– Where were you born? Velsvik in Møre og Romsdal

– Where do you live? Reykjavík, Iceland

– What pronouns do you use? He/him

– What makes you work with performance?

I am excited about the direct encounter with the audience, and to explore and figure things out together with them. 

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Stretching, and listening to music.  

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

The performance I am most happy with is also my most recent one. It is the performance “The Weeping Madonna” that was my master project in Iceland University of the Arts, shown in Reykjavik January 2025. The performance takes the form of a ceremony where different statues come to life through alchemical experiments. I was trying out many (for me) new things, the risks of that made it more interesting to me, and together with the audience I entered a truly weird space that I found really enjoyable. 

– Are you currently working on any performance?

Now I am working on a new performance from the same universe and logic as “The Weeping Madonna”. This time I am researching cabinets of curiosities, as a collection of stories or objects, where fiction and reality are mixed. It might take form as a lecture performance in Akureyri in the north of Iceland in May.  

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

Do it. Do things slowly. Do things quickly. And go to performance festivals and talk to people. 

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Right now I am very inspired by artists like Antti Laitinen, Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir and Julio Torres. 

-Where were you born? In Kolding, Denmark, and I grew up in Sandnes, Norway

-Where do you live? I live between Copenhagen and Bergen

-What pronouns do you use? She /Her

– What makes you work with performance?

Performance offers the presence and transformation of the moment. It offers live exchange with people and environments. In the space between planning and chance – something very magical can happen.

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

I calm myself and connect with the body. I often talk when I perform, so warming up the voice is helpful. Also, fostering an open, friendly, humorous attunement.

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

It is hard to rank the performances like that. I love them all, even the clumsy ones, haha! I think I perform well when I manage to embody and properly channel the subject of the performance. This is done through movement and monologue storytelling within an installation. I am proud of when I embodied the historic painters and partners Sofie Ribbing and Christiane Schreiber, and their unborn child – at the Art Museum in Stavanger in 2014.

I am also very proud of how I gave body and voice to my artistic research in the performative lecture installation “Where are We Now? Where are We Now? Where are We Now?” at Gallery Entrée in 2022. (Presented inside of the “Open Studio” exhibition of Magnhild Øen Nordahl) In this work, I embodied Marie Sikveland, a woman from Bergen who perceives white lines on her retina—a form of visual tinnitus. The audience was invited into this experience through my movements and storytelling. I embodied how the white lines profoundly affected Sikveland, both structuring and destabilising her reality. During the performance, the audience and I collectively dismantled a white rope structure that had been set up around us, and in this way used our bodies to enact the disorientation and transformation of Sikveland.

– Are you currently working on any performance?

Yes. I have just finished a PhD in artistic research at the Art Academy in Bergen. You are all welcome to the performance, oh sorry, I mean public defence the 29th - on site or on zoom. (Search KMD invite)

Now it’s great to open new directions in the work. Currently I’m developing a performative installation inspired by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas’ archeomythological research on goddess worship from Neolithic Europe. Visualise the voluptuous Venus of Willendorf sculpture, that stuff!! I somehow hope to “time-travel” mythology and ritual actions of goddess worship from our foremothers and activate it today. I think it is about finding an imaginary, a way to respond to an inner inertia, a shock reaction to the environmental/geopolitical situation now. Big words, but - I feel it is how I can respond right now, contribute, by attempting to reinvigorate insanely old practises of connection, imagination and meaning/love.

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

Find a community to explore it with. Friends, people you resonate with, a LARPing community, music community, art community, a school - or Performance Art Bergen!! Experiment a lot. Fail a lot.

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Laurie Anderson, Mark Leckey, Tori Wrånes, Rita Marhaug, Monster Chetwynd, Sara Gebran, Nicola Gunn, Donna Haraways’ talks are wonderfully performative!

–Where were you born? Gøteborg in Sweden. I am half Norwegian/Swedish. 

– Where do you live? I am living in Bergen. 

– What pronouns do you use? she/her

– What makes you work with performance?

Performance makes the hidden side of my personality shine true. Its a sacred space for the body, mind and soul to just be in moment, in the flow, to be present. 

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Before every performance I do affirmations and breathing exercises to calm my mind and 

it's also clearing my thoughts. 

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

My performance at KMD at my bachelor was the most important performance for me, because in that moment I was liberating myself form the disbelief that I was not able to do to do this kind of expression. 

The performance was a ritual where I did sacred injections to 5 ceramic objects that was formed out of the elements; fire, water, earth and air. The ceramic objects was bind with purpose to heal those whom was in is present, the objects where working as a spiritual tool. 

– Are you currently working on any performance?

At the this moment I am developing a performance around how to become a more authentic version of one self. I am going to create some sound elements, and connect the nature and somatic body movements into to the project.

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

If performance is something you want to work with you should listen to that voice inside. 

The performance community is very loving and including. 

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Tori Wrånes has a unique and quirky way of expressing her visual inner world. 

Nick Cave, his way of using vivid, playful and tactile sound suits into a performative realm. 

–Where were you born?Valestrand(Sveio)

– Where do you live? Valevag in Sveio, Vestland

– What pronouns do you use? he

– What makes you work with performance? It is a way to put out ideas in big size format  at an affordable price. 

– Do you have any rituals before performing? No

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why? My best performance is: "With the stone on a leash". Because it is a site-specific work at an inspiring place and it has to do with bodily experience in life.   

– Are you currently working on any performance? No, because I have just delivered one. 

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance? search for experience in life that has to do with the body and things. To concentrate and be fearless when performing, think that you are alone and that people around are thinking about themselves. Making contact and interacting with colleagues and the public are also an opportunity I have worked with. It is rewarding, but requires more organization.

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?
Sigurdur Gudmundsson
Kurt Johannesen
Liv Reidun Brakstad
Kjartan Slettemark
Yoko Ono
Johannes Daimling
Roi Vaara
Irma Optimist

From November 1 to 5, 2024, PAB members Marit Tunestveit Dyre, Susanne Irene Fjørtoft, Frauke Materlik, and Kyuja Bae have been invited to participate in the Seomjingang International Experimental Arts Festival (SIEAF) in South Korea.

Their participation is part of The Poetic Silence Project, a three-year initiative (2024-2026) aimed at promoting artistic exchange, collaboration, collective healing, and growth between performance artists from Norway and South Korea, in partnership between PAB and SIEAF, initiated by Kyuja Bae.

During the festival, the artists will present both individual and collective performances and participate in a seminar exploring strategies to strengthen mutual artistic exchange and collaboration. Additionally, Kyuja Bae will lead a meditative dance workshop during the festival.

- Where were you born? South Korea
- Where do you live? Mysen
- What pronouns do you use? She

– What makes you work with performance?

I think my deep curiosity and interest in presence - now and here is what makes me work with performance.

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Yes, I do. Meditation and greetings to sacred spirits in the performance space. 

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

I think each performance is special in different ways. So it is difficult to choose only one. 

I especially appreciate and enjoy performances where I am guided by Nature like wind, rain and sun, dancing together with them where I can not control the external environment that allows me to be vulnerable, so, I just need to surrender to the presence - now and here and openly flow with universal guidance. I think to me, performances with such an open space where I can surrender and be vulnerable with my meditative and mindful state are the best. 

From this perspective, the performance "How to Carry Stones Project: Sky Dance" at the Summer Performance Camp 2022 in Finse, Norway organized by PAB where I danced together with strong wind was great and I will never forget it. And the other performance is called Birth-Way Project: Fairy bath in collaboration with Katarina Lisa at Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art for 50th Anniversary of Korea's Performance Art organized by Jeju International Experimental Arts Festival 2018. I had to dance with my bare foot in an outdoor space under the hot burning summer weather with over 40 degrees. It was unbearably hot to even just stand there with my bare foot. But during the performance, I managed to embrace the challenging situation and dance with it for about 20 minutes, forgetting about the unbearable burning floor and the hot weather. 

– Are you currently working on any performance?

Yes, I am working on a performance or a project called "How to Carry Stones Project" from 2020. 

“One moment your life is a stone in you, and the next, a star”. This project was inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke's poem called "Sunset", 

I explore trauma and its different roles in my life through this project, questioning:
How harmoniously can we carry stones inside ourselves while we carry stones in our hands simultaneously? 
Here, the stones in us we carry symbolize intense feelings/emotions that are connected with our inner work. 

In contrast, the stones in our hands symbolize our external daily tasks and works. 

How can the intense emotions caused by trauma be approached and explored artistically and philosophically in dance art practice?

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?
Joseph Beuys, Xie Rong, Chuyia Chia, Gustaf Broms and many more.

– were you born? Asker, but brought up in Molde.

– were do you live? Molde

– What pronouns do you use? She/her

– What makes you work with performance?

I have most of my artistic career worked with project-based installations, and only started playing around with performance 3-4 years ago. Partly proving to my self that I can take risks and handle a steep learning-curve without vanity governing the process.

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Just breathing and stretching exercises, and by that finding a balance between motion and rest.

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

They are all work in progress, or work on its way. Learning from each one. The most pleasurable one to do so far, was part of the project Between Sky and Sea arranged by Longva Art Residency/PAB. A bunch of performance artists from around the world lived and worked together for two weeks, culminating in a day of both individual and group performances. The experience of being part of a prevailing generosity of spirit arising amongst a group of strangers, was rather beautiful.

– Are you currently working on any performance?

I am preparing a solo show at Møre and Romsdal Art Center coming winter. A performance/ video work shot in a dried-out lake will be a central part of a larger installation. Now it is all about choices and finding a believable way towards presentable material.

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

If one is coming from a different discipline, which is the case with many of us, trust that you can get to grips with this. And stop looking over your shoulder if you are good enough.

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Inspire is a difficult word, and equally difficult to answer. Respect is for me an easier word to use. Just a few weeks back I saw a large retrospective, documented through film and photo, by Abramowic at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Her courage and dedication are nothing short of admirable. Another is my ex-husband, with whom I am still a good friend, Matthew Luck Galpin. He is a rare creature with a noble heart, - and a fascinating and interesting performance artist/sculptor. I think I in general have a great deal of respect for artists in any field who have a life project and stays true to it.

– Were you born? Oslo, Norway

– Where do you live? Oslo, Norway

– What pronouns do you use? He/him

– What makes you work with performance?

Exhibitionism, really. It's a bit misunderstood as a term - usually deemed as something willfully immoral or taboo. I'm not gonna deny that there isn't an element of it either, but the crux of exhibitionism to me is more about the joy of creating something live. To perform is to adapt to others and to surroundings. It is to be fascinated by, thrilled and willing to negotiate the perimeters of 'doing something while someone's looking at you' and, ultimately, never being fully in control of this process. There's a risk and dare to performance that I love, which I don't find elsewhere. And ideally, performance art can create some wild circumstances and moods that a group of people are all sensing together.

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Not anything as such. Usually, I have a cup of herbal tea and then I pace back and forth for a while if I'm alone.

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

When I was a student at Filmkunstskolen in Kabelvåg I had a performance as part of the official opening of the new facilities. As was mandatory for the county, there was a fancy lunch with politicians, financial backers and construction leaders. There were three of us students who were invited to take part in an entertainment section with whatever we wanted to perform. One friend of mine gave a lovely, cordial speech about commemorating the old and welcoming the new, while the other played some beautiful violin. I wasn't really thinking about how this was being received by the audience, but I realized in retrospect that I couldn't have asked for a better buildup. My performance consisted of undressing to a bondage vest, collapsing in between the tables and doing a monologue on the ontology of being a non-body, speculating in a very formal manner on killing the audience as a gesture of generosity. I heard later that a couple of people had to spit out their wine during the piece because it was such an abrupt shift. Fun stuff! I thought it turned out great, not just because the performance maxed out on its unnerving effect on the audience, but because it hopefully allowed someone at the lunch to re-orient themselves on what constitutes art in an art school setting.

– Are you currently working on any performance?

I'm in the middle of research, kind of pre-project mode. I'm not sure whether it'll pan out as a performance piece, theatre or something more discursive. I'm trying to process and work with notions of solidarity, empathy, low frequencies and the body as flesh, something animated versus an uncanny ragdoll. 

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

I think every practice in performance art starts out kinda clunky, queasy or whatever. And that's a good thing. If it still felt sooo worth it, despite of being rough, then it's a good idea to keep working! I talked to someone recently who started on the topic that a lot of performance art is kinda bad. And I don't entirely disagree, but it's also the nature of it. The stuff I've seen in performance pieces is the type of things that would otherwise (both in and out of art environments) never be acceptable and looked at as 'amateurish', 'nonsense', 'sentimental', 'awkward' etc. etc. So in my opinion, I would just say go and try it because there aren't a ton of hurdles. The only scary thing about it is that you're doing it in front of an audience, really - but some of us like that.

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Pope.L, Ana Mendieta, Iain White, Chantal Akerman, Jimmy Robert, Steve Reinke, Diamanda Galas, the writings of Chris Kraus. And some locals: Sara Baban, Elina Waage Mikalsen and Hanna Asefaw  + probably more - I'm continuously inspired by and appreciative of what they do!

– Where were you born? Carlton, Australia

– Where do you live? Bergen, Norway

– What pronouns do you use?
She/Her

– What makes you work with performance?

Movement and performance for me has always been about expression and storytelling. There is something so simple and human in how we express ourselves through our physical body, how we feel things, and how we connect with others. My work explores the similarity, the quirks, and the relatability of the human condition. I try to relay this feeling to audiences, and in a way try to get them to connect with the power their physical body holds in telling their own story. I try to make work that is accessible for all audiences, breaking down the barrier of 'experimental performance' only for 'experimental audiences'. 

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

I like to look at pre-performance as a chance to fine-tune the body, calm the nerves by focusing on the technical side of things. A structured, technical warm-up allows my brain to switch off for a moment, I can consume it with thoughts of alignment and weight placement, instead of conceptual matter, nerves and the ever impending existential dread. 

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

'The Leftovers' is a work that I hold very dear to me. We are now on the fourth stage of development and performance and it has emphasized to me the importance of re-visiting work and allowing it to grow and change, just as you have grown and changed since it was first created. In a way, it is challenging the idea of when a performance is over, continually challenging it's existence. Each dancer and artist involved has grown, they have new life experiences, new interests, new views on the content manner, and it's so important to listen to that so you never feel that a work only exists in a certain period of time. 

– Are you currently working on any performance?

We are currently looking at re-staging 'The Leftovers', which is a contemporary dance work for 4 dancers made in collaboration with sculptor, Nicholas Hanisch. It is a very physical work, examining our life as a continuous cycle and the small changes within it that make us who we are. I am also about to start a first stage of development on a solo work called 'Narrated by Cillian Murphy', which is an abstract look at higher beings and a personal journey of belief. 

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?
Don't be consumed by the idea of originality, it's an ongoing process that requires working on something for a long period of time. Work with what interests you and what you enjoy doing. Your work can be a reflection of who you are, but don't let the practice of it define who you are. You are allowed to enjoy other things, take up new skills and take time off from performance. You are no less of an artist in the off-periods. 

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?
(not exactly performance artists, but artists who inspire me at the moment)

Felicity Boyd, Pina Bausch, Lee Brummer, Nick Cave, Dora Garcia, Joan Jonas, Greta Gerwig

Dear artist,

This is an open call from Performance Art Bergen (PAB). We are looking for one more artist in the program of the 7 th edition of the international performance art event Between Sky & Sea for 2025. This edition will focus on the theme of Uvissas tilstand/Flying Blind. For the second time PAB collaborates with Longva AiR north of Ålesund, Norway, hosting the festival format. The period for the event is 25.08. -08.09.2025.

The aim of Between Sky & Sea VII: Flying Blind is to give professional artists a production framework, where they can challenge our notions of matter in the span of minerals and organisms, science and speculation. The outcome should be a public performance for the audience at the end of the residency.

During a period of 14 days, the artists get the necessary resources in the process of developing work(s) of art in a collegial community. Meaning you will have access to professional video and still photographers, transport resources and people with local knowledge of culture and nature. In addition, we will have invited guests contributing with relevant theory. The topic the artists will work towards is our common material framework of existence; the landscape - shaped by natural and human forces alike. In particular, we will challenge you to investigate how to constitute meaning and communication between the human body and the Earth.

PAB will provide the invited artists with travel, accommodation and food during the stay. We also will pay you a small fee. This we cannot quantify today, because we are still waiting for response from funding applications.

Beside this open call, seven more artists will take part in this production-camp focusing on live performance art in a rural environment, in addition to possibilities of performance for camera and video.

Before applying, please read the full description HERE.  

Your application should include:

• Short description of your artistic practice related to the theme, maximum size of 10 MB
• Portfolio of maximum 5 projects
• CV

File format: PDF, all combined in one document, maximum size of 10 MBFile name:

name_open_call_2025The application should be sent to: post@performanceartbergen.no

Please mark the email with: Between Sky & Sea - open call - 2025

You will be notified by the end of June 24.

www.betweenskyandsea.com

www.nordoyane.no

Where were you born?

Göteborg

Where do you live?

Bergen

What pronouns do you use?

They/Them

What makes you work with performance?

Performatively, I recreate situations of powerlessness and despair in order to take back control, in order to free myself from it. I want to meet an audience through vulnerability, in the unpredictable and challenge the way we are expected to face complex social situations.

Do you have any rituals before performing?

1 shot of Fernet

What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

My project «unwanted», because it contains everything that I wish to convey as a performance artist.

Are you currently working on any performance?

Yes, I am working on a new performance about rejection, which I will perform later this year.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

Don't wait for the opportunity to perform, take the place you need and jump into it.

Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

I am inspired by other performance artists who challenge the human complexity in social situations such as Marina Abramovic, Anna Odell and Yayoi Kuzama.

Photos 2-3 Midsommerfeiring: Madihe Gharibi

Photos 4-7 unwanted: Eleanor Smith

-Where were you born?

Our artistic practice has since 2015 been funned through the collective duo Alt Går Bra, born in Bergen

-Where do you live?

Bergen and Paris

-What pronouns do you use?

We

– What makes you work with performance?

Performance has always been one of our preferred artistic expressions

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

No

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

Every new performance

– Are you currently working on any performance?

Invisible theater - performances in public space that intervene in everyday life, with several performers

Alt Går Bras nationwide embroidery contest, inviting the public to participate

Banner (fane) parades

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

Be brave

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

Ellisif Wessel, Henrik Ibsen, Luis Buñuel, Komar and Melamid, Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia are current favorites

-

Photos:

1. Portrettbilde. Alt Går Bra, 2024, photographer: Birk Tjelmeland

2. “17.mai”, Bergen public parade, 2018, photographer: Bjarte Bjørkum

3. “Det er ikke fersk fisk å få i Kabelvåg”, Kabelvåg, 2015, photographer: Ane Cecilie Krogseth

4. “Victor Charlie”, USF, Bergen, 2015, photographer: Bjarte Bjørkum

5. “Syllogisms”, LevArt, Levanger, 2017, photographer: Hilde Meen

6. “The Mimeograph, Voice to Speech”, KODE, Bergen, 2021, photographer: ThorBrødreskift

7. “Jacobsen”, Nordnesparken, Bergen, 2020, photographer: Alt Går Bra

8. “Alt Går Bras Strandabroderi utfordring 2024”, public space, Bergen, 2024, photographer: Victoria Eriksen

Photo: Bjarte Bjørkum - Performance: Jordina Ros & Pere Estadella

OPEN CALL PAB OPEN 2024

PAB is seeking performances from regional, national, and international artists for the sixth edition of the PAB OPEN 2024 festival. The festival holds a low-threshold offer that allows the artists to explore and test new performative expressions.

Here is the: Open call PAB OPEN 2024

Member of the Month: Hanna Pherson

PAB is pleased to introduce the Member of the Month, where we will showcase a brief interview with one of our members here on the website and on social media every month. The first artist featured is Hanna Pherson.

-Where were you born?

Gothenburg (Göteborg) Sweden

-Where do you live?

Bergen, Norway

-What pronouns do you use?

She/her

– What makes you work with performance?

I started my BA in the glass and ceramics depatrement at Konstfack in Stockholm. I was young and rebellious so I wanted to break all the rules of making craft and started filming myself breaking objects I had made. When I dropped out and started my Bachelor’s in Art in Bergen I didn’t know that I was doing performance until my first professor (Frans Jacobi) told me. Nowadays I have moved away from it a bit and I’m getting back to creating objects again. But I view my process differently now because of my experience with performance. 

– Do you have any rituals before performing?

Freaking out. Being in denial. The minutes before I’m hyper focused and feel like I’m outside my own body. It’s a very spiritual experience. 

– What was the best performance you have done so far? Why?

I did a performance in Denmark once where I talked a lot in Swedish. A member of the audience told me afterward that while they didn't understand everything I said, they listened to the melody of my language instead. That performance stands out for me for that reason. I also did a karaoke performance once where I sang for hours, and the audience joined in. It was terrifying but fun!

– Are you currently working on any performance?

I’m currently working mostly with textiles and trying to communicate concepts through objects. It still feels new and exciting for me.

– What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working with performance?

Try to avoid the cliches! Think about how to start and end and rethink how to document. Consider what to wear—whether your outfit should be neutral or representative of the concept. It’s good to feel nervous; it means you care. If possible, keep something in your pocket that makes you feel safe, like a piece of jewellery or a nice rock. Celebrate afterwards. Redo it another time if you’re not satisfied with the results.

– Can you give us a few names of performance artists who inspire you?

This is so hard to answer because I’m inspired by so much different stuff! But Sophie Calle for her way of working with documentation. Curator Nicolas Bourriaud who coined the term ’relational aesthetics’. Superflex have some very cool projects like ’Free Shop’. I always go back to philosopher Thomas Nagel’s text ’What Is It Like to Be a Bat?’ if I feel lost. Movie director Ruben Östlund for his clear depiction of human behavior and power dynamics. 

Photos:

1.Let me sing for you / sing with me: Marie Vallestad 2.Dagsrapporter: Sonja Ovaskainen

3.Where have all the flowers gone young girls picked them everyone: Bjarte Bjørkum

4.Tomater i låda: Vegard Kleven

5.The Helping Project: Hanna Pherson

6.När jag fyllde rummet med min luft: Hanna Pherson

7.Jag ser blommor växa i varje hörn: Guttorm Glomsås

8.Den Rosa Tråden: Barbara Katzin

9.Den Rosa Tråden: Barbara Katzin

The Performance Art Bergen - archive

PAB is currently working on updating the archive at the web page with documentation, artists name and text from a large number of performance art events/festivals from the start in 2011 - 2024.
Check out: archive

PAB OPEN 2024
Next large festival PAB OPEN 2024 will be helt October 4-7 2024.
Here is documentation from the PAB OPEN 2022 with documentation of each artist.

PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2022 - Hotel Villa Terminus

Here is documentation and texts from earlier PAB OPEN festivals:
Here is documentation and texts from earlier PAB OPEN festivals:
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2019 - Grand Hotel Terminus
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2017 - Vaskerelven 8
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2015 - Old prison of Bergen
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2013 - Old prison of Bergen

Photo: Petter Lønningen - Performance: Den lokale venneforening Sophie Barth & Katarina Caspersen.

Cod - Connecting People

A participatory performance by Jon Irigoyen in collaboration with Emma Hovi (Social Choreography Lab Helsinki, Finland).

Date: Saturday, November 11th 2023
Time: 14:30-17:00h

Starting and finishing point: Kunsthall 3,14, Vågsallmenningen 12, 5014 Bergen, Norway

This participatory performance combines humor and playfulness to bring participants on an anti-tourist tour in Bergen, culminating in a shared meal experience. At the center of the performance is the cod: the most profitable fish in history that has played a key role in shaping cultures across the Atlantic coast, from the Vikings that first developed the industry to the Basques who found out how to preserve it with salt. Tracing different economies of cod (cultural, social and political) that link the city of Bergen and the Basque city of Bilbao  (Jon’s hometown), we will share and map both the historical connection between the cities how cod shaped history locally and globally, and a dinner
table through playfulness and humor. 

The festive anti-tourist tour will introduce the participants to the city as seen through the eyes of the artists. The tour will consist of small interventions across the historical old town of Bergen, preparing us for the second part of the performance at Kunsthall 3,14. We will gather in the gallery to try one of the most famous Basque cod recipes, Biscayne Cod, while exchanging experiences, jokes and memories of the fish at the dinner table.

Welcome!

The workshop is free of charge.

Register by sending an email to socialchoreography.helsinki@gmail.com by 8th of November.
Please bring clothes suitable for the outdoors.

Facilitators
The workshop will be facilitated by Jon Irigoyen and Emma Hovi of the Social Choreography Lab Helsinki. Social Choreography explores how we can learn and unlearn pre-choreographed aspects of our personal, social, cultural and political lives. As a cultural practice, it can create new spaces, preparing the imagination for envisioning new social relations and ecological thinking. Formed in 2020 as a collaborative experiment intersecting corporeality, choreography and political life, the Lab is developed through an ongoing series of workshops, festivals and talks. The Lab is based at the Performance Arts Center Eskus in Helsinki and has been supported by Esitystaiteen Seura - Live Art Society and Nordic Culture Point. 

More information: https://www.jonirigoyen.com/Social-Choreography-Lab-Helsinki 

IMAGE
Engraving from Encyclopedia of Natural History, Augsburg, 1804

PAB lokal 2023: SJØMIL

in this edition of pab lokal 23, we want to take the audience on a journey through time at the Øygarden Coastal Museum, encountering performance art. We present SJØMIL

Sunday, October 15th, from 12:00 to 17:00 at the Øygarden Coastal Museum.

We have selected 2 artists who have created their own interpretations of what SJØMIL (nautical miles) can mean. The title refers to life by the sea and the resources from the sea that have been important in Øygarden and for the West Coast.

Artists

Lucia Andolova (1991, Slovakia)

Lucia Andolova lives and works in Bergen and has a background in journalism. Andolova is an artist who delves into the realm of transforming of natural materials. She has a strong fascination for details and a passion for the oldest textile skill known to mankind , the Slovak national showcases the beauty and potential of these materials in contemporary context.

Marte Dahl (1989, Norway)

Based in Bergen, Marte Dahl holds an MFA from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (KMD/UiB, 2022) and a BFA from the Oslo Academy of Art (KHIO, 2018). Using the body as a starting point, she explores how certain objects, environments, or materials present various possibilities and limitations for movement and interaction. This is expressed through sculptural costume design and partially improvised choreographies, both live and for the camera.

Her works have previously been exhibited at Bergen Kunsthall (2022), Hordaland Kunstsenter / Bergenhus Festning (2022), Kunstbanken Hamar (2021), Vega Scene (2020), Kunsthall Oslo (2018), Bærum Kunstforening (2018), and ROM for kunst og arkitektur (2017).

PAB LOKAL is curated by Masja Nødtvedt & Ebba Kruse. Thanks to the

Øygarden Coastal Museum.

Bergen International Performance Festival, 24th-26th August 2023

Where: Bergen Kjøtt
When: August 24-26
Doors open: 17:30
Program starts: 18:00

Admission is free!

Welcome to the 6th edition of the Bergen International Performance Festival (BIFF), organized by Performance Art Bergen (PAB). This year, you can experience powerful performances and thought-provoking seminars with some of Europe's most prominent performance artists:

Mari Norddahl (NO)
Elizabeth Tomos (UK)
Maire Karuvuori (FIN)
Ana Matey (ES)
Isabel León (ES)
Giusseppe Dominguez (ES)
Mario Montoya (ES)
Lorena Izquierdo Aparicio (ES)
Héctor Navarro Agulló (ES)
Thomas Reul (DE)
Stephan US (DE)
Surya Tüchler (DE)

This year's festival draws inspiration from Angela Carter's novel 'Nights at the Circus' (1984), where the main character is a trapeze artist whose ambiguous but physically overwhelming presence manifests as half-bird, half-woman. The novel takes us from London to Siberia, using a train journey to explore the transformation of identity through the violation and liberation from cultural norms by connecting with our animalistic selves.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24 at 18:00 - SEMINAR: MIND JOURNEY
As part of BIPF, we are hosting an evening seminar open to the public. The seminar will be moderated by the Bergen-based performance artist Eleanor Clare, and the invited speakers are Thomas Reul, Maire Karuvuori, Elisabeth Tomos, and Eirik Fevang.

A journey often serves as a spatial metaphor in everyday language. In the art world, journeys are referred to as a journey of the mind, not a physical movement from one point to another. The journey we plan encompasses cities, former industrial buildings, and untouched landscapes. The artists will explore how encounters with each other and the environment can transform and expand us.

The seminar will address the theme of transformation through interaction, using the practice-based perspectives of our festival artists and the theoretical lens of philosopher and literary critic Eirik Fevang.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 at 18:00 - GROUP-PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
On the festival's main day, you can experience challenging group-performances from 12 European artists gathered on one stage. The artworks are a result of the artists' collaboration during their train journey to Bergen, where they also had a residency in Finse. This makes this year's edition of BIPF a unique art experience.

BIPF 2023 is organized by Anette Friedrich Johannessen (Chair of PAB) and Marit Tunestveit Dyre.

Our festival partners are:
EXCHANGE Live Art (ES), https://linktr.ee/exchangeliveart
PAErshe (DE) http://www.paersche.org
DIÀLEG OBERT (ES) https://www.instagram.com/dialeg_obert/

We extend our sincere thanks to the support for BIPF 2023 from Bergen Municipality, the Norwegian Arts Council, Vestland County Municipality, and Acción Cultural Española (Through the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE), in the framework of the Mobility grants)

About BIPF:
Bergen International Performance Festival (BIPF) is organized by Performance Art Bergen (PAB). PAB's ultimate goal is to strengthen, visualize, and promote performance art in Bergen, on the West Coast of Norway, and in Norway as a whole. BIPF is held every other year, and the format has varied between individual and group performances. BIPF offers professional development opportunities for the art community in Bergen through the presentation of international, national, and local high-quality performance art. The festival introduces performance art, brings new impulses to Bergen, and inspires and challenges a broad audience interested in the arts.

Between Sky & Sea
from August 8 to August 20 - 2022

The following weeks Performance Art Bergen will present the artists taking part in Between Sky & Sea in August 2022! Information will be published at
PAB Instagram & PAB facebook

Between Sky & Sea is a performance event that takes place every third year on different Norwegian islands. The 6th edition is titled “Temporal Horizons” and brings eight artists, art historians, lecturers and others together. For two weeks the artists will develop their works on Skuløy inspired and informed by seminars and discussions, leading up to a public performance program and showing August 20th 2022 from 13.00-ca 18.00.

Here is the facebookevent: Event - Between Sky & Sea - Skuløya

PAB OPEN SESSION - VENØ GÅRD
Place: Venø gård - Venøya - Stad kommune
Saturday, July 16th
Time: 14:00-17:00

‘To be able to create art together with other artists in the landscape puts existence into focus and gives a sense of meaning to one’s being.’ (Bjørn Venø)

Venø Gård & PAB: Open session (PAB) collaborated on a open session in the landscape on the Norwegian west coast - Venøya.
6 performance artists performed with a 3 hour open session

Participating artists:
Pavana Reid
Kurt Johannessen
Mahla Rashidan
Mia Øquist
Anette Friedrich Johannessen
Bjørn Venø

Thanks to:
Venø gård KUNST, Bjørn Venø & Julia Kröner Venø,
& Anita Eide.

Here is the documentation by photographer Ulf Rugumayo Amundsen
from 3 hours Open session - Venø gård KUNST

Performance art Bergen are proud to present the confirmed artists for

PAB Open 2022
Date: 1.4 -3.4 - 2022
Location: The historic Hotel Villa Terminus - Bergen - Norway

Jan-Egil Finne, Lizlot Frydenlund, Frauke Materlik, Kjartan Andersen, Rita Maria Farias Munoz, Nayara Leite, Sofie Hviid Vinther, Derek Sargent, Astrid Haugesen, Liv Reidun Brakstad, Franzisca Siegrist, Locus - Tanja Thorjussen & Thale Fastvold (duo) , Susanne Irene Fjørtoft, Lea Opheim Basch & Solveig Laland Mohn (duo), Kjersti Austdal, Johan Urban Bergquist, Gisle Nataas & Clare Marie Bailey (duo), Guro Berger & Marielle Kalldal (duo), Sophie Barth & Katarina Caspersen (duo), Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh, Evamaria Schaller, Vincenzo Fiore Marrese, Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen, Alexandra Holownia, Paul Regan, Charlotta Grimfjord Cederblad, Jordina Ros & Pere Estadella (duo), Diane Dwyer, Katherine Leung, Tomofumi Yamasaki, Siavash Kheirkhah, Natural Plastic - Adrià Torres & Carmen Kleykens (duo), Lars Jonsson & Line Rolf (duo), Switch - Didde Borup Larsen & Frida Retz (duo), Marit Tunestveit Dyre, Carol Stampone, and Mia Maria Norum Robsahm.

The festival PAB OPEN will take place in the historical building Villa Terminus in Bergen, Norway from March 31st to 3rd of April 2022. The artists local, national & international 46 artists will be interact with the unique site spanning through the main living rooms, kitchen, library, the garden "Plenen", Villa Terminus backyard and the 18 hotel rooms.

Performance: Susanne Irene Fjørtoft - Photo: Jane Sverdrupsen

OPEN CALL - PAB OPEN

PAB Open 2022
April 1th - April 3rd 2022
Location: The historic Hotel Villa Terminus - Bergen - Norway
Performance Art Bergen is looking for performances from regional, national and international artists. The festival PAB OPEN will take place in the historical building Villa Terminus in Bergen, Norway from March 31st to 3rd of April 2022. The artists will be able to interact with the unique site spanning through the main living rooms, kitchen, library, an exclusive garden and the 18 hotel rooms.

This is the 5th time PAB organizes PAB OPEN. The festival holds a low-threshold offer that allows the artists to explore and test new performative expressions. We want to provide a broad approach where artists with different backgrounds and expressions can evolve and create work.

The festival runs over the course of three days, with a public performance program lasting 3 hours each day — and in addition including a seminar on Friday, and dinner where we gather all participating artists on Saturday. Applicants are encouraged to focus on durational performances with a minimum duration of 30 minutes, which can be performed on multiple days. It is possible to apply with a solo or duo performance.

Due to the amount of performances happening at the same time, please let us know if you wish to use audio or similar elements in your performance. This is so we can fit it into the program without disturbing other performances. The rooms in the hotel are small, therefore it is recommended to not use amplification of sounds. We can unfortunately not offer any technical support or equipment. We kindly ask all artists to be self-reliant due to the size of the event.

What does PAB offer
We have the opportunity to offer 1 night accommodation at the hotel, breakfast, light lunch and a celebratory dinner for participating artists at the festival on Saturday, as well as a seminar on the topic of contemporary Performance Art, networking opportunities, and professional documentation of your performance. PAB will be able to offer a small fee of 1000 NOK (around 97 EUR) at the present time. We are applying for funding to be able to offer more. PAB encourages artists to apply for individual travel and project grants. PAB will send an invitation if needed for applications.

Registration:
Traditionally, PAB OPEN has been a festival without curation, where everyone who applied has been invited to participate. This time, applications are evaluated continuously as there is a limited number of hotel rooms and common rooms available. The committee will make a selection assessed continuously based on local and visiting artists.

The portal for registration opens at september 11 at 18:00 here:
PAB OPEN 2022 REGISTRATION

Organizers of PAB open 2022: Consists of the artists Anett Haukås, Iivi Meltaus, Mari Norddahl, Masja Nødtvedt, Tanja Silvestrini, Anette Friedrich Johannessen & Mia Øquist. The artists have broad and varied experience both as organizers of events and festivals, are active performance artists, and have positions as board members in Performance Art Bergen.

Contact information: post@performanceartbergen.no
To receive the latest news follow us at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performanceartbergen/ Facebook: https://nb-no.facebook.com/PerformanceArtBergen

Here you can find documentation & texts from pervious PAB OPEN festivals:
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2019 - Grand Hotel Terminus
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2017 - Vaskerelven 8
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2015 - Old prison of Bergen
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2013 - Old prison of Bergen

PAB OPEN 2022 is supported by: Bergen Kommune, Kulturrådet, Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, Grand Hotel Terminus, USF Verftet AIR

OPEN CALL PAB LOKAL

Performance Art Bergen celebrates it’s 10 years anniversary this fall and marks this celebration with two extra editions of PAB Lokal. In October we will again collaborate with Storetveit Church. The second one is in November at Kunsthall 3,14, who has been a collaborative partner for PAB since the start.

PAB calls for a total of 4 artists for two events:

Event 1 in Storetveit kirke, 16th of October (two artists/ performance works)

Event 2 in Kunsthall 3,14, 5th of November (two artists/ performance works)

Fee: A fee of NOK 5,000 is offered to participating artists/ artist group

Application deadline: September 20th

Apply with:

max 5 images of previous work
Short text about the performance/motivation. max 350 words
CV

Send it as one PDF document to:

anette@performanceartbergen.no

Label your application with:

Open Call PAB lokal – Storetveit Kirke

or

Open Call PAB lokal– Kunsthall 3,14

The event is for members of PAB and PAO- however artists who are not yet members of PAB can register to become one in order to participate.

Facebook-event:

https://fb.me/e/FTSymxAV

Event 1, Saturday 16. October

Sted: STORETVEIT KIRKE

Curated by Rita Marhaug and Anette Friedrich Johannessen

ANNOUNCEMENTS

With the hymn of Mary, from the Gospel of Luke chapter 1 in the Bible, we invite artists to create a performance work in or outside Storetveit on October 16th. The artist(s) are free to interpret the text themselves.

We seek performances with a duration of 2-3 hours that must withstand the possibility of a certain interaction with the other artists and the audience.

The headline "ANNOUNCEMENTS" points forward to something that might come. This is closely linked to the church as a place for religious rituals and transcendent /altitude experiences.

In dialogue with the curators Anette Friedrich Johannessen and Rita Marhaug, the individual will develop a performance for either in or outside the church

Event 2, November 5th.

Location: KUNSTHALL 3,14

Curated by Kurt Johannessen and Karen Kipphoff

NATURE MADE - HUMAN MADE

PAB is 10 years old and the performance organization Bbeyond, Belfast is 20 years old in 2021.On the occasion of this double anniversary, we will collaborate on organizing two performances in Bergen and two performances in Belfast. The performances are split into two categories:

Nature Made: Untreated material / objects from nature.

Human Made: Objects/materials that are made by the artist or others.

The performance artists who will be selected in Belfast will work from the same starting points simultaneously in time and with the same materials.

PAB is looking for two artists who want to participate in Bergen, on 4th November.

The performances will begin the sessions synchronously in Bergen and in Belfast. The performances in Belfast will be streamed and projected life size alongside the Bergen performance and vice versa. The performance artist in Bergen will be able to see the performance artist in Belfast. Thereby opening potentials for interaction between the performances from both cities. The performance context will have the exact same chair and table in both locations, in Bergen and Belfast.

Performance duration: 20-30 minutes max.

In dialogue with the curators, the artist(s) will be assisted in developing the performance and with technical requires.

PAB LAUNCHES PAB OPEN 2022

Performance documentation from PAB OPEN 2019 - Artist: Nina Bang Larsen Photo: Jane Sverdrupsen

Performance Art Bergen are proud to present the news that our Performance Festival PAB OPEN will be held from March 31st to 3rd of April, in the historic Villa Terminus.

During the festival the artists will be able to interact with the unique site. The historically protected building previously housed a poorhouse, refugee center, elder home and student housing before the late baroque building opened as a hotel in 2016. In the main living rooms, kitchen, library, an exclusive garden and 18 hotel rooms, PAB Open aims to create a comprehensive performance experience that celebrates the moments.

The programme is diverse and contains everything from short actions to durational performances. By including artists with different backgrounds and experience levels, the festival showcases what goes on in the contemporary performance field in Norway and the World. Since 2013 the festival has been arranged biannually, with an unique programme where 50-100 artists perform simultaneously in different rooms at the same sites. Previous locations include Bergen Old Prison, Vaskerelven 8, and in the latest edition Grand Hotel Terminus.

Both experienced and novice, local, national and international artists will be invited through an Open Call. For next year's festival, the Open Call and registration will be launched at the end of August 2021. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook or our website to receive the latest news on PAB OPEN 2022.

Organizers of PAB open 2022:
Consists of the artists Tanja Silvestrini, Mari Norddahl, Anette Friedrich Johannessen, Mia Øquist and Masja Nødtvedt. The artists have broad and varied experience both as organizers of events and festivals, are active performance artists, and have positions as board members in Performance Art Bergen.

Contact information: post@performanceartbergen.no
To receive the latest news follow us at:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performanceartbergen/
Facebook: https://nb-no.facebook.com/PerformanceArtBergen

Here you can find documentation & texts from pervious PAB OPEN festivals:

PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2019 - Grand Hotel Terminus
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2017 - Vaskerelven 8
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2015 - Old prison of Bergen
PAB OPEN FESTIVAL 2013 - Old prison of Bergen

In this edition of PAB Local, we aspire to awaken the city and breathe life into it through a program consisting of actual >PHYSICAL< live-performances!

We are excited to present:

PAB Local: BREAK(ing habits)!

A performance event at four different locations in Bergen City Centre

Sat. 5th of June, 14:00-18:00

We have selected four performances that we thought poked at a nerve in the time, about isolation, communication and longing.

During these four hours you are invited on a journey through the city, starting on a sailboat at Bryggen, passing by a character with a lot on their mind at Folk & Røvere, lifting the gaze through Jonas Reins gate for a balcony dialogue between a dancer and a bass, before ending up at a traditional Swedish Midsummer celebration in Nygårdsparken.

THE ARTISTS

VILDE JENSEN (The sailboat Milonga, Bryggen)

I work relationally and intersubjectively with performance and rituals. Elements from rites of passage are often used in my site- and situation-specific performances. Playfulness and humour are helpful tools I use to pinpoint absurdities or make the abstract tangible. In a society that becomes more and more logical and disembodied, I try to add what I myself think is missing. Myths and stories makes it possible to elevate the little things we surround us with and create situations where the consequences of our actions and interactions can differ from everyday life, opening new opportunities of thought and action.

A boat and an apartment share the concept of being an enclosed space. In “Point of Departure we will investigate both their differences and similarities through conversations in and on Milonga, a 29 ft sailboat, which is also my home.

IDA CHRISTINA MAARDHED (Folk & Røvere, Sparebanksgaten 4)

Ida Christina Mårdhed is an artist from south Sweden, currently based in Bergen. Her works vary in media and audio/visual approach, but often repeats the same usage of repetitive rituals and other ritualistic re-arrangements, from a position somewhere in between private therapy/esotery and political social realism.

«I miss mantra» is a performance lifting a situation out of its singularity – out of its lonely, secluded, established and destructive confinement – into the presence of the public space, eyes and ears. It’s a prayer; a séance; a staccato; a loop; a voice and a typewriter and a person dressed in comfy clothes, just going on and on and on and on; they say pouring out your thoughts and emotions is good for your mental health, whilst dwelling is not. This is both.

KRISTINE NILSEN OMA (Two balconies, 3rd floor, Jonas Reins gate 7a)

Can the pandemic awaken a spirit of empathy?

The versatile bass player and composer; Ole Amund Gjersvik and choreographer and ME patient; Kristine Nilsen Oma, are improvising in response to each other.

Kristine Nilsen Oma’s dance-art of abstract shapes, movements and sounds embody years of isolation. As one of the activists behind #millionsmissingnorway she uses her chronic illness to express the stir-crazy embodied feelings stemming from being inside a chronically ill body for 10 years. This performance is performed from her quarantine on the tiny balcony, and the sounds of the instrument are coming from the tiny balcony beside her.

#millionsmissing

https://kristinenilsenoma.wordpress.com/

IBEN MANSFELD (Upper part of Nygårdsparken)

Iben Mansfeld (they/them) is an artist and studies at the art academy in Bergen, Norway.

Their work are socially critical with ambitions to break taboos and challenge how we perceive the world. Topics such as power structures, gender, body and mental health are consistent in their work. They aim to make the audience feel constructive discomfort and be able to put it in a larger context to see whats behind the structures and societal problems.

Midtsommer - Performance in Nygårdsparken 5.juni 2021

I welcome you to a day of traditional Swedish midsummer celebrations. The traditional food, drinks and maypole, presented in the distanced format we’ve become familiar with this past year. The mixing of this tradition usually associated with unity and social interaction and our new limiting circumstances, awakens a feeling of longing which I am excited to explore with you.

www.mansfeld.no

———

PAB Local: BREAK(ing habits) is curated by Tanja Silvestrini & Madihe Gharibi

———

Poster design by Atie Habibi

Open Call for PAB Local: BREAK(ING HABITS)

Saturday 5th of June, kl. 14:00-18:00

Bergen city centre (tba)

Application deadline: 16th of May, 23:59 (+1GMT)

Practical information

Last year, we experienced a collective trauma that drastically changed our collective behaviour. The changes are now integrated in our lives. They are not changes anymore, they have become habits. What do we miss from our past lives, and how can we activate this nostalgia?

For this PAB Local event we want to breathe life back into the city. We are looking for audience-oriented performance works that are situated at specific destinations in Bergen city centre. It could be inside a shop, on water, on top of a building etc. The selected performances will be presented as a part of a route that the audience can follow collectively or separately.

The proposed works should be durational or repeated throughout the duration of the event. We search for interactive pieces that inhabit playful and poetic relationships to their sites. How has the public space changed, and how can we remind the city of the habits that we took for granted? Keywords: playfulness, interactivity, journey, relations, happenings, stories, site-specificity

What is PAB Local?

PAB Lokal is a series of one-night-only performance events, where Performance Art Bergen presents its own members in various venues in Bergen. The selected artists/artist groups are offered a fee of 5000 kr for their work, in addition to photo documentation and promotion through PAB’s channels. This time we will choose 4 projects to be part of this event. Artist groups share the fee.

PAB Local: Break(ing habits) is curated by Tanja Silvestrini & Madihe Gharibi

How to apply?

Please send us one PDF (max. 5MB) that contains the following:

1. A project description (max. 500 words) incl. the exact location of the performance
2. 1-5 descriptive images

Mark the PDF with «your name_pab local»

The subject of the e-mail should be «Application Break(ing habits)»

Send it to post@performanceartbergen.no by 16th of May, kl. 23:59

Who can apply?

The Open Call for PAB Lokal is for members of PAB. However, you can apply first and become a member later. Groups where one or more artists are members are also welcome to apply. If you are not a member, you can apply for a membership here: https://www.performanceartbergen.no/en/about/membership/

What is Performance Art Bergen (PAB)?PAB is an organization for anyone interested in performance art. PAB strengthens and highlights performance art through projects such as PAB Open, PAB Local, PAB Open Session and other professional forums, workshops, festivals and international exchanges. We are based in Bergen, but also work both nationally and internationally.

OPEN CALL: PAB LOCAL IN STAVANGER

08-14 MARCH 2021 AT ROGALAND ART CENTER

Curators: Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh & Hans Christian Van Nijkerk in collaboration with general manager Jane Sverdrupsen

We would like to invite contributions in the form of «performance made for video» engaging in the following topics:

Multicultural, Diversity

Play, Humor

Ambivalence, Intuition

Union, Rebellion

With regard to the ongoing pandemic and an attempt to guarantee the work will be shown, we focus contributions to the medium of video. The contributions will be shown repeatedly during the week and screened on one of the gallery windows facing the nearby square to provide viewing opportunities for passers by and small audience groups alike. We also want to invite participating artists to a live zoom conversation with the audience in the form of a speed quiz on a specific day during the exhibition. The curators and general manager at Rogaland Kunstsenter will also participate in the speed quiz.

Fee: A fee of NOK 5,000 is offered to participating artists. The application must contain: Text about your art and about the work you are applying for – a maximum of 300 words.

Technical specifications for video: duration 15 minutes max.
Full HD 1920 x 1080, saved as an mpeg4 / H264. Send a link to the uploaded video file to us. In case you experience technical issues, feel free to contact us and we will find a solution.

The event is for members of Performance Art Bergen - however this Open Call is open to everyone to apply to. Selected artists who are not yet members of PAB can register to become one in order to participate.

Registration opens January 17, at 1 p.m. Deadline is February 21st at 11:59 p.m.

Send the contributions to: post@performanceartbergen.no

ALT HAR SIN TID

"Everything has its time"

A performance event in and around Storetveit church

On the occasion of Storetveit Church's 90th anniversary, the congregation together with the association Performance Art Bergen (PAB) has the pleasure of inviting you to a unique art experience.

On Saturday 17 October, the audience can meet artists inside and outside the church where various performances will take place.

The event begins at 11.00 in the parish house with 3 short lectures that will provide informative perspectives on the church building, performance art and the passage of time.

INVITED MEDIATORS

Gunnar Danbolt, Professor Emeritus of Art History at UiB
Kurt Johannessen, visual artist
Sidsel Ellingsen; associate professor and responsible for further education in palliative care

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Henrik Koppen
The artist duo Frantzsen & Mjanger
Katarina Skår Lisa
Lizlot Frydenlund
Vilde Jensen

INVITED MUSICIAN
Jostein Aarvik, Organist in Storetveit church

The program ends at 15.00

Entrance ticket 100,- (FREE for members of PAB)

The event is conducted in accordance with current infection control rules.

Read more about the event and the artists here

With support from Bergen Kommune

OPEN CALL: ALT HAR SIN TID

A performance event in and around Storetveit Church 17 October 2020

Deadline: September 20th

This is an open invitation to our members where we are looking for an artist for PAB LOKAL in Storetveit Church.

We want a performative work for this edition of PAB local in or outside Storetveit church on Saturday 17. October with a duration of 2-3 hours. Fees are 4000 NOK. PAB will be a discussion partner and facilitator of your work within our financial framework.

THEME

The theme for the performance-event is closely linked to the church as a place for religious rituals - Storetveit church in particular because it has its 90th anniversary. The church in it self has a distinctive visual expression from detail to wholeness. The headline "Alt har sin tid"(Everything has its time) points to the pervasive and orderly function of time in life inextricably linked to our bodies and the world around us. Together with the curators Anette Friedrich Johannessen and Rita Marhaug, the individual will develop his work for a given place in or outside the church.

Read more about the event and our Open Call here (clickable link)

* The announcement to PAB local is reserved for members of PAB and PAO. However, you can also become a member after you have applied.

Send the application to: ritamarhaug@gmail.com

Mark the application with: Application PAB Lokal - Storetveit Church

The application should contain:
max 5 images of previous works
motivational text max. 350 words
CV
Combined in one PDF-document

The deadline for submitting project descriptions is 20 September 2020

FINSE CAMP 2020

PERFORMANCE MEETING BETWEEN PAB OG PAO

Invitation and sign-up for PAB / PAO Performance Camp at Finse

22. - 23. august 2020

Sign up before 15. June using this form https://www.performanceartbergen.no/nb/påmelding-finse-performancecamp-22-aug-23-aug-2020/

Finse Camp is a meeting between members of the two organizations PAB and PAO. On August 22, 2020, we will meet up at Finse to do performance together, and gather to eat, drink and talk about our what it means to perform. Finse Camp was held for the first time in 2014, and has since been held every other year, last time in 2018.

Finse Camp is a forum for testing artistic ideas in a magnificent scenery. The participants come from all over Norway, but most are based in Oslo / Akershus and in Bergen / in Western Norway. Because of this it is natural to meet in the middle - between the two cities, at Finse. Here we can work in various places in nature, and explore the landscape by the use of body and material. We encourage everyone be mindful of this: to chose environmentally friendly materials and to tidy up everything after the performances.

Finse Camp will be a bit different this year. This year the much-used Finsehytta is closed for renovation. As a replacement, DNT will open Brebua, a new cabin where one can book a bed in a common room. In addition, there is the ongoing coronavirus situation, which means that we must follow current guidelines. It is difficult to predict exactly what the situation will be in August, but all points towards going through with Finse Camp, with certain modifications.

PAB will rent the local cabin Finsebu to have a place to center around, and cook dinner. It is uncertain whether we can sleep many people together at the cabin due to the ongoing corona situation. Therefore, we would in advance like to encourage to sleep in a tent, or if the situation allows - at Brebua. For those who want, you can come a few days before and stay longer, if there is space in Brebua or one has a tent. We will focus on Saturday as the main day, to allow for the possibility of making Finse Camp a day trip.

Finse Camp will be mostly a self-catering event.

HOUR Bergen International Performance Festival 2020 (BIPF2020)
AT KUNSTGARASJEN BERGEN
28th February to 1st March 2020

Performance Art Bergen presented HOUR
curated by Pavana Reid

Participating artist for HOUR - BIPF 2020

Alastair Maclennan UK
Ana Matey ES
Andriy Helytovych UA
Béatrice Didier BE
Chomphunut Phuttha TH
Gustaf Broms SE
Ingeborg Blom Andersskog NO/SE
Ivonne Navas Dominguez CO/MX
Jan-Egil Finne NO
John Court UK/FIN
Mads Floor Andersen DK
Manuel Lopez ES
Marilyn Arsem US
Marta Bosowska PL
Niamh Seana Meehan IE
Nieves Correa ES
Olga Prokhorova RU/FIN
Rita Marhaug NO
Sajan Mani IN/DE
Sandrine Schaefer US
Sinead O’Donnell IE
Tanya Mars CA
Thomas Reul DE
Thomas Wells UK

More information here: HOUR BIPF 2020

OPEN CALL
HOUR Bergen International Performance Festival 2020 (BIPF2020)

Deadline: 15th December 2019
Dates: 28th February to 1st March 2020
Location: Kunstgarasjen, Bergen, Norway.

Performance Art Bergen would like to invite international artist to apply to participate in HOUR: BIPF 2020.

BIPF 2020 will take place at Kunstgarasjen in Bergen, Norway from 28th of February to 1st of March 2020. Curated by Pavana Reid, HOUR is a three-day performance art event, consisting of a 24-hour group performance followed by a one-day seminar.

The concept of HOUR is that 24 artists will migrate, interact and share time, space and materials over a 24-hour period. The artists enter performance space, one by one on the hour, every hour and remain in the space until the end of 24-hour period. The artist’s work together and finish the performance collectively. HOUR aims to examine the way artists use their artistic intuition to improvise, how they interact with each other and share materials in the limited space.

Performance Art Bergen (PAB) will provide the participating artist with an honorarium, accommodation and food during the festival. Travel expenses must be covered by the artist so we encourage you to apply for support where it’s possible.

The application must include:

• Artist statement written in English (max 250 words)
• Name / email / phone number / Country
• Link to website / blog etc
• Short biography written in English (max 250 words)
• 4 images of your works, containing tittle and year
• Specify your maximum work capacity within the framework of 24 hours.

Create PDF file and name it BIPF2020 - Open call - your name.

The PDF should not exceed 3 MB.
Application should be sent to: pab.bipf2020@gmail.com
For more information and questions please contact: pab.bipf2020@gmail.com

Reply to be expected: 25 December 2019

BIPF 2020 are conducted in collaboration and with support from: Performance Art Bergen, Nordic Culture Fund, Arts Council Norway, City of Bergen and Kunstgarasjen

OPEN CALL FOR MEMBERS OF PAB
TO BETWEEN SKY & SEA 2020: TEMPORAL HORIZONS
PLACE: NORDØYANE IN MØRE & ROMSDAL (Skuløy, Haramsøy og Fjørtoft)
DEADLINE: 1. December 2019
WHEN: 9. - 20. September 2020

Performance Art Bergen (PAB) would like to invite new and old members of PAB to apply for the sixth edition of the international performance art event BETWEEN SKY & SEA with the theme TEMPORAL HORIZONS - and will focus on the relation between time, landscape, body and affect. We will invite eight artists and give them a framework for working, two of the artists will be chosen from this open call. The event will take place during twelve days on Nordøyane (north of Ålesund), Norway, in September 2020, and consists of seminar, work and end with a public event. The format can be performance for a live audience, for camera and/or video.

Members of Performance Art Bergen can apply.
If you are not a member, this is a great oppurtunity to become one!

The application must include:
• A description of the artistic practice related to the theme (max 500 word).
• A portfolio, link to webside etc.
• A CV
• A short artist statement/bio (max 250 word).

In the seminar specially invited guest lecturers will present ideas around the theme and together we will explore this further in discussions and presentations both from the participating artists and lecturers.

The artists will be provided with the necessary resources to work in a collegial community. That is, access to high-quality photographers, transport resources and people with knowledge of local culture and nature. PAB will provide the invited artists with travel, accommodation and food during the stay. We also will pay you a fee. This we cannot quantify today, because it depends on the result of several applications, but we will inform you shortly.

PAB would also like to invite you to contribute in some way; this could be sketches, text or photos, to the forthcoming book BETWEEN SKY & SEA: TEMPORAL HORIZONS. This will take place in the autumn -21.

For more information, please contakt Terese Longva, e-mail: tereselongva@gmail.com
Application should be sent to: post@performanceartbergen.no
Please mark the application: Between Sky & Sea - open call - 2020
Reply to be expected: 20. December.
From PAB, Terese Longva and Rita Marhaug

The list of artists participating in
PAB OPEN 2019 is ready!

The following artists have been selected:

David Alræk, Kjartan Andersen, Sara Arenfeldt, Kelvin Atmadibrata ,Janne Aass, Sophie Barth/Schouskollektivet, Alexandra Bischoff, Else Karin Tysse Bysheim and Linn Monika Børresen, Samuel Brzeski, Agnes Btffn , Gillian Carson, Dany DeVero, Susanne Irene Fjørtoft, Haruka Fukao/ Yohei Hamada, Amy Guilfoyle, Bianca Hisse, Alexandra Holownia, Kurt Johannessen, Johan F Källman, Nina Bang Larsen, SANGHOON LEE, Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen & Malte Steiner, Vincenzo Fiore Marrese, Ilze Mazpane and Sanita Duka, James McIlwrath, Iivi Meltaus, Elisa Miravalles, Patrick Morarescu, Gisle Nataas, Tita Polderman, Lykourgos Porfyris, Eivind Reierstad and Alexandre Guimarãres, Dana Sederowsky, Tanja Silvestrini, Jasemin Telle, Álvaro Terrones, Dick Turner, Sarah Tzara Victoria, Siri Bertling Wiik and Salka Hellbacka.

OPEN CALL: PAB OPEN 5th.- 6th of October 2019

PAB is seeking performances from local, national and international artists for PAB OPEN 2019.

The event will take place at Grand Hotel Terminus Bergen, Norway. PAB offers 39 single / double rooms on the top floor, where the artists will both live and perform in the room they are allocated. This is the 4th time PAB will organize PAB OPEN. The festival holds a low-threshold offer that allows the artists to explore and test new performative expressions. We want to provide a broad approach, where artists with different backgrounds and expressions can evolve and create work.

Seeking performances with a duration of 30 minutes:
The festival runs over two days, with a program lasting 3 hours each day, including a seminar Saturday evening. Due to the briefness of the festival, we strongly encourage applicants to focus on durational performances, with a minimum of 30 minutes, performed both Saturday and Sunday. You can apply with both solo-or duo performances.

Due to the amount of performances occurring at the same time, please let us know if you wish to use audio or similar elements in your performance. This is so we can fit it in to the program without disturbing other performances. We can unfortunately not offer any technical support or equipment. We kindly ask all artists to be self-reliant due to the size of the event.

Support:
PAB can offer one night of accommodation at the hotel. This includes breakfast, brunch before the festival starts Saturday, dinner during the seminar 5th of October and dinner after the festival program Sunday 6th of October. Travel costs has to be covered by the artists themselves at the moment, although we are still seeking funding to offer a small honorarium.

Registration for the festival opens on 6th of June at 6pm.
Traditionally, PAB OPEN has been a festival where everyone who applied for participation were accepted. This time, applications are evaluated consecutively, as there are limited rooms available. The committee will make a selection based on local and visiting artists.

The portal for registration opens June 6th at 6pm here:: www.performanceartbergen.no

Travel by train to the festival
Performance Art Bergen encourages all artists travelling to the festival, to do so by train if it’s manageable.Grand Hotel Terminus is located only 50 meters from the train station. The festival will organize a seminar on Saturday evening, with an overall theme: Carbon Reflections. Here we will reflect on the carbon footprint we as artists leave behind and how to deal with climate change.

About Performance Art Bergen
Performance Art Bergen (PAB) is a members organization for performance artists and others interested in visual art performance. The organization was founded in 2011 and since then it has organized a series of bigger international performance festivals, has had international exchange and theoretical programs including seminars and workshops. PAB has been visible with performance in public space, collaborated with art and culture institutions in Bergen on a performance program and is working on developing theories on the visual art performance field. PAB’s goal is to strengthen and highlight performance art. PAB is located in Bergen, but works on a national and international level.

Questions about the PAB OPEN 2019 festival? Contact us at: post@performanceartbergen.no

PAB OPEN AT GRAND HOTEL TERMINUS Performance Art Bergen could scarcely believe their own ears when Grand Hotel Terminus opened their doors for the performance festival PAB OPEN 2019. This is going to be a unique experience in which 39 hotel rooms will contain various performances by international and national artists. As an audience member, you will be able to go to the 5th floor and experience a rich and varied program of performative expressions happening in parallel inside each of the hotel rooms.

PAB Open session: Lines - B-OPEN 2019

Date: 26. april Time: 18.00 - 19.00
Location: The small park opposite Hordaland Art Center

On the occasion of the event B-OPEN where the artists in Bergen open their studios for the public. Performance Art Bergen will perform out in the public space together. PAB Open Session is a concept PAB has arranged for many years, where artists meet in different public spaces to do perform improvisation. The goal of PAB Open Session is to make performance as an art form available also outside the art galleries; Open up for a spontaneous interaction and an exchange of ideas between disciplines, such as visual arts, dance and music. The theme this time is PAB OS lines.
Anyone who wants to participate in the improvisation is welcome to attend or to consider!

Open call -
PAB lokal søker performance for barn på
USF verftet - familiedag 9 desember 2018
Send inn forslag på performance frist 19 nov. 18

Performance Art Bergen inviterer nye og gamle PAB medlemmer til å sende inn forslag til performance for barn og deres familier til PAB lokal - familiedag USF verftet 9 desember 2018. Dette er årets siste PAB lokal. Et arrangementet der medlemmer kan søke om å utføre performance som skjer på ulike lokasjoner i Bergen. USF familiedag er et arrangement der USF verftet har et program for barnefamilier, ofte med konserter med Bajazz, dans og andre aktiviteter. For et år siden var flere av PAB sine medlemmer innvolvert i å utføre performance under familiedager. Det å utføre performance for barn kan være kjempe spennende da barn møter performance på en annen måte. USF familiedager er et populært tilbud med et stort antall publikum. Vi søker performance som kan bli utført i gang arealet, inngangspartiet og utendørs området til USF verftet. Da barnefamiliene er på vei inn og ut til konsertene ønsker vi durational performancer, der familiene møter på billedkunstperformance. Performance må ta utgangspunkt i at det er små barn som er målgruppen og deres familie.

Send beskrivelse av hva du ønsker å gjøre til post@performanceartbergen.no
Merk med: PAB lokal – Performance på familiedag USF verftet
Fristen for innsending prosjektbeskrivelse er 18 november. 2018

Arrangementet vil finne sted tsøndag den 9 desember fra kl. 11-15

Se tidligere USF – familiedag arrangement på facebook

Documentation of performance: Eleanor Clare - Photo: Petter Lønningen

PAB album -18 2 have been released.
This is the autumn's first album with a summary of work that members have done in recent months from april - august 2018 both inside and outside PAB-related event. An inspiring report through documentation of visual arts performance . PAB’s goal is to strengthen and make visible performance art by arranging academic forums, workshops, festivals and international exchanges.

Are you interested to receive PAB album at youre mail send contactinformation to post@performanceartbergen.no

The final deadline for members to send in documentation for the album are wedensday september 26 th. Send documentation to pabalbum@gmail.com

PAB Open Session / AUTUMN EQUINOX
Place: Musèplassen - City of Bergen
Sunday 23 rd september - time: 14.00-15.30

This will be our third equinox event with after the start in 2016 with the event : Same Difference: Equinox to Equinox 2016, and was a collaboration of 43 performance art organisations worldwide making group performances in public space. This project involved the worldwide participation of 283 Artists, in 43 Locations, from 29 Countries in 1 Day of public performance art.

10.-17. September 2018
Internasjonal performanceweek - BIBF Bergen International Performance festival and Its personal
Two international performanceart-tours meets in Bergen: “History will be kind with me, for I intend to perform it” og “Its Personal”.

15.-16. September
Bergen International Performancefestival
History Will Be Kind to Me for I Intend to Perform It
Place: Kunstgarasjen
Saturday/Sunday 13.00- 16.00
Artists: Christian Etongo (Kamerun), Anthea Moys (Sør-Afrika), Serge Olivier Fokoua (Kamerun / Canada), Diana Soria Hernandez (Finland / Mexico), Gøril Wallin (Norge),Mekdes W Shbeta (Ethiopia/Norge) og Elias Björn (Sverige)

13. September
THAI & TALK / It's Personal
Place: Kunsthall 3.14
Tuesday 19.00 - 21.00
Artists: Pavana Reid , Pattree Chimnok, Terese Longva, Nopawan Sirivejkul, Rita Marhaug, Jittima Pholsawek, Sareena Sattapon og Marit Tunestveit Dyre.

12. September
Seminar: History Will Be Kind to Me?
Place: KMD - Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design
Wednesday 10.00 - 15.00
Contributors to History will be kind to me? : Sareena Sattapon (Thailand), Jittima Pholsawek (Thailand), Athea Moys (South Africa), Anette F. Johannsessen (Norway, artistic leader PAB), Frans Jacobi (Denmark, Proffessor KMD)

24.- 26. August
Finse performance camp collaboration with Performance Art Oslo and Performance Art Bergen
Program: Saturday - August 25 th - 13.00
Artists:Anette Friedrich Johannesen, Eleanor Clare, Henrik Koppen, Jan Egil Finne, Joana Gelazyte, Johanna Zwaig, Karen Kipphoff, Frantzsen & Mjanger, Sunniva Innstrand, Susanne Irene Fjørtoft og Sunniva Eira Sætereng.

20. april
B- open - PAB OS / Bergen Akt og Croquis DRAW
Place: Isotop
Organizers: Anette Friedrich, Pavana Reid og Jan Egil Finne
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/2005338253121746/