Wednesday 22 June: Conversation with Spirits
Spirits, ghosts, ancestors - where do our practices come from? On this second festival day, Robert Stejin will awaken our bodies and senses with the Activation Session: Praying while dancing. As every day a light dinner will be offered and can be enjoyed before engaging with sculptures and installations by artists Lisa Jeannin, Julia Adzuki and the duo Sara Rönnbäck and Daniel Slåttnes, who will also share a performative text. In Conversation with Spirits, Milena Høgsberg will draw lines from the spiritual in art with strings back to Hilma af Klint and beyond, - to our contemporary world and collective consciousness in conversation with artists Lilach Pnina Livne, Liv Kristin Holmberg and Robert Steijn all guided by moderator and artist Ingrid Vranken. Ivana Müller will also on this day share Forces of Nature and Liv Kristin Holmberg invites one audience at a time to join her in a nearby church for an intimate ritual - Les Ténèbres - In the Dark Hour.
Ongoing / Foyer
Exhibition: Sjustjärnan by Lisa Jeannin, Resonant Bodies by Julia Adzuki and Conversation Between Bodies #11 - Dance of Fire by Daniel Slåttnes and Sara Rönnbäck
Julia Adzuki: Resonant Bodies
Resonant Bodies invites a kinaesthetic experience for the all bodies in contact, a vibrational dialogue within the body of a tree. The ancient Ash grew in Fittja, Sweden and was felled by the municipality after it had died, well over 400 years old. The already hollow trunk was sanded smooth by the artist and strung with 21 piano strings, to create a tactile sound instrument for Kännbart (tactile) exhibition. Resonant Bodies was created in response to movement and sound explorations together with artists with vision impairment and deaf blindness. Everyone is welcome to lay inside the tree and to play the strings, to experience the physicality of sound waves undulating throughout the body.
16.00–17.30 / Small Stage
Activation Session: Robert Steijn, Praying while dancing
An investigation in the mysterious relationship between consciousness and movement. We will research dance as an act of praying, as a tool to generate vibrations of gratitude, as a tool of connecting with an intangible reality. How do we create a dance of transformation, resistance, emancipation and change? What kind of intentions do we need to move in a way, that transforms us and the space around us. Everyone will create his, her, their own dance prayer, because everyone has his, her, their universe, she, he, they want to pray for. What kind of choreography, movements, gestures and poses awaken the body to become a magic channel for the transformative power of life force in connection with nature and society?
17.30 Dinner
18.00–18.30 / Foyer
Opening of sculpture, performance text, Sara Rönnbäck and Daniel Slåttnes Conversation Between Bodies #11 - Dance of Fire
I Sofienbergparken står det et valnøttre med enormt lange grener. Om grenene ikke ble støttet opp av menneskelige krykker skulle disse grenene for lengst knekt under sin egen tyngde. Men noen har nå gitt treet flere støtter så grenene har kunnet fortsette å vokse. Ved første øyeblikk er det lett å slå seg til ro med at denne menneskelige handlingen er det som har reddet treet, - den skjøre naturen holdes igjen oppe av den høytstående kulturen. En skjør ring i svartbrent leire henger beskyttet i en robust ring av tre. Den skrøpelige ringen i leire skulle ikke klart å bære tyngden til treet. Det er lett ut ifra dette å dømme den svartbrente ringen som svakest. Men materialet har fått sin nåværende form gjennom å under en hel dag ligge i midten av et brennende bål. Ringen i tre skulle etter all sannsynlighet vært brent opp allerede under den første halvtimen.På festivalen presenterer Sara Rönnbäck og Daniel Slåttnes et skulpturelt møte med Valnøttreet i Sofienbergparken. Med skulpturen har de en performativ tekstopplesning om relasjonen mellom menneske og tre.
19.00–20.15 / Foyer
Conversation with Spirits with curator and writer Milena Høgsberg, artists Liv Kristin Holmberg, Robert Steijn and Lilach Pnina Livne. Guided by moderator Ingrid Vranken.
21.00–22.15 / Main Stage
Performance: Ivana Müller Forces of Nature
Buy tickets here
Forces of Nature follows a movement of an articulate and complex organism composed of five persons with different energies and ideas. Their desires might not be the same, but they have a common goal: to construct a shared physical and imaginary space. In Forces of Nature, Ivana Müller looks into the idea of group movements in their physical, social and environmental contexts. Through the performers´ ongoing negotiations and actions, the piece becomes a heartwarming and playful journey across a landscape in permanent transformation that questions the meaning and potential of what we have in common. Forces of Nature explores the notion of interdependence, the sustainability of resources, the importance of ‘taking care’, the idea of effort, the relevance of individual and collective choices, and the need to act.
Ivana Müller is a choreographer, artist and author of texts, who grew up in Zagreb and Amsterdam; and currently lives and works in Paris. Through her choreographic and theater work, she re-visits the place of imagination. She questions the notion of ‘participation’ and keeps on getting inspired by the relationship between performer and spectator. Ivana Müller´s piece Hors-Champ was presented at Black Box teater in Fall 2020.
Evening into night / Paulus Church / one-on-one
Performance: Liv Kristin Holmberg Les Ténèbres - In the Dark Hour*
It is a ritual for meeting the darkness, Les Ténèbres: a meeting with oneself.
The title is taken from the ninth section of Olivier Messiaen's final work for organ, Le Livre du Saint -Sacrament (The Book of the Holy Sacrament), which provides the basis of the musical content. The performance is philosophically grounded in Heidegger's concept of being- towards-death, where an encounter with one's own fear and pain can be thought of as an opening of recognition; an opportunity to become real, to become ourselves.
Liv Kristin Holmberg is a research fellow in artistic development work at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo. Holmberg has a Master's degree from the Academy of Fine Art, Oslo and trained as a classical pianist and organist at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo and the Sibelius Academy. Helsinki.
Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer is a voice artist and composer. Her music is filtered through numbers of genre-wise and stylistic expressions with a voice range of almost 7 octaves. This makes her popular for concerts, sperformaces and film music worldwide. She has her Master´s Degree from the Grieg Academy. Bergen and from Mozarteum. Salzburg.
*The performance Les Ténèbres - In the Dark Hour is a one-on-one performance with a limited number of places available.
To book your ticket please send an sms including your name and preferred date to mobile no: +47 971 95 857.
Paulus church, Thorvald Meyers gate 31, 0555 Oslo.
Visit the full festival program here
Ticket information and free entrance
The festival offers free entrance to several events. The following shows are ticketed:
Ivana Müller: Forces of Nature
Julia Adzuki: Ashes to Ashes / The Ministry of Environmental Grief
Robert Steijn: When the moon kisses the sun - A Snake Dance
Keith Hennessy: Back (all I wanna do is dance and fuck and swim with you)
Tickets are available online here
Full price: NOK 250 / Moderation price: NOK 150 / Under 25 years old: NOK 100
*The performance Les Ténèbres - In the Dark Hour is a one-on-one performance with a limited number of places available. To book your ticket please send an sms including your name and preferred date to mobile no: +47 971 95 857.