Rob Garratt
They might think about what we all can do and what happens if we don’t,” says Dehlholm. “Art is just one of many different ways to awake attention to the climate matter, but made in the right way, it may go deeper and last longer. If it makes you wonder and be surprised, it is the very best.” Marginalized communities are also at the center of programing. Commissioned in 2017 by the Finnish National Theatre to celebrate 100 years of independence, Arctic Odyssey explores the cultural traditions of the indigenous Chukchi, Inuit and Sami peoples.
The refugee crisis of the past five years, which has divided European policymakers and fired ugly populist rhetoric across the continent, is tackled in an unlikely medium by Sweden’s Cirkus Cirkor in Limits, presented at Sha Tin Town Hall on October 25-26. “During the fall of 2015, I was one of many people in Sweden who tried to welcome (hundreds of) displaced people in a spirit of common humanity,” says director and Cirkus Cirkor co-founder Tilde Bjorfors. “Every encounter (revealed) a new story, a personal tragedy. I became aware of limitations within myself and society. Contrary to what we often claim, our boundaries are supple. Both our hearts and our brains have an innate capacity for growth.
“It is shocking to watch how border after border is being closed when our circus has dedicated the last 20 years to pushing boundaries. The word ‘circus’ is often used disparagingly, but I think the opposite is true — the world should practice more circus.”
Cirkus Cirkor, she stresses, is a contemporary circus company that’s dramatic by nature, often with a narrative thread, and influenced by other art forms such as theater, dance, visual arts, music and street arts. “A contemporary circus stage can be anything from a classroom, a theater, a rock venue or a circus tent,” adds Bjorfors. “Physical limits are tested, just as in traditional circus, but it creates transboundary art pieces using other art forms and expressions.”
Traditional aesthetic — and athletic — boundaries will also be crossed in Breath, presented at Ko Shan Theatre New Wing on November 8-9. The production is an existential encounter between two fearless Finns: dancer/choreographer Tero Saarinen and accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen (who once performed alongside 10 wrestlers).
“On a conceptual level, one of the key messages of this creation is the importance of truly and openly confronting one another,” says Saarinen. “Ultimately, to me, Breath is a study of the importance of communication and tolerance. And the often absurd and comic ways we instinctively try to shield ourselves; the ridiculous protective barriers we all as humans tend to put up, our mental boundaries, our privacy.”
The production appears deeply intertwined with the pair’s cultural upbringing, but like Dehlholm, both artists struggle to define Nordic art.
“I do not consider myself a particularly Nordic, or Finnish, artist, but naturally the landscape I am surrounded with — the sea, the forests, flora and fauna — is a source of inspiration,” adds Saarinen. “I guess we Finns are also influenced by light, since we live in absence of it most of the year. (There is) polar darkness and then, suddenly in the summer, we have an overdose of (light) — a sun that never disappears. It’s very dramatic, so it’s natural it influences us.”