Bread as Poetry

In Vadsø Museum on the 9th of January 2012, in the very North of Norway, to give a talk about bread and showing my film Alchemy - the poetics of bread. The bread traditions in this particular area are based on sourdough made from rye flour and originates from Finland.

The Magic Tablecloth

After one intensive week of filming in Nikel, Northern Russia, and another week of editing day and night my new film The Magic Tablecloth is now ready to be screened at the Barents Spektakel in Kirkenes! It has been a magical journey thanks to the wonderful work of the curatorial team at Pikene på Broen and the wonderful collaboration with Nelly Makeeva and her grandson Gleb and my eminent cameraman and editor Clive Ardagh. A truly joint effort!

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/