How the Land Lies is a performance for 5 bodies and 3 LED scrolling signs, choreographed and directed by Bianca Hisse (Brazil/Norway) and Laura Cemin (Italy/Finland) in collaboration with dancers from immigrant backgrounds based in the Nordic countries.
The LEDs, usually encountered in public spaces as low-key advertisement signs, become vessels to convey how language influences mobility. Navigating between tourism slogans and visa questionnaires, the dancers –who carry experiences of migration and displacement between countries– interact with the text scrolling on the LED panels. As the words move on the screens, they are also moved by the bodies. Meanings unfold and borders slowly blur: who can stay and who must leave? Who is seen and who remains hidden? What is allowed and what is forbidden?
2022 June: OpenArt Biennial, Örebro (SE)
2023 March: STL, Independent Dance Stage, Tallinn (EE)
2023 April: Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki (FI)
2023 April: Aerowaves Spring Forward Festival, Dublin (IE)
The performance is presented in multiple countries and involves the participation of local performers, who are however originally from elsewhere. The performance can also be toured with existing casts.
Performances can be presented with or without live music. The text in the LEDs can be translated to the language of the touring country.
Choreography: Laura Cemin and Bianca Hisse
Music composition: Vera Vice
Light design & technical support: Sofia Ivarsson
Costume design: Kairi Mändla
Producer: Evelyn Raudsepp
Production assistance: Aija Hannula
Coproduction: Kiasma Theater (FI), Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (EST), Black Box Theater (NO)
Supported by: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, City of Helsinki, Culture Moves Europe, Davvi – Senter for scenekunst, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Frame Finland, Kulturdirektoratet, HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, Narva Art Residency, Nordic Culture Point, Norsk-Finsk Kulturfond, Norske Billedkunstnere, Office for Contemporary Art Norway, PAHN Norway, TelepART Tvibitstigen
Bianca Hisse (Brasil/Norway) and Laura Cemin (Italy/ Finland) both operate at the intersection of visual art, performance and choreography. Their work, often presented in galleries and non-traditional performance spaces, focuses on language and on how contemporary discourses influence mobility and social circulation. They have been exploring such topics in their individual practices while developing their collaborative body of work. How the Land Lies is their first stage performance as a duo.
Performativity of public space has been a central concern in Bianca Hisse’s artistic process, which materialises through installations, sculptures and text- based interventions in the public realm. She graduated from Kunstakademiet i Tromsø in 2019 and has a BA in Performing Arts from Pontificia Universidade Catolica de São Paulo (2016). Her work has been shown across Norway and internationally, including: Kunstnernes Hus, PODIUM Oslo, Tromsø Kunstforening (NO), MAR Museum (AR), Kunsthalle Recklinghausen (DE), Mediterranea Biennale 19 (SM), and BienalSur – International Biennial of Contemporary Art of South America.
Laura Cemin’s practice mixes movement, writing and temporality with the intention of blurring the boundaries between dance and visual art. Although her work always originates from a performative action, it can appear in multiple media and forms, such as text, photographs and installations with objects. She received an MFA from Umeå University of Fine Arts in 2019. Previous to Fine Art education, she worked professionally for Ballet West, a dance company based in Salt Lake City (USA). Her work as a maker has been presented internationally in galleries and museums, such as Bildmuseet (SE), Museum für Neue Kunst (DE), Tallinn Art Hall (EE), Kiasma (FI) and the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York.
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