In addition to the curated performance program, the biennale is complemented with panel discussions, open reheresals and a durational performance.
The discussions will be held in English.
Thursday 4.9.
A discussion on utopias with artists Jelili Atiku (NG), Pilvi Porkola (FI), stvn girard
(CA), chaired by art historian Jennie Klein (USA)
13-14:30, @ Turku Arts Academy / Köysiratagalleria
Following the New Performance Turku Biennale’s theme On the Threshold, and in a world shaped by ecological grief, social crises, and shifting identities, the need to imagine better futures is more urgent than ever. What might these future utopias look like, and how can art help to imagine or even bring them into being? In this discussion, biennale artists Jelili Atiku (NG), Pilvi Porkola (FI), and stvn girard (CA) share their perspectives on the role of performance, activism, remembrance, and participation in shaping futures. Moderated by art historian Jennie Klein (USA), the conversation moves between personal visions and shared future horizons, inviting the audience to reflect on their own utopias.
Friday 5.9.
11:30-12:30 open rehearsals Wörk it @ Jokistudio
Wörk It is a joyous and wild contemporary dance piece about the bond between humans and machines. It is a living stage sculpture, animated by the movement of performers and objects.
Wörk it creates looping stage images and immersive sensory experiences that invite the audience to reflect on their relationship with technology, change, and identity as well as on the themes of destruction and creation.
12-13:30 A discussion on Ihana tytär Erika
Participants: artist Emil Santtu Uuttu (FI) and Riikka Taavetti (FI), researcher in genderstudies @ University of Turku
The conversation will explore, among other, the intersection of art and scholarship in the context of historical research.
Registration is required. Register here.
Saturday 6.9.
6.9. at 12-13 A discussion between artist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi (GH) and curator and writer Taru Elfving (FI) @ Bar Ö
Artist Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi (GH) and curator-writer Taru Elfving (FI) meet to discuss art, activism, and the intersections of identity, ecology, and social justice, with a focus on Va-Bene’s practice. Also known as crazinisT artisT, Va-Bene is a Ghanaian multidisciplinary artivist whose work explores gender stereotypes, prejudice, queerness, and systemic oppression through performance and installation.
Taru Elfving, director and co-founder of CAA, is a curator and writer engaged in long-term, site-sensitive projects exploring ecological and feminist questions. She is familiar with Va-Bene’s work, and has also visited her perfocraZe International Artists Residency (pIAR) in Ghana. Together, they will explore how art can challenge norms, nurture critical discourse, and create spaces for transformation.
Sunday 7.9.
12-18 Durational performance The Other Spaces: Humanoid Space @ Critical Gallery
A six-hour durational performance offers the audience an opportunity to experience the unique temporal dimension of performance art.
The Other Spaces collective invites you to step into a world where our inner humanoid has space to breathe, move and express itself. A simple but imaginative exercise opens up a chance to observe our lives through a different view – as if we were ourselves alien observers in our own world.
The Humanoid Space exhibition transforms the Critical Gallery into a living, changing installation. At first the space is controlled by humans, but little by little it becomes the territory of humanoids – not just physically, but also contextually and semantically. What happens, when we allow existence that doesn’t respect the conditions of humanity? Through Humanoid Space we open up a window to otherness – but at the same time it mittors our own selves in a deep way. It asks: what will we become, when we no longer remain mere humans?
The exhibition doesn’t obey the rules of a traditional performance. The humanoids may show themselves, move, observe – or stay hidden. You might glimpse them, through curtains or in a passing moment.
Other Spaces is a performance art collective founded in 2004, in Helsinki, Finland.