PROGRAMME
Barents Spektakel 2023 begins on 24. February, with a very unusual and spectacular opening show on John Savio´s Square, followed by a community discussion in Samfunnshuset. The date marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine - the day when TRUST was broken and everything started to fall apart.
With bridges between Russia and the rest of the world, including Norway, being burnt, is there a chance or even a need to keep the connection?
The 2023 exhibition at Barents Spektakel activates the Old Fire Station in Kirkenes as a temporary artistic venue. It connects in dialogue with the programme of events taking place through Inversia´s Nomadic Base in Terminal B, and to the many other festival events happening around the town.
In correspondence with the overall festival theme, what emerges through the works as they create new dialogues with each other, is the importance of the act of listening, in all its forms, and the power of listening as a tool for changing perspectives and for creating new understandings and actions.
Nomadic Base is the transit zone of the airport, the uncomfortable cafe at the railway station, and those self-destructing chats in Telegram. The up-until-recently Murmansk-based Inversia festival has switched into a nomadic mode and will now invite people to their transit bar in the very centre of Kirkenes.
Laboratories and workshops explore the outer space of the border town, evening performances transition to nightly experiments with sound and moving images, while morning sessions will help ground everyone who wants to calm their puzzle-headed thoughts and feelings for a while.
There is something for all tastes within Barents Spektakel’s music programme this year. Cool electronic beats meets young funk, while the wisdom of wandering folk singers meets danceable Balkan grooves and old Finnish tango. Soothing ambient synths will transition to over-amplified guitars and experimental other-than-human collaborations, with each night rounded off with classy and creative DJs to keep the rhythms going.
Barents Spektakel would not be complete without a healthy selection of the performing arts within its programme. From spooky midnight gatherings, to therapeutic courses to help you get a good night’s sleep, to alternative bus tours, theatre that takes place in the intimacy of ordinary homes, as well as sweaty sauna sessions and critically acclaimed experimental audiovisual performances, the results cover an entire spectrum of memorable experience.
The festival satellites are the meeting places for people who, despite their geographic distance from Kirkenes, can still take part in Barents Spektakel through social gatherings in their own localities. More details coming soon! In 2023 the festival will again build digital bridges to different towns and countries, uniting people to reflect together on the topic of TRUST as it is approached through the prisms of art and culture, and accessed through discussions, debates, informal dialogues, music, screening of films, animation workshops, “home-theatre” performances, events for children, lectures and research sharings.
Transborder Café is a concept involving open discussions related to current political and cultural issues. The talks are now a staple of Barents Spektakel and involve artists, musicians, writers, politicians and researchers. Pushing the boundaries on topics relevant to the north, the format invites audiences as active participants and the events are often flavoured with theme-related food and drink as well as musical or performance contributions.
There is something for all ages at Barents Spektakel! Together with Pikene på Broen´s collaborative partners, the festival has a dedicated programme of activities for children and young people.
The Cultural Carousel at Barents Spektakel is a new discussion format that shares experiences from artists, researchers and cultural workers from the Barents and Nordic regions. Contributors will each take on a rotating role to play interviewer, interviewee, and audience in an open conversation that shifts every 10 minutes. Introductions, stories related to the festival theme of "trust", as well as insights into artistic processes and current projects in the north will each be shared between colleagues, collaborators, friends, and soon-to-be former strangers. Supported by the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute (FINNO).
Welcome to the guided tours and workshops of Barents Spektakel 2023!
Looking at art together with the possibility to ask questions, start conversations, and hear new and insightful reflections from those who have made the works will always give the experience an extra dimension. Join our art guiding team for a tour of the festival exhibition in the Old Fire Station and the Nomadic Base at Terminal B.
During the festival days, a host of independent events will be organised by Pikene på Broen’s fellow cultural producers and local businesses, helping to make Kirkenes the most happening place in the North during late February.