Credits: Yiran Zhao
SHH II (2015) & SHH I (2015)
Sound Installation and Solo for the Head by Yiran ZhaoAnnika’s Talkshow with NAF
In the talkshow Annika Tudeer and the amazing duo NAF from Stuttgart are talking about gender, norms, fiction, bodies, spaces, music and sounds that create non normative spaces. NAF will soon visit Helsinki in the Together in the Universe of Sound happening 29-30.10. 2021 in Maunulatalo.
NAF is Nana Hülsewig and Fender Schrader and they are talking about their work in the symposium 29.10 and showing a unique performance in the Norm is Fiction series on the 30.10.
Enjoy listening to these wonderful artists and enjoy their work very soon!
Credits: Painting 'Die Rax' by Koloman Moser, about 1912. Source: Wikipedia.
Obsessions Diary
The obsessive goat singing on the mountain
Timo´s Goat
---- Table theater on Koloman Moser´s painting (see above)
"I am a goat.
I live alone
I know there is a bear and a lynx living in the area.
We sometimes see each other from afar and we communicate by yodeling.
I have quite a big voice and i see very well.
I am good at climbing but i am afraid of hights.
My dream is to climb to the top of my home mountain so that i can see what there is on the other side of it.
I have planned the route very carefully but every time when i reach a certain point i have to come down again.
Sometimes i see the 3 singing shepherds and the 6 jolly hunters playing their instruments and it is nice but we do not really communicate."
Mountain song from Alice, edited by Yiran for brass instruments (excerpt)
Annika’s Talkshow with Essi Kausalainen – Plants, trees and music theater
In Annika's second talkshow Annika Tudeer is in conversation with artist Essi Kausalainen on plants, collaborations and music theatre. You will also get a perception changing tip from Essi.
Essi Kausalainen is a Helsinki based artist whose works operate through performance, textile, text, audio and video exploring the sensuous capacity of our bodies and their philosophic and ethical materiality. Collaborating with plants and fungi, artists, musician, plant biologists and children, Kausalainen aims to escape the hierarchical and linear ways of thinking and operating. www.essikausalainen.com.
Annika’s Talkshow with Veit Sprenger – So they both make operas
In Annika's first Talkshow Annika Tudeer discusses music, devising opera, art, covid-19 and much more with friend and colleague Veit Sprenger from the renowned Berlin based performance company Showcase Beat Le Mot. In the conversation they realise that both companies, Oblivia and Showcase Beat Le Mot are making opera and conclude happily that despite the distance they stay connected.
Kohti tuntematonta
Saga Korkeamäki ja Marie Bergholm tekivät yhdessä podcastin aiheesta tuntemattoman kohtaaminen. Podcastissa he keskustelevat aiheesta suhteessa kokemuksiinsa Obliviassa. Saga ja Marie ovat yhdessä kolmen muun nuoren kanssa olleet Oblivian mukana kansainvälisellä teatterileirillä Lyonissa, Ranskassa (Théâtre nouvelle génération) sekä mukana kahdessa Oblivian teoksessa; No(s) Futurs ja Children and Other Radicals. Nuoret ovat esiintyneet Oblivian kanssa mm. Helsingin Juhlaviikoilla Kansallisoopperassa, Live Art for Children -festivaalilla Aalborgissa, Tanskassa ja Dangerous Minds -festivaalilla Kampnagelissa, Hampurissa.
December Flashback
Christmas is soon here! It comes every year and it's always pretty much the same; spending time togetherwith the family, eating (too)well, decorating the house and the christmas tree, kids waiting for Santa to come, you name it. Christmas is repetitive and we love that repetition, we love to do the same things from year to year and that's good.
Your Flashback team wishes you
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Costume
Annika Tudeer and Timo Fredriksson are interviewed by a costume designer Tua Helve about the role of costumes in Oblivia's performances. Video was recorded in July, 2018 in Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany.
November Flashback
Just like everyone else, Oblivia too is thinking hard about its off stage presence. Color coordination is one important means to achieve this and it is not unimportant how the backstage snack buffet looks. These high visual standards are of course applied in all digital material Oblivia is producing. Besides on stage performances Oblivia has been broadening its presence through symposiums, workshops, photo exhibitions, AR experiences, not to forget all the rest more or less realistic side projects waiting to be launched!
On the Skill to remain silent
October Flashback
Creating performances on stage requires a lot of skill from many fields, most of it very hands-on and technical. Hence the ultimate one that guides and unifies them all is the skill to imagine; how will a certain fabric react to a certain light, how the space will feel like when the curtains are pulled over the windows, how are the light elements placed on stage, how the actions are rescaled from rehearsal space to a real stage and how does this all look from the outside.
Black Box
Why black box? Meri Ekola and Annika Tudeer talk about the essence of black box for Oblivia's work. Recorded in Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany in summer 2018.
September Flashback
What if Oblivia’s next performance would be created in a bouncy castle? These are some of the wonderful locations for the future we have scouted on our trips. Quite the opposite from where we usually picture our performances. After all these years there are times when one feels that some colour and softness is greatly needed to counterbalance the work in a black box!
How To Do Do What You Saw
In this about 7 minute video Oblivia members demonstrate how to do Do What You Saw, in a nutshell. Do What You Saw (DWYS) is Oblivia's group practise for creating material for performances.
Improvisaatiosta ja tanssista
Anna-Maija Terävä Obliviasta ja tanssitaiteilija Pia Lindy keskustelevat improvisaatiosta osana teosten tekoprosessia ja improvisaation esittämisestä.
August Flashback
After a hot and sunny summer it's time to enter the cool and dark black box and start warming up the new season. Recollecting the work happens gradually. Sometimes memory does tricks to us as it did to Annika while working on SuperB in august 2013 at Avantgarden in Trondheim.
Trust Song
Song and lyrics by Alice Ferl, sound design by Yiran Zhao.On Trust, Tiger and Turtle
Text by Anna-Maija Terävä. Performed by Timo Fredriksson and Anna-Maija Terävä, narrator Annika Tudeer.Beaver & Bear
Text by Meri Ekola and Tua Helve. Performed by Alice Ferl and Stine Hertel, narrator Marty Berowski.Trust in Bringing Lived Life on Stage
Ilia Papatheodorou from She She Pop (D) in conversation with Annika Tudeer in a podcast about trust, age, economy, collectivity, success, fathers, mothers and much more. Recorded in June, 2020.
On Trust
Alice Ferl and Timo Fredriksson discuss on trust. Recorded in Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany in summer 2018.
June Flashback
Besides the hard work Oblivians also take time for resting in the sun, having a pool party, sharing a glass of cava, DJing the favourite tunes in a party, taking a selfie on a rooftop, organising dinners with friends, keeping fit with urban gyms, ordering the craziest dish of the restaurant’s menu, participating on suspicious tourist trips, drinking gluhwein, building an inflatable island, having always bun with coffee, wearing funny masks, climbing on a public art work, checking the map for yet to discover adventures..
You can fill the list with your favourite holiday activity!
The Rave
In 2015 Oblivia created The Rave, a live streamed performance where four performers were dancing in the studio for 2.5 hrs. The video was live streamed around the world and to Mad House in the adjacent building. The video is from a rehearsal edited by Meri Ekola.
Johtajuudesta
Janne Saarakkala ja Annika Tudeer keskustelevat johtajuudesta kollektiivissa ja muista asioista jotka liittyvät johtajuuteen. Voiko kollektiivissa olla johtaja ja mitä sellaisella tekee?
On Communication
Annika Tudeer and Timo Fredriksson talk about communication. Recorded in Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany in summer 2018.
May Flashback
Here we are in the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki working on Annikas Sacre. Our dramaturg Lina Teir is watching while Annika is trying out “something” with sheets of sail fabric that our costume designer Tua Helve had brought in to be tested. Our sound designer Juuso Voltti is also trying out a possible idea for music.
It occurred to us quite fast that this is not the path to follow. Nonetheless the tryout was not worthless because all the material found its place in another context and in another form at the end. No matter how hilarious it looks right now, the video reminds us of all the possible directions there exists in the process of making and this is why it's nice to share it with you.
On Sustainability
Alice Ferl and Annika Tudeer talk about sustainability with a twist. Recorded in Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany, 2018.
On Documentation
Christopher Hewitt has documented Oblivia's stage works for many years. In this podcast he and Anna-Maija Terävä talk about the purpose of documenting live performances. Recorded at Hangö Teaterträff Festival in June, 2019.
April Flashback
About a year ago Oblivia did the furthest trip of its history, a tour to US to perform Nature Theatre of Oblivia. At the moment as we are trying to get used to social distancing in all the levels of society, touring feels a bittersweet memory. Instead of attending performances they are now brought to us digitally through live streaming. We can experience art works from another side of the world real time from our living rooms. Technology offers us an access to almost every venue in the past and the present through excessive sources of internet.
Here is another, more analog take into documentation. Feels like these vivid drawings from a performance in Chicago by Mie Frederikke Fischer Christensen managed to capture the specific moment in time and the very essence of the piece. They nourish our imagination until we come together again.
On Intellectual Work
Alice Ferl and Timo Fredriksson discuss on intellectual work in the process of making a performance. Recorded at Pact Zollverein, Esssen, Germany in 2018.
Om konst
En diskussion om att skapa ur ett mer än trettioårigt perspektiv med Annika Tudeer och Liisa Pentti (på svenska). Inspelad 2019 i Helsingfors.
Photo: Fabian Nyberg
March Flashback
While working on a new performance there always comes a moment when it is absolutely necessary to put all the materials, scenes, movements, texts etc on a big paper. This serves at least two purposes; it is good to see at a glance what one has accumulated so far and it is easier to start building a possible structure for the piece having the whole in front of your eyes. So the Oblivia archive contains a whole lot of papers like the ones in these photos.
Can you make the connection between the papers in the photos and Oblivias performances?
On Sharing
Tua Helve, costume designer, and Meri Ekola, light designer, discuss on sharing. Recorded at Pact Zollverein, Esssen, Germany in 2018.
February Flashback
Behind every premier or performance there is a massive amount of hard work done by highly skilled professionals during long days. Only occasionally when the work at hand requires unerring artistic vision the performing artist might have to roll up his sleeves. Here's your chance to get a peek behind the scene before the show can begin!
On Collectivity
Annika Tudeer and Christian Koch. A discussion on collectivity, Pact Zollverein, Essen, Germany 2018.
Radical Happiness
Annika Tudeer and Martina Grohmann, director of Theater Rampe. A discussion on art, politics and happiness, Stuttgart 2019 (in English)
January Flashback
In 2011 Oblivia was touring Scandinavia with the Entertainment Island trilogy. One day on the Faroe Islands while driving around and sightseeing our photographer Eija Mäkivuoti took a group photo with us waving at the camera. We did not know it then but a tradition was born. Nowadays, especially on tour there always comes a moment of ”we have to take a group photo. Okay, everybody smile and wave at the camera!” Here you can see the historical first photo and some later variations on the theme.