Industry program
Program
Dear collagues,
It’s a great joy to welcome you to Nordaførr – Festspillene i Nord-Norge’s industry platform. At its core, Nordaførr is a gathering place for artists, programmers, and organizations to connect across art discipline, geographical borders, and hierarchies. For three days we meet to connect and reflect during our daytime program, consisting of panels, artist talks, presentations and works in progress. In the afternoon you can enjoy the festival program where we’ve made sure many of our most exciting regional productions take place.
Daytime program
All the daytime program takes place at Quality Hotel, Anna Elisabeth gate 8, in the time span 09:00-13:30. It is possible to participate on one, two or all three days. A pass to the NORDAFØRR program costs 300 NOK per day. If you choose a three-day pass, you will get a discount and only pay NOK 750 in total. You can buy a pass HERE.
Tickets for Nordaførr include a light lunch.
Afternoon program
In the afternoon, you’re free to attend the artistic program of the festival as you please, but we’ve listed our recommendations in the program below, marked in blue. For industry visitors who wish to see several performances during the festival, we have created a separate festival pass for you. The card costs NOK 845 and gives you:
- 50% on all tickets (one for each performance)
- free entry to SENTRALEN, our festival tent (subject to capacity and upon presentation of an accreditation card). You can apply for industry accreditation HERE
When you application is approved, you will be sent a link to buy tickets with your discounts.
Buy tickets and view the complete festival program on our website HERE.
For more information for the industry, read more HERE.
If you have any questions, please contact Nordaførr producer, Monica Munkvold Døsen at email: produsent@festspillnn.no / Mob: +4797084721
Supported by
NORDAFØRR 2024
Monday, June 24th
What’s ahead?
Opening joik with Viktor Bomstad
Welcome to NORDAFØRR with festival director, Ragnheiður Skúladóttir
What’s burning?
Panel discussion: What’s burning? Making art despite it all.
What drives artists residing in the north to make the art that they make? When the world seems to burn, how do you prevail? Moderated by Ragnheiður Skúladóttir.
Panelists are Moddi, Norwegian musician, activist, and author from Medby on Senja. He blends music with social activism, inspiring change nationwide. More panelists TBA.
What’s relevant?
Artist talk with Festspill profile artist Máret Ánne Sara.
Sara is a Sámi visual artist and author residing in Kautokeino. She is from a reindeer herding family and currently works in her hometown. Máret Ánne is the initiator of Dáiddadállu Artist Collective. She has published two novels and was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Children’s and Young Literature Prize in 2014 for her debut book “Ilmmid gaskkas.” Máret Ánne has exhibited visual art since 2003 and often deals with political and social issues, from a Sámi and reindeer-social perspective. She was one of Sápmis representatives at Venice Biennalen 2022.
Sara is one of two profile artists working with Festspillene i Nord-Norge and will premiere her new exhibition during the festival in 2025. During the talk, we will get to know her artistry and what comes next.
What’s cooking?
Work in progress: STILLA – a performance by NOOR Produksjoner.
What landscape is irreplaceable to you? Would you break the law to defend it? 'Stilla – a performance' is a music and conversation show about eco-grief, anger, and displacement, about civil disobedience and ecoterrorism. About standing and listening as the river freezes, about naivety, and biking to Storfjorden to find a partner. About human rights and power lines, about wind turbines and pike cakes. It's a touring show with invited guests each time, led by an experienced team skilled in collective work. On stage, three actors deeply rooted in the north engage in dialogue with their guests.
What’s in the making?
Pitch session with Davvi – Center for Performing Arts
Together with Davvi we present three artists working in the field of performing arts in Northern Norway/Sápmi. Through their introductions and peak into their process, these artists will provide valuable insights to upcoming projects and tendencies in the performing arts scene in the north.
Tuesday, June 25th
What’s the impact?
Panel discussion: On working with young people – are we on to something?
Researcher Margrethe Amalie Tresselt has for several years been analysing the impact of arts and culture on young people. Working at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, she has made interesting findings which she will share with us in addition to inviting artists who work with young people to discuss their experiences.
Panelists are Tine Skjold, project manager for NUK and Ungfest, Festspillene i Nord-Norge’s programs geared towards youth.
Kasper Munk, manager for youth and culture at Harstad municipality.
Rebekka Brox Liabø, drama pedagogue and writer, visiting the festival with the performance Lykkejegerne, featuring youth as writers and performers.
Matias Hilmer Iversen, Director General of Kulturtanken in Norway, a national state owned organization working towards making art available to younger audiences.
What’s shaking?
Artist talk with Wakka Wakka and head of Figurteatret, Yngvild Aspelin
Wakka Wakka Productions is a non-profit visual theatre company based in NYC and Oslo who make highly physical work, overlapping in a wide range of styles and incorporating elements such as puppetry, object manipulation, masks and original music. During Festspillene i Nord-Norge, they will present their complete Animalia trilogy in collaboration with Figurteatret.
What’s up?
PechaKucha: Meet the North
Through the short and snappy Powerpoint format PechaKucha, we will have the opportunity to take a closer look at some of the organizations working with arts and culture in Northern Norway/Sápmi. Each organization gets 20 seconds per slide and a maximum of 20 slides to introduce themselves. Organizations presenting are:
- Beaivváš Sámi Našunála Teáhter – The National Sámi Theatre
The Sami National Theater Beaivváš (SNTB) is placed in Guovdageaidnu/ Kautokeinois and is the only professional theater institution in the Nordics that consistently uses Sami as a performance language. SNTB is an important carrier of culture and mediator of Sami history, culture and identity.
- Eilertsen & Granados Theatre company
Eilertsen & Granados Theatre company, founded in 2006 by Andreas Eilertsen and Cristina Granados, focuses on expressive physical theater and the integration of live music. They’ve been on stage at numerous festivals internationally and the company is based in the historic cinema of Stamsund, Norway.
- Hamsunsenteret – The Hamsun Center
The Hamsun Center is an international museum and cultural center located in Hamarøy that celebrates and explores the life and works of the famous Norwegian author through exhibitions, events, and artistic experiences.
- Iliosfestivalen
Ilios is a festival for contemporary music and art, taking place in Harstad during the time when the sun returns and drives the winter darkness away from the region.
- Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
The Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum (NNKM) serves the Troms, Finnmark, and Nordland regions, as well as Svalbard, playing a significant role in Norway's, the Nordic, circumpolar, and international art worlds.
- Marked for Musikk
Market for Music is a national showcase for concerts aimed at children and youth, where organizers can view, evaluate, and find concerts tailored to their young audiences. The platform also serves as a hub for expertise and networking for anyone involved in music outreach to this target demographic.
What the NORTH!
Demo: NORDTING – Northern Assembly
NORDTING is a nomadic assembly for the people of the North, a celebration of the periphery, a separatist movement for the Arctic colony. They regularly invite people to «Ting», from Vardø in Northern Norway to Anchorage in Alaska. These are assembly meetings with singing, dancing, music for oil barrels and dried fish, PowerPoint, political analysis and voting. NORDTING debates issues of power and money, ownership to natural resources, art and identity, separatism and populism, center and periphery. NORDTING destabilizes and drives wedges into both personal perceptions and public conversations.
We will be joined by founder Amund Sjølie Sveen, who invites us to our own assembly.
Wednesday, June 26th
What’s looming?
Panel discussion: Vá – the written word when the world is looming
When the world seems to loom with gravity and seriousness, what becomes of the artist trying to write? Moderated by Tale Næss
Panelists consist of playwright and director, Ibrahim Fazlic. Visiting the festival with the performance TORVALD.
Director, dramaturg and playwright, Tore Vagn Lid. Lid is one of Festspillene i Nord-Norge’s profile artists for 2025, joining this year’s festival with Møte med Triggersystemet and Almenrausch.
The Icelandic author Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir is, in Norway, perhaps best known for her dystopian novel "The Secluded Island". Sigríður has, deservedly, also received significant international attention and awards for her other books. In addition to being a prolific writer she is a news anchor at RÚV, The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service and has specialized in geological disasters.
Author Jón Kalman Stefánsson is perhaps one of the best known living Icelandic authors, known for his poetry, novels, and short stories. His work is acclaimed for its poetic language and deep psychological insights. He has been awarded numerous awards and nominations
What´s chiming?
Artist talk between Trygve Luktvasslimo and England Brooks
In this conversation with Trygve Luktvasslimo, we will get to know the singer England Brooks´ artistic experience in jazz, soul, and pop genres during her career, and how she as an American find the music and cultural scene in Norway, especially up north. What inspires her to evolve and to grow, and does Norway provide a good environment for her as a musician?
What’s beyond?
Yderst Europe
Back in 2021, Luktvasslimo was engaged as a profile artist with Festspillene i Nord-Norge. In 2023 What is the high north’s role and potential in a European perspective? Kristina R. Johnsen, Project leader of Yderst Europe, presents EU finance possibilities, how to create international projects and shares their results and processes.
Yderst was one of four Norwegian projects approved by the EU Commission in the fall of 2022 and awarded 80 percent of the total budget through the Creative Europe program. In the evaluation, it is stated that the project has the potential to recalibrate the European debate on sustainability. The Yderst Europe book will be released with a French publishing house and Harstads Utenfor Allfarvei combined, spring 2025.
What was that?
Where do we go from here? Open table talk moderated by Camilla Eeg-Tverrbakk.
After three exhilarating days packed with industry insights at Nordaførr, it's time to reflect and engage with you, our valued audience. Join us for an engaging summary session where we'll distill the key takeaways, discuss emerging trends, and share inspiring anecdotes from our distinguished speakers. Let's continue the conversation and harness the energy of creativity together.
Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk is a dramaturg and professor in Drama and Theatre Communication at Oslo Metropolitan University. Her research interests are new dramaturgy, documentary theatre, interdisciplinary artistic practices, new materialism and posthumanism.