Переосмысление территорий

Reconfiguring Territories

Territooriumite ümber mõtestamine

Uudelleenmäärittyvät paikallisuudet

This is a subtitle.

Welcome to Narva varialambo!

The artist-duo varialambo is currently at the Reconfiguring Territories research residency in Narva. At the beginning of their residency, we discussed getting to know new places, their first impressions of Narva, and the plans they have for their residency.

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Hello varia and lambo! You have been in Narva over a week now. How did your residency period start?

We arrived during the preparations for Narva Music Festival and the opening of a new exhibition. The house was full of energy and excitement and we got to enjoy different inspiring shows. Johanna the artistic director of NART and the other residents have been very supportive and welcoming and we have been sharing thoughts and helpful information during spontaneous dinners.

Have you developed ways or methods to get to know a new place? Is there something you do to situate or ground yourself to the social, natural, political environment?

At first we usually check out the local food situation. Since we found some stands with self made food just around the residency – pickled and fresh vegetables, honey and home made pelmeni – it is very hard now do widen our radius to other parts of the city (laughing).
As a method we both like to go on long walks. During these walks we usually find inspiring objects and materials to use for sculptures and locations for possible performances or shootings.

Narva with its abandoned areas invites you to go on little adventures every day and we are finding material to work with all the time!

Right now our walks are a little bit shorter since I am in the 9th month of a pregnancy.

Thats exiting! Does that influence your work?

Yes and no. Art always feels like a source for excitement and relaxation at the same time.
My big belly seems to reinforce that.

In your residency open call proposal you wanted to focus on public space, control and women. You wanted to take the time to explore how the use of public space and its apprenticeship, especially at night, remain different for men and for women. How has your project evolved since then?

The idea to work on this topic came through our experiences in Berlin, were we both grew up. We had just arrived in Helsinki when we made the proposal for Narva and had heard from a friend that she had been attacked during the night and after that the promise of a “safer” surrounding in Finland fell apart. Of course we knew that compared to other countries Finland still offer much more safety day and night for women but with this incident in mind we started to be as careful as we were before in Berlin.

A lot has changed since then. We got the chance to get to know Narva better during a short December visit last year. We heard from locals that even though domestic violence against women has been increasing during the lockdowns, the public space in Narva seems to be safer compared to other cities. It felt strange to keep researching in this direction during our residency and we decided to shift to another direction which is related to the previous approach.

What is it?

After the long awaited #metoo movement we have finally learned new tools to make the every day violence we have to live with heard and seen. It is followed by something which we now call the “cancel culture”, an understandable step in order to get necessary space to heal and have some distance as a survivor of violence. Nevertheless this step should be only one of many and not a stopping stone of communication which it also has become. In our work now we are trying to be gentle to the delicate thread of communication. It seems to us more likely as some say, that every thought in oneself is of the greatest importance for the whole world. We are trying to look at it not as a metaphor.

In your proposal you position your practice at the intersection of Art and Violence, and write that you aim to create utopian social fantasies where violence in general is extinct. How do you approach making these fantasies? How do you plan to make them present in Narva?

About 10 weeks ago Lambo had a dream of somebody who stretched out his arm but then the same arm appeared from another direction and touched body parts of that person. We immediately started shooting video material for it. We felt a connection between the dream and the issue of communication. As a preparation to our residency Lambo learned Russian and shortly after the first Russian poem developed POEM TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE BODY FOR TWO AND MORE.

At first we wanted to use it as an opener for a possible workshop but soon we realised that this would be the starting point for our new work.

We have shot video material in Helsinki and will continue this here in Narva. For this we are collaborating with Kush Badhwar (editor) Valentin Kimstedt (composer) and Graham Valentine (voice artist).

The idea is to create a sculptural installation made out of material gathered in Narva and to finish the video work to be shown in one of the exhibitions spaces at the residency.
Its exiting to get in contact with the Russian language for this work. It feels like an exercise to keep the discussion culture going in times of violence and war.

As a second project we will work with a local choir on LOOK BACK AND LAUGH, a sound installation and workshop idea we started in Helsinki 2019. The idea is to create a symphony of laughter. We will record the workshop sessions and individual laughters and if possible even find a way for a spontaneous live performance.

The fantasy is to be able to simply look back and laugh. This project is an important counterpart to the topic of violence. We can’t take away the pain and the memories but for a moment when we all laugh together, we will at least feel happy.

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POEM TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE BODY FOR TWO AND MORE
varialambo
narva / may 2022

varialambo

varialambo
As a duo varialambo (Varia Sjöström, visual artist, musician and performer Hatz Lambo, visual artist, poet and performer) we formed in Berlin in 2018.


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НА КОЗЕ НЕ ПОДЪЕДЕШЬ (YOU CAN’T GET THERE ON A GOAT)

Oct 12, 2022
НА КОЗЕ НЕ ПОДЪЕДЕШЬ (YOU CAN’T GET THERE ON A GOAT)
The exhibition ‘НА КОЗЕ НЕ ПОДЪЕДЕШЬ (YOU CAN’T GET THERE ON A GOAT)’ exhibition debuts two site-specific spatial gallery interventions by recent NART Artists-in -Residents Andrea Stanislav (US) and varialambo (Varia Sjöström, Hatz Lambo) (FI/DE). The two solo projects link to transfigure NART’s gallery spaces through a physicality of visual poetics and theatre, informed by dreams, experiences, performances, and unexpected events which took place at NART on the Estonian-Russian border in the Summer of 2022. Both artists reflect upon the sight of Narva as a contextualised charged corridor or ‘Zona’, where language, exile, history, neighbourliness, rapprochement, diplomacy and cyclical memories shift into immersive environments of light, sound, sculpture and moving image.

Festival of Invitations

Oct 4, 2022
Festival of Invitations
We are organizing a festival at Narva Art Residency. The festival is called Festival of Invitations, and it consists of lectures, discussions, workshops and a celebratory dinner at the Narva Art Residency and its surroundings. The event also celebrates the opening of an exhibition by varialambo [1] and Andréa Stanislav. This event is the concluding part of four-year (Re)configuring Territories research project, and we hope that it will bring together both those who have participated in the project in the previous years and those who have not yet become familiar with it.

The Seeds, Pollen, Future performance review

Jul 1, 2022
The Seeds, Pollen, Future performance review
Sean Roy Parker who is in the Kreenholm Plants residency at Nart in June and July wrote a lovely review of the Seeds, Pollen, Future Spring School workshop group’s performance.

School of the Near Future – (Re)configuring Territories Spring School Open Day

Jun 17, 2022
School of the Near Future – (Re)configuring Territories Spring School Open Day
We are happy to invite you to the School of the Near Future in Narva Art Residency to conclude (Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2022.

Welcome to Narva varialambo!

May 19, 2022
Welcome to Narva varialambo!
varialambo is currently at the Reconfiguring Territories research residency in Narva. At the beginning of their residency, we discussed Narva’s first impressions, getting to know new places and the plans they have for Narva.

Live-Action Role-playing the City – Workshop Open Call

May 13, 2022
Live-Action Role-playing the City – Workshop Open Call
Live-Action Role-playing the City is a weekend-long workshop that explores performative artistic research in the context of urban surroundings. How can cities be approached by means of LARPs? How can LARP exercises be used for questions dealing with the city? What kind of power structures emerge? The workshop will begin on Friday, May 3 at 4p.m. and end on Sunday, June 5 at 3 p.m. 5-8 participants will be admitted to the workshop. Register by May 20.

Spring School 2022 Open Call

Apr 8, 2022
Spring School 2022 Open Call
(Re)configuring Territories research programme continues as a week-long Spring School on June 1(Re)configuring Territories research programme continues as a week-long Spring School on June 13 – 19, 2022. This year’s programme explores the politics of collective imagination in the midst of the socio-political and technological upheavals we currently face. How do the changing perceptions of territorial relationships, the experiences of belonging to a place, the multiple spatial layers of history, and their connection to human and non-human agencies shape abilities to imagine futures? What are the possible roles and structures of educational institutions that could develop the necessary skills and knowledge of political imagination?

#StandingWithUkraine

Mar 15, 2022
#StandingWithUkraine
(Re)configuring Territories stands for free and open societies, against war and violence. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The war has also changed the context of (Re)configuring Territories project. We are currently reorganizing our resources and this year’s programme. Action and friendships are now even more important #StandWithUkraine #StopRussianAggression

Wishes and Hopes for 2022

Dec 20, 2021
Wishes and Hopes for 2022
Before the year ends, we – the organisers in Finland and Estonia – gathered to share wishes and hopes for 2022, which will be the final year of the (Re)configuring Territories programme.

Navigating the Indeterminate Terrain

Oct 28, 2021
Navigating the Indeterminate Terrain
Ksenia Kaverina wrote a mid-term reflection on the (Re)configuring Territories programme on art and culture website Arterritory.

(Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2021 presentations in Narva

Jun 16, 2021
(Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2021 presentations in Narva
A week-long intensive Spring School culminated with a hybrid public event where the participants of the three workshops shared glimpses of their processes and findings.

(Re)configuring Territories Talk by TOK curators: On the Verge of Post-Industrial Routine. In search for an alternative planetary set-up and trajectories of degrowth

Jun 16, 2021
(Re)configuring Territories Talk by TOK curators: On the Verge of Post-Industrial Routine. In search for an alternative planetary set-up and trajectories of degrowth
The starting point for this conversation are the prevailing industrial and economical conditions of the city of Narva and beyond, which TOK curators have been exploring during their residency (Re)configuring Territories in May and June 2021. By discussing a variety of post-industrial contexts and sites, we will integrate the economic, manufacturing and architectural processes of decay of the Ida-Viru region into a wider geographical and conceptual framework.

(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Discussion with TOK Curators in Narva Art Residency

Jun 16, 2021
(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Discussion with TOK Curators in Narva Art Residency
Creative Association of Curators TOK joined the Narva Art Residency on May 20 – June 18. The introduction talk with the TOK curators Anna Bitkina and Maria Veits was hosted by curator Ksenia Kaverina and the (Re)configuring Territories programme curators Tommi Vasko and Kaisa Karvinen.

Spring School 2021 Open Call

Apr 15, 2021
Spring School 2021 Open Call
(Re)configuring Territories programme continues as a week-long Spring School on May 31 – June 6, 2021. The Spring School consists of three simultaneous workshops mentored by anthropologist Francisco Martínez and urbanist Andra Aaloe, graphic designer, baker and writer Maria Muuk, and architecture, art and design practice MYCKET.

Dear Mist: A Journey Through Folklore and Energy Politics

Mar 15, 2021
Dear Mist: A Journey Through Folklore and Energy Politics
The live action role-play taking place in Narva, eastern Estonia. Because of the ongoing epidemiological situation this year’s LARP participants will be online; facilitated by technologies like geo-located audio AR, instant messaging apps, Zoom and live-stream webcams. The river Narva and its lore will be transported and beamed to you.

(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Anthropology, Fieldwork, and Design Research

Dec 18, 2020
(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Anthropology, Fieldwork, and Design Research
Interest in anthropology is growing in situated architecture and design research circles, with fieldwork and community-led design processes becoming an increasingly important part of the critical discourse. What should architects, designers, and artists know from anthropology and its methodology? What can these disciplines learn from each other? (Re)configuring Territories program curator Tommi Vasko will talk with professor Francisco Martínez and filmmaker and artist Polina Medvedeva about fieldwork and the relationships between artistic research and anthropology.

(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Feminist Fairytales, Parties and Eating Together as Spatial Practices

Dec 18, 2020
(Re)configuring Territories Talk: Feminist Fairytales, Parties and Eating Together as Spatial Practices
Could fiction and eating dinner together be seen as ways to question the conventional methods of spatial and design practices? Can these careful methods create a more resilient and discursive architecture and design culture? In the talk, the art & architecture group MYCKET (Mariana Alves Silva, Katarina Bonnevier, and Thérèse Kristiansson), graphic designer/writer/baker Maria Muuk and curator Kaisa Karvinen investigate strategies in each of their practices and dream about possible roles of architects and designers in the neighborhoods of current society. The talk starts with a short reading. In the talk, the art & architecture group MYCKET (Mariana Alves Silva, Katarina Bonnevier, and Thérèse Kristiansson), graphic designer/writer/baker Maria Muuk and curator Kaisa Karvinen investigate strategies in each of their practices and dream about possible roles of architects and designers in the neighborhoods of current society. The talk starts with a short reading.

The Indeterminate Terrain Between Disciplines

Dec 18, 2020
The Indeterminate Terrain Between Disciplines
The first (Re)configuring Territories talk was a discursive introduction to the research program. How can residencies and gatherings create discussions about borders, territories, and design and architecture cultures? (Re)configuring Territories program curators Kaisa Karvinen and Tommi Vasko will talk with curator and archivist Ksenia Kaverina, program director Karoliina Korpilahti and Narva Art Residency’s director Ann Mirjam Vaikla.

Reconfiguring Territories Research Residency Open Call

Feb 25, 2020
Reconfiguring Territories Research Residency Open Call
(Re)configuring Territories welcomes applications for a six-week Residency in May–June 2020. The Residency is meant for practitioners and researchers who share an interest in situated practices and speculative approaches.

Narva, a post-colonial, post-soviet, post-industrial bordertown in flux

May 31, 2019
Narva, a post-colonial, post-soviet, post-industrial bordertown in flux
Elena Hess-Rheingans who took part in the (Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2019 wrote about Narva, the Spring School and Damiano Cerrone’s MetaNar workshop.

(Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2019 Open Call

Mar 11, 2019
(Re)configuring Territories Spring School 2019 Open Call
(Re)configuring Territories program’s first instalment is a week-long Spring School in May. The Spring School consists of three simultaneous workshops mentored by designer and theorist Aiwen Yin, urban planner and researcher Damiano Cerrone, and filmmaker and artist Polina Medvedeva. Apply by March 31, 2019!