24.05.2016
TINFO e-News | Summer 2016 | Theatre News from Finland
- Finnish Showcase 2016 gathers theatre professionals together
- Finnish-Russian theatre cooperation continues
- Nordic Performing Arts Days “Dagarnir 2016” | 24 – 28 May 2016, Faroe Islands
- (No)Mad House Berlin | 8 – 11 June 2016, Germany
- Meeting the Odyssey -tour in Greece
- Post-MJ Era Institute of Consciousness performance in Parallel Lives, Oslo
- Finnish lighting designer Pietu Pietiäinen visits Estonia
- Future DiverCities: connecting with Creative Europe
- Stage reading of Kari Krandi // My Brother the Hero by Aino Kivi in Barcelona
- New issue of ICE HOLE – Live Art Journal: Can Performance Art Be Taught?
- New plays from Finland in English
INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVALS IN FINLAND 2016
- 13th Black and White Theatre Festival | 8 – 12 June, Imatra
- Hanko Theatre Festival | 9 – 12 June, Hanko
- Jyväskylä Festival | 12 – 17 July, Jyväskylä
- Tampere Theatre Festival | 1 – 7 August, Tampere
- URB Festival of Urban Art | 3 – 12 August, Helsinki
- Korjaamo Theatre's Stage Festival | 12 – 23 August, Helsinki
- Helsinki Festival | 19 August – 4 September, Helsinki
- Lain§uojattomat Festival | 7 – 11 September, Pori
- Baltic Circle | 15 – 19 November, Helsinki
- Clownery courses by Pablo Gomis Lopez in June, Lahti
- Aboagora Symposium | 15 – 17 June 2016, Turku
- Vamos Theatre (UK): Revealing the Mask workshop | 11 – 15 June 2016, Jyväskylä
- Creative industry conference EARS | 25 – 28 August 2016, Helsinki
- Axis Syllabus Course | 3 – 14 October 2016, Outokumpu
- Job opportunity: Head of Arts and Culture Programme
- Work for all: website and marketplace for cultural professional
TINFO SERVICES, DATABASES AND PUBLICATIONS
TINFO GRANT FOR TRANSLATION – HOW TO APPLY
ARTIST TALK
Work hard and be nice to people – Anni Klein tells about the WunderKinder performance
Photo: WunderKinder
At the moment I am working with teater 90° on the WunderKinder performance, which will premiere in August 2016. I am writing this from the middle of a hectic process in which new perspectives and questions are constantly coming up, while at the same time the themes and ideologies we are trying to conceptualize seem to constantly flee and hide away.
WunderKinder is a performance that mixes together a design catalog and working life discourse as it tells about the creative class and the service sector that supports it. The performance takes place in a neighborhood at the peak of gentrification, where a new class distinction is emerging at its most blatant. The creative young people’s aquarium-like street-level office is like a pressure cooker or a torture chamber, where they produce cultural capital with their presence, round the clock, from womb to tomb. And the creative class works, as is to be expected from model citizens of Neoliberalism. According to the father of the concept, Richard Florida, representatives of the creative class say the reason for their industriousness is the satisfying nature of the work, their own ambitiousness or experience of pressure and blame from their colleagues. When time is limited, you try to squeeze as much as you can out of every moment, doing many things at the same time or replacing them with a quicker option.
I think that setting the performance in the environment where its conflicts are taking place right at this moment makes it possible to get a firmer grasp on the problems the performance aims to deal with. It looks like WunderKinder is taking shape as a slideshow or a landscape of the ecosystem of a Neoliberal society in which work and free time are inseparable from one another. The central question for our working group is what it feels like to live in a society where work has achieved the status of a religious cult for which people are prepared to sacrifice everything else.
With WunderKinder, I am continuing my long-standing cooperation with sound designer Heidi Soidinsalo. We have been working together since 2011, creating works in which sound acts as an all-encompassing element, defining the stage and dramaturgy. In WunderKinder, we are continuing to work with an art form in which the actors’ speech and all other sounds of the performance are heard as recorded sound effects. The solution makes the people in the performance comic-like or two-dimensional, which, at its best, focuses the viewer’s attention on the events and the influencing structures behind them.
CREDITS
- Script: Johannes Ekholm
- Direction: Anni Klein
- Sound design: Heidi Soidinsalo feat. Tatu Nenonen
- Scenography: Laura Haapakangas & Kristian Palmu
- Producer: Annina Blom
ON STAGE
- Edith Holmström, Gogo Idman, Robert Kock, Iida Kuningas, Markus Riuttu
PRODUCTION
- teater 90°, in co-operation: W A U H A U S, Stage Festival
Premieres on August 17, 2016 at the Stage Festival, in the office at the corner of Fleminginkatu and Franzeninkatu. Performances August 17–29, 2016.
Anni Klein (1982) is a Helsinki based director who has been working with contemporary performances since 2009. Since 2016 Klein became a founding member of the performance collective W A U H A U S, which aims to create works that are polyphonic and strongly connected to our lives in these times.
THEATRE NEWS FROM FINLAND
Finnish Showcase 2016 gathers theatre professionals together
Finnish Showcase is a bi-annually organized special programme designed to give a versatile and intriguing experience of Finnish theatre to Tampere Theatre Festival’s international guests. It is organized by Tampere Theatre Festival and TINFO – Theatre Info Finland. This year the showcase will be arranged 1.-7.8.2016. Please see the programme and schedule below.
Finnish Showcase presents what is new in Finnish theatre. The programme gives you the opportunity to experience some of the year’s best Finnish performances and to meet with their artists. It’s also a convenient place to exchange thoughts and ideas with Tampere Theatre Festival’s artistic team and meet with curators, artistic directors and theatre professionals from all over the world.
Finnish Showcase programme consist of selected performances from the festival’s Main Programme (all with English subtitles) and other events organized especially for festival’s international guests.
Tue 2.8.
19:30-21:20 The Phantom of Normality
Wed 3.8.
14:00-15:50 The Phantom of Normality
19:00-21:30 Transformations
Thu 4.8.
13:00-15:30 Transformations
16:00-18:30 Curators meet the Curators – Showcase event
19:00-20:00 Play Rape
Fri 5.8.
12:00-14:00 Curators meet the Artists – Showcase event
17:00-18:00 Play Rape
19:00-21:10 In the Republic of Happiness
Sat 6.8.
10:00-12:00 Curators meet the Future – Showcase event
13:00-15:10 In the Republic of Happiness
19:00-21:50 My Palestine
19:00-20:10 The Metamorphosis
in the evening: Curators meet Real Finland – Showcase event
Sun 7.8.
13:00-14:10 The Metamorphosis
15:00-17:50 My Palestine
This year’s festival asks what’s going on now. In 2016, none of us can say with certainty which direction we should head. The sensation of being lost seems to pertain equally to politics, the economy, and personal life. The programme of the Tampere Theatre Festival reflects this confusion while seeking a way forward, into the future.
There will be six (6) performances in this year’s Finnish Showcase. They deal with, among other things, the tensions communities and individuals experience as a result of overarching societal strains.
“Transformations” taps documentary theatre methods in its focus on gender and sexual diversities.
The issue of female oppression and freedom of speech is treated through personal experience in Play Rape. My Palestine comments on an inflammatory political conflict from a personal point of view.
The Artistic Team 2016
Mikko Roiha
Writer-director
Milja Sarkola
Director-writer
Miko Jaakkola
Director
Finnish Showcase, Full Programme (PDF)
Finnish-Russian theatre cooperation continues
The Russian Dostoyevsky Academic Drama Theatre and the Finnish Sadsongskomplex:fi co-produced Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in Veliky Novgorod. The premiere was at the end of April 2016 and the performance is now ready to go on tour. The Finnish portion of the co-production included direction, as well as stage, costume and lighting design. Jari Juutinen’s direction received praise from the audience, the theatre management and especially the actors. Together with Juutinen, Liisa Sofia Pöntinen was responsible for the scenography and Teemu Nurmelin for the lighting design.
The Drama Theatre is Novgorod’s city theatre, and its performances have won awards at Russian festivals and in Avignon. Sadsongskomplex:fi is an international theatre group founded by the above-mentioned Finnish artists. The group’s most recent international engagements took them to Luxembourg and Belgium.
sadsongskomplexfi.wordpress.com
****
Kamran Shahmardan, Artistic Director of the Black and White Theatre in Imatra, will direct the play Intohimo (‘Passion’) by Elchin at the Aleko theatre in St. Petersburg. The show premieres on 27 May 2016. Shahmardan is an Azeri-born director who has lived in Finland for a long time and often directed in Russia.
The Aleko theatre was founded in St. Petersburg, on Gagarin St., in 2010. With 400 seats, it is the main stage of the Moskovsky district. Despite its short history, the theatre has already held 30 premieres.
As a co-producer, the Aleko theatre looks after the salaries of its professional actors (four persons) and production staff, as well as the local administration, marketing and production costs. The theatre performed at the 2014 Black and White Theatre Festival in Imatra. The Artistic Director of Aleko is Alexey Kozyrev.
****
The anthology of contemporary Finnish plays will be released in Russian in May as part of the Moscow-based publishing house NLO’s series on plays of the world. The anthology was compiled and edited by Helena Autio-Meloni and Anna Sidorova (Adelfa Agency). The preamble was written by critic and curator Pavel Rudnev of the Moscow Art Theatre. The playwrights involved are Tomas Jansson, Mika Myllyaho, Sirkku Peltola, Laura Ruohonen, Emilia Pöyhönen and Saara Turunen.
The book launch will be held at the new stage facilities of the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on 3–5 June 2016 in cooperation with the Finnish Institute in St. Petersburg. The project has received support from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, TINFO (as part of the Seeds of Imagination and Savotta-Zavod projects), FILI and the Kone Foundation, as well as Nordic Drama Corner Oy and Agency North Ltd, which looks after the rights to the plays.
Nordic Performing Arts Days “Dagarnir 2016” | 24 – 28 May 2016, Faroe Islands
All Nordic. – Dagarnir brings the Nordic countries to the Faroe Islands in the form off guest performances, workshops, lectures, readings and seminars. Dagarnir offers a variety of collaborative work created across different languages, cultures and geographical entities, that all investigate the unite Nordic identity.
Focusing on interactivity and audience participation, Dagarnir investigates new expressions, shapes, concepts and ways to interact with audiences.
From Finland:
- Theatre Takomo: Dark Side of Mime
- Kompani Nord (Åland): We, the Drowned
New Nordic Drama
New Nordic Drama – A mini festival interwoven into the Performing Arts Days consisting of six contemporary Nordic plays that will form the basis for a five days collaboration by twelve Nordic actors, two from each country. The pieces will be presented as staged readings and performed in the Nordic languages as well as English.
From Finland: Ihanat ihmiset (Lovely People) by Antti Hietala. Performed by Lotta Kaihua and Jussi Nikkilä.
“Antti Hietala’s Lovely People has been awarded by the Finnish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild as the best play of the year in Finland” (Finnish argument)
Nordic Tour
New Nordic Drama premieres in the Faroe Islands. Hereafter the reading-festival will go on a Nordic tour. The first stop will be at Husets Teater in Denmark June 8th 2016 during the CPH STAGE festival and the second in Norway during the Ibsen-festival September 12th-18th.
Further information and programme:
www.nordicperformingartsdays.fo
(No)Mad House Berlin | 8.-11.6.2016, Germany
In co-operation: Mad House Helsinki & Berlin Theaterdiscounter
(No)Mad House Berlin 8.-11.6.2016 - "production house on the road"
(No)Mad House Berlin is a production house on the road! A structure and an idea in transit! It is a satellite of the original Mad House Helsinki, a new space for performing arts presenting and producing experimental art. It was established in Finland and will now happen in Berlin: Discussions, Workshops and of course Performances presenting both Berlin and Finnish artists. The Mad House crew will take over Theaterdiscounter and set up a meeting point for Finnish and local artists and audience. Expect an exciting for days program!
Mad House was invented and erected 2013 by a bunch of artists, producers and technicians. It is driven by the key thoughts of: content comes first, learning by doing, transparency and change is the only constant! For Theaterdiscounter, that was founded in a similar spirit, it is like a brother and sister. We are very proud that (No)Mad House Berlin (aka Mad Discounter), is the first ever bringing to live of the “nomad house” concept.
Project partner: Theatre Info Finland – TINFO
More information and programme (PDF)
www.madhousehelsinki.fi | www.theaterdiscounter.de
Meeting the Odyssey -tour in Greece
Meeting the Odyssey is a social and artistic collaborative project sailing from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Each summer from 2014 to 2016, artists and organizers from different European countries travel together, giving workshops and performing theatre pieces. The project combine elements of the Odyssey, contemporary themes relevant to Europe and stories collected through exchanges with the local population. But Meeting the Odyssey is also a journey in itself: bringing people together through long term collaboration, and discovering new artistic landscapes and cultural attitudes to develop synergies at the European level.
Hoppet Ship
Photo: Viirus Theatre
The project Meeting the Odyssey is sailing in Greece in June and July on its last tour in Europe. Almost every production and artist who participated in the project will be touring this year. This year’s tour, with about 50 artists from all over Europe, is a tribute to Greece for its civilisation, culture, philosophy, mythology and history that we all share today. At the same time it will be an international theatre tour in solidarity with the Greeks and the refugees that are forgotten by Europe.
During 2014–2015 Meeting the Odyssey sailed the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean and reached over 25 ports. During the tour there has been more than 110 performances with four different productions and there has been created about 15 Instant Performances in 15 different locations in Europe. The performances have been seen by nearly 20,000 people altogether.
The Estonian schooner Hoppet is the beautiful ship of the Meeting the Odyssey tour and takes us from island to island. At every location we play 1–4 performances and create an Instant Performance through workshops with local groups. In each place, we try to learn something about the local history, and perhaps a few traditional Greek dance steps.
Leros is the island where the finnish writer Göran Schildt lived and where his and Christine Schildt's house still stands. The island is known for its dance and music traditions, while many Finns have visited Leros to participate in regattas and writing courses. Lesbos is an island north of Leros, popular among both Greeks and international tourists. Both islands have received thousands of refugees over the past years. On Leros and Lesbos we will perform Memories for Life in the main villages. We will also try to get permission to visit the refugee camps in order to do workshops and an Instant performance.
Elefsina is a candidate for European Capital of Culture 2021. Thousands of years ago the small town located near Athens is said to have been the most important holy site in Greece, next to Delphi. Today Elefsina is an industrial city with an active culture range. The audience travel from Athens to watch performances and exhibitions. Memories for Life and landing_an odyssey are performed by the ruins of an old olive oil mill, a sphere that usually is used for cultural events, theatre courses and exhibitions.
Lavrio is not far from Athens, close to Sounio cape where king Aegeus threw himself into the sea when Theseus returned with black sails, and thus named the sea. Greece’s oldest amphitheatre is situated in Lavrio, but Waiting for the Rain will be performed at a more modern amphitheatre in the village. From Lavrio Hoppet is sailing to the island of Skyros and then to Ikaria. Viirus crew will no longer be onboard at that time. From here on mainly Poles, Italians, French along with the productions Waiting for the Rain and landing_an odyssey will continue the travel.
Three theatre productions on tour
Memories for Life (premiere 23.5.2014 in St. Petersburg)
Director: Maria Lundström (FIN)
Choreographer: Lenka Vagnerová (CZE)
Seven persons relive their life journeys and try to tell their personal stories in a landscape where memories, reality and dreams are equal. Where do we come from? How is the past influencing us and where are we heading? Memories for Life is inspired by both the historical narrative of Homer´s The Odyssey and the world and nature as it is today, embodied by a cast of young European actors. This physical and multilingual performance is directed by the Artistic Director of Viirus, Maria Lundström.
****
Memories for life
Photo: Jonatan Sundström
Waiting for the Rain (premiere 5.7.2014 in Opole)
Director: Krystian Kobylka (POL)
A performance inspired by Penelope’s faith: a woman who waited for her husband for 20 years. What did she hope for, what was she afraid of, did she ever take control of her life? The performance consists of music, dance and big dolls.
****
sbarchi_un’odissea/ landing_an odyssey (premiere 27.5.2015 in Milano)
Directors: Michele Losi (ITA) and Peter Kirk (DK)
The other side of Nostos - the backside of homesickness, that is the impossibility to recognize and to get recognized. How difficult is it to come back home after having been long gone. The Odyssey is very present in this disco version of Penelope’s palace, the place to where Odysseus returns. In the performance the audience is dragged onto the dance floor of the palace.
Instant performances
An Instant Performance will be executed in each port during the Greece tour. Michele Losi from Italy is working together with two actors in an Instant team in June. Peter Kirk along with two actors will continue the Instant work in July.
www.meetingtheodyssey.eu/
www.viirus.fi
Post-MJ Era Institute of Consciousness performance in Parallel Lives, Oslo
Post-MJ Era Institute of Consciousness presents a new work in the frame of Parallel Lives event in Oslo on Saturday, June 11. Parallel Lives is a 12-hour performance event curated by Oslo-based theatre director Jonas Corell Petersen that consists of art works and installations made by over twenty different artists. Parallel Lives takes place in Dramatikken's Hus (Center of New Writing).
Other invited artists include choreographer Audree Juteau (Canada), cellist Okkyung Lee (South Korea/New York), director Ludwig Uhlbors (Sweden), choreographer Ingri Fiksdal (Norway), light designer Øyvind Wangensteen (Norway) and video artist Greg Pope (UK). Sound artist Lasse Marhaug (Norway) is in charge of the event's musical dramaturgy.
Post-MJ Era Institute of Consciousness is an multidiscliplinary institute of Finnish individuals and performance makers grown up within the pop culture of the 80s and 90s. Its mission is to articulate the influences of contemporary spectacle industries through an analysis of Michael Jackson’s mythical career. Within Parallel Lives, three members of the Institute - sound designer Ilpo Heikkinen, director Ossi Koskelainen and choreographer Emmi Venna - will create a series of interactive gatherings for honoring the life work of Michael Jackson and for creative reassessment of its importance.
Production: Dramatikken’s Hus (Oslo), Norwegian Arts Council
Post-MJ Era Institute Of Consciousness (FIN): Wake
Finnish lighting designer Pietu Pietiäinen visits Estonia
The famous Estonian NO99 theatre produces a new version of Shakespeare's classic, titled now NO40 – Midsummer's Night Dream. The directors Ene-Liis Semper and Tiit Ojasoo meet Felix Mendelssohn's music conducted by Olari Elts.
Premiere will be on the 1st of June 2016 at the Estonia Concert Hall. On stage: NO99 Theatre actors, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO) and Ellerhein Girls’ Choir. Lighting design by Pietu Pietiäinen (Finland). Produced by NO99, ERSO and Eesti Kontsert.
Future DiverCities: connecting with Creative Europe
As a key partner of the international collaboration between nine cultural organisations, ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival is proud to announce that "Future DiverCities – Creativity in Urban Context" has received the support of the European Commission as part of the Creative Europe Program. The partnership will spend the next four years exploring new models of artistic creation and distribution that promote cultural diversity.
Future DiverCities will involve, for example, creative laboratories, artist residencies, public performances, creativity and participatory events in each of the partner countries. The project will centre around the artistic domains of music, digital art and street art, and it deeply believes in and aims to reinforce social bonds through the arts. ANTI Festival and its partners will work on the contemporary digital tools to create new models of distributing artistic work.
Led by the UK not-for-profit organisation Superact, the nine partners have been working for years to bring this project to fruition. The organisations that will be sharing their collective experience and complementary skills comprise:
- Superact (Wellington, England)
- ANTI - Contemporary Art Festival (Kuopio, Finland)
- 1D Lab (Saint Etienne, Lyon & Paris, France)
- Public Art Lab (Berlin, Germany)
- CitiLab (Cornella, Spain)
- Seconde Nature (Aix en Provence, France)
- BEK (Bergen, Norway)
- Kontejner (Zagreb, Croatia)
- Liepaja City Council (Latvia)
Website coming up in the summer. Follow the project on Twitter: @FutureDCities!
For more information, go to the website of Superact or contact Festival Manager Elisa Itkonen: elisa(a)antifestival.com, +358 50 305 2005!
Stage reading of Kari Krandi // My Brother the Hero by Aino Kivi in Barcelona
Aino Kivi’s play Kari Krandi // My Brother the Hero will be performed as a stage reading at PIIGS-festival (21 - 23 July 2016) in Barcelona. The festival presents four selected plays from all over Europe around the festival’s theme: Europe in crisis.
Additional information:
piigs.perpetuum.cat/en
www.facebook.com/festivalpiigs
New issue of ICE HOLE – Live Art Journal: Can Performance Art Be Taught?
The fourth issue of ICE HOLE – Live Art Journal has been published!
The issue #4 is edited by Jörn J. Burmester and Janne Saarakkala and it is produced in cooperation with BONE 18 Performance Art Festival that was held in Bern, Switzerland, 1.-6. December 2015. All the writers of the issue were involved in the program and all the videos were shot in Bern. The festival theme “Schools of… connectivity, relatedness, networks of Performance Art” is under scrutiny.
Issue #4 is about teaching and learning Performance Art – is it possible, and if so, where and how? Members of the famous performance art collective Black Market International give their views about it in a video interview. Ex-lecturerer Dani Ploeger, performance artist Burmester and performance art student Jürgen Bogle tackle the question in their articles. Janne Saarakkala is corresponding from the class rooms of Fluid Academy. On the opening video Ann Liv Young and acting students present their result of a three day course on performance art and end up having a row with the audience. Besides the theme, Evamaria Schaller, Klara Schilliger, Florian Feigl and Helge Meyer perform one or two minutes with Madame Bovary in front of the camera. And we are already proud to present Schaller’s Black Market International 30th anniversary documentary from Bern on September 1st! Plunge in and get into the heat of the discussion!
New plays from Finland in English
Lovely People (Ihanat Ihmiset) by Antti Hietala. Translation: Kristian London
A married couple has been out partying and brought a young girl home with them. During the night the girl overdoses and the couple has to decide what to do. Later the girl's brother arrives to find out what really happened that night. But does anyone really know the truth?
The Shepherd (Maaseudun tulevaisuus) by Leea Klemola & Klaus Klemola. Translation: Juha Mustanoja
At some point in the future, Finland has been divided into two counties, north and south. In the north, animals have been accorded full civil rights. A former drummer, Maksim Kuorikoski, has set himself up as a modern day shepherd in the ruins of an old church. Unfortunately, the only sheep in his flock is a suicidal alcoholic. Maksim also has other problems to contend with: a runaway animal spirit, the neighboring farmer who is having an affair with a goat, a horse who has ditched his soul, and worst of all, since animal slaughter is no longer legal, hunger.
Also translated in English:
- On These Wheels (Näillä mennään) by Heikki Huttu-Hiltunen & Pekka Heikkinen. Translation: Nely Keinänen
- Dream team by Minna Nurmelin. Translation: Kristian London
- Life’s Sweet Honey (Sormet hunajapurkissa) by Kari Heiskanen. Translation: Kristian London
- The Performance Economy 2 (Esitystalous 2) by Juha Jokela. Translation: Kristian London
- The Year of the Hare (Jäniksen vuosi) by Paasilinna, Smeds, Keski-Vähälä & Leskinen. Translation: Nely Keinänen
Additional information about translations, production rights etc, please contact: Nordic Drama Corner Ltd
Princess Hamlet (Prinsessa Hamlet) by Emilia Pöyhönen. Translation: Kristian London
Princess Hamlet is a play about madness and abiding madness. It is also a work about friendship, family and survival. The play follows Princess Hamlet, her best friend Horatia, and Hamlet's mother Gertrud as they journey within the landscapes of madness and insanity.
Princess Hamlet explores the themes of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, including truth, love, deceit and power, but it is a fully independent work. It is poetic, avant-gardist, sociological and societal, and with its comic strip like form probes and challenges the limits of the stage, offering possibilities for a new type of a visual storytelling.
Also translated in English:
- My dear Sibelius! (Hyvä herra Sibelius) by Yrjö Juhani Renvall. Translation: Kristian London
- A Decent Man (Ihmisellinen mies) by Sirkku Peltola. Translation: Douglas Robinson.
- 13 Sunken Years (13 uponnutta vuotta) by Paula Salminen. Translation: Eva Buchwald
- Guests - Family Saga (Vieraat – perhesaaga) by Okko Leo. Translation: Tapio Salomaa
Additional information about translations, production rights etc, please contact: Agency North Ltd
Also: New Plays from Finland
INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVALS IN FINLAND 2016
13th Black and White Theatre Festival | 8 – 12 June, Imatra
The Association of ”The Theatre of Black and White” in Imatra has been organizing The International Black and White Theatre Festival since 2004. Right since that time Black and White Theatre Festival has become well-known event for many people of the world. At the festival we could see the performing of different theatres from 30 countries, so far more than 150 shows and performances.
Black and White Theatre Festival has presented a huge variety of different styles: dance theatre, ballet, pantomime, circus, traditional drama, opera, puppet theatre and street performing. The purpose of the festival is – to represent the international theatre in all its manifestation and genres.
The theme of the festival – ”New Drama”
Artistic Director: Kamran Shahmardan
Festival programme: http://blackandwhitetheatre.net/eng/
Hanko Theatre Festival | 9 – 12 June, Hanko
The next Hanko Theatre Festival takes place 9th-12th June 2016 and is the festival’s 25th anniversary! Welcome!
Hanko Theatre Festival is the largest Swedishspeaking theatre festival in Finland. It takes place annually in the beginning of June and gather theatre visitors and performing artists to Hanko to see the best (mobile) performances of the year. Discussions, planning and development of the Finnish-Swedish performing arts are also parts of the agenda.
The theatre festival is open for all theatre enthusiast and is a meeting point for free groups and institutional theatres, for theatre students and established actors, for critics and audience.
During Hanko Theatre Festival the audience and the performances meet in new ways and in new places. The plays are spread out in the idyllic surroundings of Hanko; in warehouses, halls and harbours, under trees, in boats and in restaurants. The productions often adopt new shapes during the festival, and the audience can choose between plays of different genres and for different target groups, not forgetting spectacles and introductions of newly written plays.
More information (PDF)
If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us: info(at)hangoteatertraff.org
Jyväskylä Festival | 12 – 17 July, Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä Festival is the oldest cityfestival in Nordic countries. It can be justly called fusionfestival since it includes music, theatre, dance and performance. The main focus in theatre is on wordless theatre. The theatrical program of the year 2016 contains for example contemporary circus, clownery and touching and absurd story about immigrant couple by 2theatre from UK.
Concert selection includes for exemple such artists as Jarkko Ahola, Emma Salokoski, Waltteri Torikka, Aino Venna, Pentti Hietanen, Sami Saari ja Ricky-Tick Big Band and Julkinen Sana.
Jyväskylä Festival lasts 6 days and it offers also a big amount of free of charge program every day. Free program begins at midday at the city centre in Kauppakatu. This “What are they doing?” –program presents bits and pieces from weeks program and many impressive local artists.
Jyväskylän Festival in Jyväskylä 12.-17.7.2016.
Tampere Theatre Festival | 1 – 7 August, Tampere
The Tampere Theatre Festival is organized August 1– 7 for the 48th time. The artistic team of this year’s festival, Mikko Roiha, Milja Sarkola and Miko Jaakkola, say: “In 2016, everyone seems confused about where to turn, which direction to go. The sense of being lost appears to affect politics, economy and people’s personal lives all alike. The Main Program of the Tampere Theatre Festival reflects on this confusion and searches for the lost guidelines and new visions for the future.”
The Main Program of the Tampere Theatre Festival 2016 consists of 20 theatre ensembles, seven of which are international guests. There are altogether 41 performances.
Don't forget: Finnish Showcase
URB Festival of Urban Art | 3 – 12 August, Helsinki
The festival is produced by Kiasma Theatre and it showcases Finnish and international young artists and practitioners, whose works and projects represent the most interesting urban art of today. The festival is a meeting place that offers the audience new and often surprising perspectives in the practice and worldview of the artists of the young generation.
Korjaamo Theatre's Stage Festival | 12 – 23 August, Helsinki
Korjaamo Theatre's Stage Festival offers a selection of fascinating contemporary theatre across cultural boundaries. Produced by Korjaamo Theatre, this year's Stage takes place August 12th–23rd. Stage is partners with Helsinki Festival.
Helsinki Festival | 19 August – 4 September, Helsinki
Helsinki Festival is the largest arts festival in Finland, organised annually in late summer. The festival’s aim is to make art accessible for all.
In 2016, the Helsinki Festival is organised on 19.8.–4.9.2016.
The Night of the Arts is arranged on August 25th 2016.
- In 2015, the festival had more than 295,000 visitors.
- The 2015 Helsinki Festival programme line-up featured classical and world music, circus, dance, theatre, a children’s programme, cinema and a range of urban events.
- Helsinki Festival is one of the four main organisers and the coordinator of the Musica nova Helsinki new music festival.
- Helsinki Festival operates under the auspices of the Helsinki Week Foundation, established by the City of Helsinki.
- The executive body of the Helsinki Week foundation is its Board. Members of the Board are elected by the Helsinki City Board to serve a two-year term.
www.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi/en/
Lain§uojattomat Festival | 7 – 11 September, Pori
Rakastajat-teatteri (translates to "The Lovers Theatre"), based in the city of Pori, is the only independent professional theatre group in the Satakunta region.
Since the year 2000 Rakastajat-teatteri has also hosted an annual festival for independent theatre groups. The Lain§uojattomat (Outlaw§) festival gathers both domestic performers as well as visiting groups from all across the world in various venues around the city.
Contact: info(a)rakastajat.fi
Baltic Circle | 15 – 19 November, Helsinki
Baltic Circle is an international festival for contemporary theatre organised annually in November in Helsinki. The next edition takes place 15 – 19 November 2016. The festival is an artwork that brings intensities into the city, takes stands on current questions, and ignites dialogue. It is a platform for new phenomena and an active forum for discussion.
Baltic Circle believes in the aesthetic and affective powers of the arts, and in the potential of social and political agency of performance. The works seen at the festival grasp the phenomena and crucial questions of our times, and search for new forms of performing arts and revised modes of production. In addition to festival production, Baltic Circle participates actively in both Finnish and international performing arts networks, takes part in multi-level development and education initiatives, makes publications, organises residencies and artistic exchanges, helps build up and shape the independent performing arts scene, and influences local cultural policy.
Baltic Circle is based on a firm belief in the opportunities of arts to bring people together and to participate in societal change. Art can grant a space to imagine what does not yet exist, to re-organise our way of understanding reality, and to find forms to share it. Our cornerstone is a trust in artists, partners and colleagues alike, as well as a boldness to tackle new phenomena and hushed realities, without prejudice. Baltic Circle highlights communality, collaboration and commitment as key elements in building a festival, and aims to encourage social justice, solidarity and gender equality.
EVENTS
Clownery courses by Pablo Gomis Lopez in June, Lahti
The Spanish masterclown comes to Finland in June. Pablo has long worked for the Cirque du Soleil shows ”La Nouba” and ”Alegria” and has taught clownery in both Cirque du Soleil and Cirque du Monde. Two courses are organised through Nukketeatteri Niveltämö in Lahti. One course is for beginners and the otherone for professionals of comedy or clownery. Both courses are taught in English.
Free applications for courses: niveltamo(a)gmail.com
More information: www.niveltamo.com/kurssit, tel. +358 45 673 4797.
PABLO GOMIS: CREATING YOUR CLOWN UNIVERSE – advanced clownery course
Devising a clown material can be an exciting and a stimulating process or a total nightmare. In this workshop we will explore different ways to develop an act from a basic idea and discover how and where we can find the necessary inspiration to create your own clown universe.
This course is suitable for professionals who already have experience in either clownery or performing comedy. This course is also suitable for people who have a clown partner and would like to devise material together with the help of Pablo. Course language is English.
Times: 19.–23.6 2016 from 10–17 (incl. 1 h lunchbreak)
Teaching time: 30 h
Course fee: 350 ¤
If you attend both courses the coursefee is only 300¤.
Applications: niveltamo(a)gmail.com or +358 45 673 4797
Places for course : min 8- max 13 people
SEARCHING FOR THE INNER CLOWN – introduction to clownery
From the sensitivity of each student we will be looking for the Clown, one that can make you laugh out loud and thrill. We are all clowns, everyone has a part within them that is ridiculous, crazy, childish, selfish, vulnerable and innocent. Clown technique helps us to see that part, being aware of it and use it to an artistic purpose. We will learn to play our clown and enjoy the game, lose the fear of being ridiculous and provoke it to find the laughter from the audience, getting rid of the barriers that prevent us from showing our true beauty as clowns. From the teaching of the game we will look to clean of the gesture and intent in order to find the truth of the clown.
This course is suitable for beginners. Teaching language is English.
Times: 13.–17.6.2016 from 10–17 (incl. 1 h lunchbreak)
Teaching time: 30 h
Course fee: 350 ¤
If you attend both courses the course fee is only 300 ¤.
Applications: niveltamo(a)gmail.com or +358 45 673 4797
min 8, max 13 people
Aboagora Symposium | 15 – 17 June 2016, Turku
Aboagora Symposium 2016, "Fate – Urðr"", will be held in Sibelius-museum, June 15-17 and discusses the multiple understandings of fate.
In Old Norse mythology the characters called Norns rule the destinies of both gods and humans. The eldest of these Norns is Urðr, the Norn of fate. In Norse mythology, humans were created as incomplete and without fate. It was only the actions of the Norns that gave humans fate and made them complete.
Inspired by these ancient Scandinavian beliefs, Aboagora wishes to examine how agency is understood in relation to the past. What possibilities do we humans have in our lives and how are we bound by the past? What does fate mean as an individual experience or from the perspective of our planet?
Keynote speakers and artists of the event are:
- Pekka Haavisto, Member of Finnish Parliament
- Topi Lehtipuu, tenor and Director of the Helsinki Festival, together with Hannu Salmi, Professor in Cultural History (University of Turku)
- Virpi Lummaa, Academy Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (University of Turku)
- Riem Spielhaus, Professor in Islamic Studies (Göttingen University)
Encounters between arts and sciences include workshop sessions and performances in collaboration with Science Café project, Kolmas Tila – Third Space multiarts group, AmosLAB/Amos Anderson Laboratory for Artful Making, IC-98 and the Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory (SELMA).
Registration for the Aboagora symposium is open and runs until May 29th
The registration fee 40 ¤ (20 ¤ for students and doctoral candidates) includes participation in all workshops and lectures, coffees and Farewell Reception on Friday 17th June. Keynote lectures and Science Café session are open for public. The registration will be completed once the fee is paid. Registration period ends May 29th.
Preliminary programme of the symposium
The aim of the symposium is to generate discussion between arts and sciences and to develop productive dialogue on the theme of fate. The audience is welcomed to witness various encounters between arts and sciences, through the multidisciplinary programme.
Aboagora is a joint effort by the Department of Cultural History in the University of Turku, Donner institute (Åbo Akademi Foundation) and Åbo Akademi University.
Vamos Theatre (UK): Revealing the Mask workshop | 11 – 15 June 2016, Jyväskylä
A Workshop in Full Mask Theatre
Time: Monday 11.7. – Friday 15.7. From 10am. – 16.30 pm.
Teacher: Rachael Savage
Fee: 350 ¤
Registration: by 25.5.2016
Information: +358 40 589 5733 / Tanja Rasi
Pre registration fee: 100 ¤ before 30.5. and the II Payment 250 ¤ by 20.6.
Maximum amount of participants 16.
Revealing the Mask is intensive workshop during which the participants will be trained in mask theatre devising and performance techniques. Participants will also gain an understanding of how crucial sound is in mask theatre. Vamos will bring the masks which will be used free of charge for the duration of the residency.
Rachel Savage will use on a course material of the future productions of Vamos Theatre. She’ll create fun and relaxed atmosphere for the workshop, in which each participants can express her –or himself the way she/he wants. The culmination of the workshop will be the final sharing of work at the conclusion.
Rachael Savage is the founder and art director of Vamos Theatre, Britain’s leading full-mask theatre company. She has over 25 years experience on acting and directing. She is specialized on mask theatre, physical acting and wordless expression.
Creative industry conference EARS | 25 – 28 August 2016, Helsinki
Meet Asia’s key creative industry professionals in Helsinki August 25-28
Creative industry conference EARS on Helsinki 2016 introduces the latest trends and top professionals from Asia and Europe. The conference is in Helsinki, Finland, this August.
EARS on Helsinki is a forum for creative professionals from Europe and Asia to discover business opportunities and share best practices. In 2016, EARS on Helsinki takes on four cross-over topics as starting points for discussions on performing arts, new visual culture, music, media, marketing and design. First announced speakers to discuss the topics of finance, digitalization of events, curated content and productization include Executive Director of Entertainment Division at China’s leading investment Group Fosun Group, Terry Ding, and CEO, Founder Ivy Wong of Chinese Next Generation Media Network VS Media.
”Digital platforms keep on creating new possibilities for creative industries. We combine themes that are common to different fields. Distribution and financing, for example, are hot topics in music, cinema, performing arts and the game industry,” says program director Jani Joenniemi.
The four-day event includes keynotes, roundtable discussions, networking sessions and company visits featuring tailor-made sections for design, music, performing arts, marketing and media professionals. The focus is in sharing best practices and discovering business opportunities.
”Asia is a vast, reforming market that values professional connections. To get to know other professionals is at the core of our event. That’s why we comprise our program with enough off-conference time, as well” says EARS CEO Ossi Luoto.
In addition to EARS, Helsinki will, at the end of August, host other international events of interest for creative professionals. Modern Sky Festival Helsinki brings in the most interesting acts from Asia’n metropolitan cities and Europe. The annual Helsinki Festival, the largest arts festival in Finland, offers two weeks of dance, theatre and circus, visual arts and cinema around town.
Further info:
Anne Ventelä, Marketing and Communications Manager
anne.ventela(a)ears.asia
+358 40 724 2825
EARS – Europe-Asia Roundtable Sessions
EARS – Europe-Asia Roundtable Sessions is a platform focusing on creative industry collaboration between Europe and Asia. Both EARS events and online media, ears.asia, are dedicated to introducing the latest trends and developments from Asia through talented professionals.
Since its start in 2012, EARS events have been organized altogether eight times in Helsinki, Beijing and Shanghai. EARS on Helsinki 2015 gathered over 350 professionals from 31 countries to discover new business opportunities.
Axis Syllabus Course | 3 – 14 October 2016, Outokumpu
In October, North Karelia College Outokumpu offers you a rare chance to study Axis Syllabus in Finland. We invite four teachers for two weeks for open workshops at our College. The workshops will be organized together with ITAK, Regional Dance Center of Eastern Finland.
REGISTRATION: itak(a)itak.fi
You can attend just one, or both weeks.
Accommodation at the school is possible.
WEEK ONE: 3-7.10.2016
Kira Kirsch: W A L K I N G - poetics and mechanics of an everyday movement (9.30-11.30) Baris Mihci: Alignment through spinal locomotion - Lateral compensation and alignment (9.30-11.30) Kira Kirsch: WINDING UNWINDING FINDING tuning into networks (13.00-15.00) Baris Mihci: Attention! Tension Invention - contextually strong (15.30-17.30)
WEEK TWO: 10-14.10.2016
Frey Faust and Francesca Pedullà: Forms and Fractals (9.30-11.30, 13.00-15.00)
PRICES
FIRST WEEK (Kira and Baris):
1 workshop = 180 ¤
2 workshops = 280 ¤
3 workshops = 350 ¤
Note: In the morning, there are two workshops parallel, please make a choice which one you take!
SECOND WEEK (Francesca and Frey):
full week = 350 ¤
BOTH WEEKS TOGETHER = 600 ¤
You can come for only one week, or even only one workshop, but we hope you can stay for both weeks!
Housing is possible in our studios for 30 ¤/week. we also offer some private housing.
OPEN CALLS
Job opportunity: Head of Arts and Culture Programme
The Finnish Institute in London is looking for a dynamic, forward-thinking and well-connected Head of Arts and Culture Programme.
We expect you to have a broad knowledge of contemporary culture, art and design. You are an experienced professional who can manage productions and projects across borders. You have proven ability to successfully apply for grants and support from a range of sources.
You are a natural networker with the capability to build new partnerships and create opportunities for collaboration in Finland, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Fluency in Finnish and English is required as well as a degree in higher education.
The position is for a fixed term of three years beginning on 1 January 2017. We offer an annual salary of 42 000 euros as well as a creative and challenging working environment in London.
Applications should be sent in English by email by 30 June 2016 to: info(a)finnish-institute.org.uk. Interviews will take place in August.
For further information, please contact Director Pauliina Ståhlberg on +44 7711 008792
www.finnish-institute.org.uk/en
Work for all: website and marketplace for cultural professional
Work for all is a recruitment website and work marketplace for professionals of cultural and creative sector and performing arts. The service is free and open for everyone working in creative fields, as well as employers in Finland and abroad. Access to the service requires signing up and a functioning e-mail address.
Users are in charge of creating and updating their personal profiles. The information provided in the profile should be professional and truthful, and copyrights must always be respected. All offensive or illegal content will be removed by the administrator. The administrator of the website is the Trade Union for Theatre and Media Finland (Teme), teme(a)teme.fi.
Employers can upload job advertisements and look for professionals in the database. Employees can browse through the advertisements and offer their own contribution in their profiles, where links to other websites can also be included.
In the portal you can:
- look for employees and upload job advertisements
- become more familiar with the work of professionals
- look for jobs
- offer your own know-how
- get to know the essential contents of Finnish labour legislation
Work for all is a service developed and executed by Teme and Iwa Labs.
TINFO SERVICES, DATABASES AND PUBLICATIONS
”We know or we’ll find out.”
TINFO cooperates with professional theatre artists, directors, producers and festival managers. TINFO publishes yearly Finnish theatre statistics, and provides material and advice on international mobility. TINFO facilitates artistic networks and supports international co-productions and partnerships.
Toolkit for Theatre Production and Mobility
The website gives theatre professionals practical advice and budget examples, sample contracts and tips for distribution of duties. Also available in Swedish.
****
International newsletters
Theatre news from Finland in English, German and Swedish. Please, subscribe.
****
TINFO News – magazine on Finnish theatre
Magazine on Finnish theatre, drama and artists. Also in Russian and German
****
What's On Stage in Finland NOW
... a selection made by TINFO
****
Touring Performances
Contemporary Finnish touring performances.
****
New Plays from Finland
New Plays from Finland database offers a selection of Finnish plays.
****
Theatre Statistics
Theatre statistics have been collected in Finland over 50 years.
Contact for international mobility:
Jukka Hyde Hytti
Executive Producer of International Projects
jukka.hytti(a)tinfo.fi
General enquiries: tinfo(a)tinfo.fi
TINFO GRANT FOR TRANSLATION – HOW TO APPLY
Theatre Info Finland (TINFO) awards grants for translations of Finnish plays. We accept applications continuously. Grant decisions are four to five times a year. We aim to support international productions of Finnish plays.
Who can apply for a TINFO translation grant?
Playwrights, drama agencies, theatres, festivals or translators may apply for a grant. The grant will be paid directly to the translator.
Read more about the criteria and view the application form
Recent translations of Finnish plays supported by TINFO Grant
www.tinfo.fi/en/TINFO_Grant