Oslo incidents 2021
July 9, 2021
Dancer and choreographer Mia Habib and dance and sound artist Jassem Hindi have together created "Oslohendelser" - a series of six performative events that will take place in Oslo during the fall.
"The artists involved in this project have their own unique perspective and different experiences than the majority of people in Oslo. This was very important to us when we were creating the program for Oslohendelser," says Mia Habib and Jassem Hindi about the project, which consists of six performative events around Oslo this autumn.
Mia Habib is a dancer, performing artist and choreographer who addresses current issues. She often works outside the established performing arts spaces and in collaboration with the local community. And in 2007, Habib happened to meet Jassem Hindi in a small apartment in Paris where Hindi was playing music while sitting in a bathtub as part of an art performance.
Hindi works with sound, performance and as a writer and storyteller. In his latest performance, he creates an immersive environment and collective political space through performance and poetry.
Habib and Hindi have been collaborating on various projects for about 14 years and now they have created the program for Oslohendelser where you can experience everything from love words in neon signs, performances, dance performances and drag shows, to Tekstlab, where young voices present something they have worked on over two weekends.
When Habib and Hindi were invited to create Oslo events for Kloden and TrAP, they were keen to choose artists and actors who already had ongoing projects that they could support.
In many ways, we're working with different artists and actors who are specialists in their field and already have an audience that they engage. For example, we know that Tekstlab reaches out to young people - and by working with them, we address something that is already ongoing and sustainable," says Habib.
With these events around the city, they hope to start a dialog with the local population, because the point is not just to get people to stop and look.
"There are discreet interventions in different areas of Oslo. We like to reach out to people who wouldn't normally seek out something like this. It's a kind of surprise and a nice gift for people," Hindi adds.
Habib and Hindi are looking forward to all the performative events and are excited to see what kind of reaction people will have.
"I'm just waiting for the person who brings Oslo events with them, gets inspired and says 'ah, I have a better idea'. Then I want to hear that idea too," says Hindi enthusiastically.
Why should people stop to watch this?
Because they are seduced, charmed and hypnotized by what's happening. A bit like "Hmm, what is this? Let me come closer and see," says Hindi with a big smile.
"When I think about some of the events, I can imagine that some people will find it a bit strange, that it may feel a bit far away from them at first, and that this is what arouses curiosity. But what can also happen is that you recognize something," says Habib.
"You see something that you recognize yourself in, that you don't usually see in the rest of society. I think this is reflected in many of the artists and performers we have chosen," Habib adds.
Here's what you can experience in Oslo this fall:
Words / كلمات by Liam Alzafari at Kontraskjæret September 22-30
Liam Alzafari will place installations of ten Arabic words of love, written in Arabic letters, in the form of neon signs. The idea is to involve the city in conversations and questions about what is lost in translation, prejudice and how we care for "the other".
Drag show: Princessilicious and The Boys on the West Side September 18
Drag collective Princessilicious and dragking group Gutta take over Oslo's best west side. Cruising around in stylish cars, they will expose the residents of the west side to all the delicious gender diversity that drag has to offer.
Princessilicious has for years worked to promote the joy of playing with gender, and to support the amazing craftsmanship and artistry of drag queen culture.
The guys are a drag king group and a female masculine community. The four performing artists move back and forth between exploring and nuancing their own masculinity and shamelessly sampling male stereotypes.
TekstLab Inkubator with dance artist Ornilia Ubisse at Kloden at Økern September 20-24
Inkubator is part of TekstLab, which focuses on supporting young and emerging artists from Oslo. The artistic voices that will be presented here are among the future voices of Oslo's performing arts field. Oslohendelser has invited the Inkubator project to Klodens scene in Kabelgata 19 in Økern. You can expect a solo performance, but with the opportunity to bring in other actors.
Dance artist Ornilia Ubisse is one of the new, strong voices from TekstLab Inkubator. Through the performance Rua 57, work-in-progress screenings, talks and seminars, you will get to know Ubisse and her artistry better.
Ubisse is concerned with the human element and her work is based on elements such as breathing, voice, history, culture and rituals. As a performer, Ubisse has participated in several national and international tours, productions and school tours with Frikar, Nutopia and Dansekollektivet, among others. She has also established the company Kronos Dance Company.
TekstLab Young Voices - Tøyen September 24-26 and October 1-3
TekstLab Unge stemmer på Tøyen is an artistic program for young people in Oslo. TekstLab has a unique position in the city when it comes to community work, and connects young people from different parts of Oslo with young or well-established performing artists. Over two weekends, young people from TekstLab Unge Stemmer present their work in collaboration with artists in a series of performative and site-specific events in the public space at Tøyen. The focus is on young people's own stories about memories, place and belonging.
By and with: TekstLab Young Voices in collaboration with artists Hanna Filomen Mjåvatn, Shanti Brahmachari, Hanna Asefaw and contributing artists from TekstLab-Kollektivet.
Maritea Dæhlin at Furusetsenteret December 4 and 5
Performing artist Maritea Dæhlin, with collaborator Arturo Tovar Lopez, will meet people at Furuset for conversations. The conversations will be recorded and become a sound work with local voices. The sound work can be experienced, for example, in front of Fubiak and other public spaces.
Through her art, Dæhlin often explores themes such as exotification, language and loneliness, which are present in both her solo performance "I WANT TO BE TRADITIONAL" and her future performance "Originally a plant".
by: Namra Saleen, TrAP.