Greek-Danish dance artist Polena Kolia Petersen explores dancing as a common ritual and seeks to nurture more sustainable, resilient and critical communities through movement. Often centered around topics of memory, loss and rebirth of the collective, the works are based on site- or human-specifc methodology and feminist and decolonial principles of co-leadership.
During her residency Polena is working on issues like how would folk dances of current times look like in a translocal approach to contemporary rituals for movement, connection, solidarity and reimagining the commons beyond national borders? What do the local communities want to pay homage to in the territory? What are the needs of the community in terms of reimagining their connections and everyday encounters in the public spaces? What contemporary rituals do they crave for sustainable futures? These questions will be guiding the research and development of a dance piece.
Polena was already in Ii in April, to get to know the community and arrange a workshop. Now she is here again, working on a piece that she will be sharing with us on July 31st at KulttuuriKauppila.
Polenas residency is part of the E75 Art bus, in co-operation with Muu ry, Kaltio magazine and Oulu2026.
The E75 Art Bus is an art journey exploring the E75 road through Europe. E75, or Europe Road 75, is a 5 639 kilometer long route that starts from Vardø in Norway and ends at Siteia in Crete, Greece. In the E75 Art Bus project, artists, art, and audiences come together in a unique way as part of the Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture program.