Everybody has a dream; but how many of us have the courage to take action and make our dreams come true?

With our passion for percussion art, my friends and I founded HANDS Percussion in 1997. This is Malaysia's first self-financing and professional percussion ensemble, run on a corporate business model. Sixteen years on, we have the approval from our audiences and pundits, and we frequently represent Malaysia on the international stage.

In 2009, HANDS was invited to participate in six French international art festivals. In our two month tour, Festival of Martigues was our first stop. We brought the artistic experience home and it has been internalised as part of our growth to have a ‘borderless dream’. Most significantly, we learnt that performances are not confined in the theatre or stage. When it comes to promoting the performing arts, we can indeed get closer to our audiences - our Balik Kampung tours. We dug into our own pockets to organise these trips where we visited rural areas to share our drumming with the locals, teachers and students. It is our objective to inspire the passion for life, art and creativity in children. In the past four years, we have visited all the 13 states (15 towns) in Malaysia. These new friends from different parts of the country were invited to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate HANDS' 15th anniversary carnival last year. In addition to widening the children’s perspective and introducing the performing arts to them, the teachers and parents, we also wish to achieve more for the performing arts.

As performers, we have to spur ourselves on frequently. We do not set limits. Constantly embracing new challenges and creating, we set our goals and learn from every aspect of life. We interact and work with our foreign counterparts, and from there, we learn to challenge and improve ourselves. In this fast moving society, we want surprise and delight our audiences with our artform.

One of HANDS' dream is to gain experiences from all over the world so that we can enrich the local art scene. For us, the performing arts is similar to a relay, we have to pass the baton and passion to the next generation. And in July 2013, HANDS has once again been invited to perform at Festival of Martigues. This time around, we need your support to help us represent our country and make one of our dreams come true. Let us drum up the French Summer Dream together.

These are our gifts for our supporters:

PLEDGE RM30.00 or more

A BIG THANK YOU! Every ringgit counts. We appreciate your support.Autographed thank you card from HANDS(Estimated delivery: DEC 2013)

PLEDGE RM50.00 or more

Autographed thank you card from HANDS + DVD Kaleidoscope II - Hands Drumming Festival 2012(Estimated delivery: DEC 2013)

PLEDGE RM100.00 or more

Autographed Thank you card from HANDS + DVD: Kaleidoscope II - Hands Drumming Festival 2012 + Water Tumbler 1000ml (HANDS Collaborations with BROS)(Estimated delivery: DEC 2013)

PLEDGE RM200.00 or more (Limited 100 backers)

Autographed Thank you card from HANDS + HANDS 10th Entwined Calling Book with DVD + Limited 15th Anniversary T-shirt From HANDS (only 100 pcs)(Estimated delivery: DEC 2013)

PLEDGE RM500.00 or more (Limited 10 backers)

Autographed Thank you card from HANDS + HANDS 10th Entwined Calling Book with DVD + Limited Custom Design Drummie From HANDS Artist + DVD: Ri Yue Chu Yin - The Birth of HANDS PERCUSSION Gamelan (only 10 pcs)(Estimated delivery: DEC 2013)

Sincerely,

Bernard Goh　Founder cum Artistic Director of HANDS

Festival of Martigues

Inaugurated in 1989, Festival of Martigues is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. As one of the most important international art festivals, Festival of Martigues – which is attended by huge audience crowd – attracts dance and music performance groups from different cultures throughout the world. The groups selected to perform during Festival of Martigues are professional organisations and they must go through a tedious selection process. For more info, kindly visit www.festivaldemartigues.fr

To know more about HANDS Percussion, please visit our website at www.hands.com.my

借助您的手，鼓舞《手集團》法蘭西夏日之夢！

每個人都有夢想，可是多少人能有付諸行動的勇氣和堅持？

在1997年，本著對鼓藝的熱愛，我聯合一群年輕朋友創辦了手集團。這是馬來西亞首支自資並以企業方式來經營的專業敲擊鼓團。走過十六個年頭，廣受觀眾及評論界好評，屢次代表馬來西亞躍登國際舞台。

在2009年，手集團首次受邀到法國的六個城鎮參與國際藝術節，逗留長達兩個月的時間，當時第一站就是馬蒂格國際藝術節（Festival of Martigues）。那一年我們帶著滿滿的藝術養分回國，內化成手集團的自我成長，也成就了當年的演奏會新作《夢無界》。法國演出最大的獲益就是讓我們明白藝術表演其實並不局限於劇場或舞台。對於推廣文化藝術，我們其實可以更貼近民眾。因此，我們自掏腰包投入本地社區藝術推廣活動，開始《隨鼓唱游》（HANDS Balik Kampung Tour）下鄉打鼓活動，深入我國各州偏遠地區，教導當地居民、師長和學生體驗打鼓的樂趣，激發孩子們對周遭生活與美術創意的熱情與熱愛。這四年來我們走遍全馬十三個州，走訪十五個鄉鎮，也把他們帶到了吉隆坡一同歡慶手集團十五周年嘉年華。我們希望可以開拓孩子們的視野，加強師長們對在地文化的認識。我們希望能夠為本土藝術付出更多，實踐更多。

身為表演藝術工作者，我們不斷自我鞭策不設限。為了不斷冒險、創造、進取和內化，我們設定目標，透過多方面的學習，與不同國家的表演藝術工作者互相切磋、交流與合作，從而自我挑戰與提升。我們希望在這喧囂的時代裡，用鼓聲帶給觀眾震撼和喜悅。

扎根馬來西亞，踏足國際舞台。吸收世界各地的表演精神，豐富國內藝術表演，把本土鼓藝像接力賽一棒一棒傳承下去，一直都是手集團堅持不懈的夢想。今年，手集團再度受邀代表馬來西亞到法國參加七月份的馬蒂格國際藝術節。這一次，我們啟動一個新概念，就是透過你的資助金額協助我們圓夢，一起鼓舞法蘭西夏日之夢。

支持我們，你可以得到的回饋包括：

資助三十令吉或以上

感激不盡，多謝支持！手集團親筆簽名的銘謝卡片（預計2013年12月送到府上）

資助五十令吉或以上

手集團親筆簽名的銘謝卡片  + 2012年手集團《鼓宴2》鼓藝節DVD（預計2013年12月送到府上）

資助一百令吉或以上

手集團親筆簽名的銘謝卡片  + 2012年手集團《鼓宴2》鼓藝節DVD ＋ 1000毫升水瓶（手集團與BROS合作產品）（預計2013年12月送到府上）

資助二百令吉或以上（只限一百名贊助人）

手集團親筆簽名的銘謝卡片 + 手集團精裝版十週年特刊（附送《十方交響·夢之樂章》DVD） + 手集團十五週年《鏗鏘十五·樂手敲擊》精美紀念T恤（限量版100件）（預計2013年12月送到府上）

資助五百令吉或以上（只限十名贊助人）

手集團親筆簽名的銘謝卡片 + 手集團精裝版十週年特刊（附送《十方交響夢之樂章》DVD） + 手集團鼓手親自彩繪精美鼓仔 + 2011年手集團《日月杵音》甘美蘭演奏會DVD （限量版十套）（預計2013年12月送到府上）

手集團創辦人兼藝術總監吳聖雄

法國馬蒂格國際藝術節（Festival of Martigues）

法國馬蒂格國際藝術節始於1989年，今年歡慶二十五週年，是歐洲極負盛名的國際藝術節之一，演出團體來自世界不同風格的民俗舞蹈和音樂，吸引大批參觀人潮。受邀至此國際藝術節演出的團體，必須具備專業資格且需經過嚴格篩選。相關資訊，請瀏覽：www.festivaldemartigues.fr

欲知更多手集團的相關資訊，請瀏覽www.hands.com.my