Residency in Barents

On my way to Kirkenes to do a residency and prepare work for Barents Spektakel on the 8-12th of February. Pikene på Broen is organising the residency and have done a marvellous job of composing a very interesting program for my stay. Also going for a couple of days to Nikel across the Russian border. In my childhood I used to visit my grandmother in Bjørnevatn. I walked to a nearby hill where I could see Nikel in a distance, billowing out toxic smoke from its smelting factory. It became a mythical place since the border was very hard to cross in those days. It will be interesting to see and experience what it is like to live here.

Barents Spektakel in 2012 has been given the title: DARE TO SHARE.
The festival will focus on joint management strategies in the borderland, be it strategies for oil and gas, fish, food, wastes, labor force, etc. They invite artists, researchers, musicians, writers, politicians, architects and the public to discuss and try out possible collaborative strategies between the states, regions and stakeholders.

Halikonlahti Green Art "Food Chains"

Showed my films "Alchemy - the poetry of bread and "AISH - bread as life"

Baked limppu with Finnish sourdough and ryeflour with Mikko Kivelä and an eager crowd of limppubakers.

Made delicious viili with tinkimaito (Finnish for raw milk straight from the cow) and culture.

And gathering traces of viili culture in my blog: http://viiliculture.wordpress.com/

Halikonlahti Green Art

FOOD CHAINS 10.9 - 30.10.2011
FERMENTING CHANGE - limpuu and viili as cultural aesthetics 

by Eva Bakkeslett, artist and cultivator

"Alchemy" 20mins

A poetic evocation on the alchemy of bread brings the act of baking the most basic of staples, into a high art form. Here nature and human culture collude. Hands pounding, mixing, kneading and stretching, reveal the choreographed rhythms and movements of bread making. Alchemy is a beautifully executed and lyrical film about an activity once ubiquitous in almost every household.

"AISH - bread as life" (world premiere)

In Arabic the word for bread and life is the same - Aish. In this film life and bread mixes in a small, communal bakery in the medina in Fez, Morocco. Here the ancient tradition of bringing the leavened bread to a woodfired kiln is still alive. There is magic in seeing the skillful art of baking and recognizing the different owners of the bread. 

"Viili -the tracing of an ancient culture"

A visual mapping of this fascinating culture that has deep roots and a long history in Finland. I will collect stories and search for the cultural roots of viili. Through the period I also hope to find an old viili culture that is still kept alive somewhere deep in the Finnish forest! This is a collective work so contributions from the public are welcome in form of stories, pictures or anything else of relevance. A public blog is started for the project: http://viiliculture.wordpress.com

Workshops, talks and performances:

Friday the 9^th of September:

A Limppu starter dough performance.

Reccomended for participants in the workshop on Saturday the 10th

Saturday the 10th of September: 

Limppu Limppu!

12.00-16.00 (flexible timing)

Workshop - practical baking and stories of Finnish bread-culture. 

“The poetics of bread- Finnish limppu-baking” with Eva Bakkeslett and Mikko Kivelä

This is a workshop that melts bread-making into art. We will sculpt our bread with passion and presence and while the dough rises we will watch films and share stories of bread-culture collected into a bread-book.

Limited to 10 participants but viewing open to the public. Open to all ages. 

17-18 Performance talk: 

"Bread as social sculpture - how bread becomes the art of the every day" (in english).

Sunday the 11th of September: 

Viili viili!

12.00-12.45 Lunchtalk: "Living cultures - from counteraction to fermentation" (in english).

A story about how human and microbial cultures have a lot in common and how viili can teach us important lessons!

14-15 Viili workshop. 

Practical and aesthetic workshop of how to make viili. 

Open to public of all ages. 

TEDx Tromsø

"Living cultures - from counteractions to symbiosis"
Talk at TEDx Tromsø, Verdensteateret, 25th August 2011

The word CULTURE comes from the Latin word cultura – meaning to cultivate – to prepare the
ground for something to grow out of. But culture also describes the process of fermentation of food
by activating microorganisms. Humans have over centuries developed different ways of fermenting
foodstuff – partly as a means of preserving food and partly to enhance its taste and qualities. In the
process human culture and microorganisms have developed a symbiotic relationship. The
knowledge and traditions have evolved as a localized phenomena; place specific and always
reflecting the natural resources and identity of the area. With the change to a globalized and
capitalistic world this knowledge is rapidly becoming extinct, and with it goes centuries of
experience and cultural expertise.

Through my work I attempt to revive some of these remaining cultures and cultivate them into living art-works. Not only do I want to give these ancient biological cultures a renaissance. My intention is also to visualise how it is possible to reenergise and revitalise our human culture inspired by the concept of symbiosis. The famous biologist Lynn Margulis claims that it is through symbiogenesis (the merging of two separate organisms to form a single new organism e.g. lichen ) that all innovation is created in nature. It is a primary force in evolution. In this talk I will explore the possibilities of applying the biological principals of symbiogenesis as a model for developing a revitalised and sustainable human culture.

KUNSTGJØDSEL - kultur og natur med bærekraftige forbindelser

GREP - Ei kunstvandring på Fykse, 4. juni 2011

"KUNSTGJØDSEL - kultur og natur med bærekraftige forbindelser "

Hvordan kan landskapet være en inspirasjon for kunstnere og hvordan kan kunsten forme og berike vårt forhold til naturen? Et innblikk i ulike kunstfomer der samspillet mellom natur og kultur får oss til å oppleve omverden på nye måter.

(Foredrag for nyskjerrige stuegriser, naturelskere, kunstinteresserte, søndagsturister og andre med sans for nye blikk på natur og kultur)

http://fyksesund.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=166%3Agrep-ei-kunstvandring-pa-fykse-4-juni-2011&catid=37%3Aaktuelt&Itemid=242&lang=nn

PECHA KUCHA night Tromsø, Norway

Collaborating with the Norwegian Year of Architecture 2011, and focusing on urban processes, architecture and landscape architecture with several architects, landscape architects and artists on the list of presenters.

I did a swift talk on Cultivating a living aesthetics with 20 slides x 20 seconds each. Great format!

http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/tromso/

CULTIVATING A LIVING AESTHETICS - Talk in Tromsø, Norway

The meeting between nature and culture in our urban spaces, and the city as a space for action.  Artist/architecture initiated projects that affects the way we use our the public spheres and create connections between people and push the boundaries of our urban spaces.

Møtepunktet mellom kultur og natur, og byen som handlingsrom for dette gjennom

kunstner-/arkitekturinitierte prosjekter som påvirker bybruken, skaper møtepunkter mellom mennesker og tester ut grensene til det o ffentlige rom.

 

Lecturers/Forelesere: Eva Bakkeslett, billedkunstner, kultivator - Norge/UK: "Kultivering av levende estetikk"

Alexander Muchenberger fra Bureau Detours - mangfoldig og dynamisk globalt kulturelt kollektiv:"Trojanske Heste og andre interaktioner i det o ffentlige rum."

http://2011.arkitektur.no/urban-natur-frokostmote#1345

IDÉ FESTIVALEN, UiO, Oslo 21. MAI

I over tjue år har forskere og aktivister formidlet alvoret i klimautfordringene. Hvordan har det seg da at politikere og folk flest ikke er mer urolige og handlekraftige i møte med klimaendringene?
Hvordan blir klimaforskningen forstått? Har man i for stor grad spilt på frykt og moral, og i mindre grad på hva folk selv kan gjøre? Har klimaendringene blitt redusert til et trospørsmål – enten så tror man eller så tror man ikke – og ikke et spørsmål om hvordan man forstår de observerte endringene? Vi trenger nye arenaer for å kommunisere klimaendringer. Kunst er én slik arena som kan nå nye grupper med nye metoder og nye perspektiver.
Denne sesjonen er en samtale mellom kunst, forskning og forvaltning, der nettopp kommunikasjonsutfordringen blir diskutert.

Eva Bakkeslett / Christian Bjørnæs (CICERO) / Jon Berg (MD)
Ordstyrer: Aleksander Melli


http://idefestivalen.uio.no/events/32/inn-gjennom-hjernen-%E2%80%93-eller-hjertet/

NURTURING NATURE: Artists Engage the Environment

Showing Alchemy - the poetics of bread at the OSilas Gallery, Bronxville, New York, 10th February - 16th April 2011.

" For the past several decades environmentalists have foreseen an impending disaster of epic proportions if and when the planet becomes truly unable to sustain life. The artists in this exhibition are focused on healing our relationship with the living eco-system, recognizing that our very existence depends upon its survival. Their works attempt to bridge the gap between art and life by raising an appreciation of the natural world and by engaging in a collaborative or nurturing process with nature. This exhibition will focus on various spiritual or ethical traditions in relationship to our care of the planet, what Christianity terms “stewardship”, Tikkun Olam or “repair the world” in Judaism and in Buddhism, “compassion for all sentient beings”."
http://osilasgallery.org/mysitecaddy/site3/exhibitionsupcoming.htm

Gentle Actions

Gentle Actions was an art & and ecology happening with an experimental visual framework that took place at the gallery Kunstnerenes Hus in Oslo, Norway 23rd of October till 14th of November 2010. It was an interactive meeting place which combined the transformatory power of art with interdisciplinary ecology. Gentle Actions was a social sculpture that gathered people engaged in social transformation within the arts, culture, humanities, social and nature based academia together with cultural activists and an actively engaged public.  It was an interactive and collaborative platform that included dialogues and lectures, presentations, workshops, discussions, and an extensive film program curated by Oslo Dokumentarkino in collaboration with Gentle Actions. The exchange of knowledge, ideas and experience was integral to the project and we hope that Gentle Actions will generate new ways of thinking and acting to face the enormous challenges we are facing on earth at this moment.

Gentle Actions was shaped by Anne Karin Jortveit and Eva Bakkeslett, in collaboration with the gallery Kunstnernes Hus and Oslo Dokumentarkino. For more pictures and information go to our website: http://gentleactions.wordpress.com