Nordic regional (net)working residencies are starting

Regional Dance Centre of Ostrobothnia, together with the Nordic regional (net)working network, is producing a residency exchange programme, with two residency periods taking place in Ostrobothnia, Finland, beginning in September.

Swedish dance artists Erika Martikainen and Linéa Alfredsson will spend a three-week residency at Malakta, where they will begin a new project with the working title Kahvikupin äärellä / Över en kopp kaffe (Over a Cup of Coffee).

Within the project, they explore the theme of playfulness together with people in Ostrobothnia through conversations over a cup of coffee and movement workshops. They are interested in questions such as: When do you feel free to play? What allows us to let go of seriousness? What is considered acceptable – and what is not – within social norms?

Through the project, they want to open up possibilities for genuine connection and create moments where we can be present with one another by not taking things too seriously.

Gull Øzger is a Norwegian choreographer and dance artist from Mo i Rana, by the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. Since 2018, her artistic practice has centred on soft activism – an approach that places the body’s vulnerability at the heart of artistic and political expression, rather than confrontation.

Through GullBakken, she creates nomadic, site-responsive work rooted in cross-border collaboration and everyday encounters. Within this, Hverdagskunst – Everyday Art is a continuously evolving artistic practice, shaped by every encounter.

In Kokkola, she will meet Ostrobothnian dance artists Ailish Maher and Ulla Hyväluoma, and together they will continue to develop the practice of Hverdagskunst.

During the residency periods, both working groups will share their ongoing processes as part of the Kokkolan Talvitanssit Festival.

Gull Øzger’s Hverdagskunst will be presented on Thursday, 1 October at 4:00 PM as part of the festival’s opening event at Vintage Makkara in Kokkola.

Erika Martikainen and Linéa Alfredsson’s Kahvikupin äärellä / Över en kopp kaffe will take place on the festival’s closing day, Sunday, 4 October from 1:00 to 4:00 PM at Kokkolan työväentalo in Kokkola.