Fatigue seems to be one of the dominant conditions that shape the current field of performing arts. Depleted by the constant pursuit of new, more appealing ideas; the scarcity of funds, venues and opportunities; the need to constantly take a stand; the demand to maintain one’s visibility and the endless competition, we are overwhelmed by an ever-deepening alienation. The art workers are exhausted and so the art institutions are.
This is precisely why deconstructing dominant narratives, revealing interdependencies and exposing political entanglements, while still important, is far from enough. Perhaps what is needed at the moment is another approach to institutional critique: a regenerative and nourishing one, that would offer conditions for imagining and experimenting with new possible modes of work and ways of taking responsibility for the field – and the world we inhabit. How, from this perspective, can emerging artists transform the institutional field they will enter immediately after graduation? How can curators become their allies in this process? What perceptions, working methods and expectations do we need to get rid of in order to meet each other halfway?
Marta Keil’s keynote is followed by a panel discussion with Keil, Kerstin Schroth, Minna Lund and Antonia Henn. Eeva Bergroth moderates the discussion.
Eskus – Performance Arts Centre has invited internationally acclaimed performing arts curators to discuss some currently topical issues within the framework of Hangö Teaterträff. Eskus is a network and platform for Finnish performance and live art groups, collectives and festivals. One of their aims is to enhance international exchange and cooperation, create new contacts and possibilities, and develop the structures that enable international collaboration. Hangö Teaterträff is one of Eskus’ 26 member organisations.
Marta Keil is a performing arts curator, dramaturge and researcher based in Utrecht. Her curatorial and research practice seeks to re-enchant the ways of instituting in the performing arts field and building transnational alliances. She collaborates as a freelance dramaturg, curator, teacher and advisor with various European institutions and artists. Currently she is a fellow of BAK (basis voor actuele kunst) Fellowship for Situated Practice (2023-2024) and she collaborates with DAS Theatre in Amsterdam as a theory tutor. Recently, she curated an artistic research project Breaking the Spell, co-produced by Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig, München Kammerspiele, Performing Arts Institute in Warsaw and Viernulvier in Ghent (2022-2023) and collaborated with the New Theatre Institute of Latvia in Riga and Rosendal Teater in Trondheim for The Shakedown project (2022-2023). Marta holds a PhD in Culture Studies and is a member of the Performing Arts Institute collective in Warsaw.
Kerstin Schroth is a curator and arts manager based in Berlin and Paris. In 2019 she was appointed as the artistic director of the contemporary dance festival Moving in November, an annual festival taking place in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006 she founded the annual festival sommer.bar under the festival Tanz im August and curated it for six years. From 2006 to 2019 she has been the company manager and co-founder of Great Investment, the organisational structure behind Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen. She also lectures at the University of Gießen, K3 Hamburg, Sommerakademie Berlin, Uniarts, Stockholm and Uniarts, Helsinki. Her courses include curatorial concepts, production development, distribution and tour organisation, as well as the communication between artists and curators.
Antonia Henn is an actor and director at the beginning of her artistic career, working in the so-called independent field in Helsinki. She graduated from the S programme at the Theatre Academy in 2021 and has since then mainly worked on creating her own performing arts works. Antonia is interested in interdisciplinary collaborations, difficult emotions and honesty.
Minna Lund is a theatre director and a pleasure-seeker based in Helsinki, whose artistic work is intertwined with stage directing, writing, and curation. Lund’s current interests revolve around conceptualising the stage as an altar of desires and longings, while also exploring unconventionalities within specific works. Fundamental questions about the continuation of life frequently recur on her stage, with forms ranging from contemporary performances to interpretations of classics in institutional theatres.