Transborder Café in LINZ 2009 European Capital of Culture

02 April 2009, Mediendeck of OK Kulturhaus, Linz, Austria

Pikene på Broen invite to Transborder Cafés arranged as a part of Extra Europa – the cultural festival within LINZ 2009 European Capital of Culture.

In the series of 3 Transborder Cafes we will cast a look at border problematics in EU and cultural cooperation across borders in general (Day 1), then focus on border-crossing cooperation in the Barents Region (Day 2), and touch upon the Sámi and other ethnic cultures in the High North (Day 3).

Thursday, April 2, 19:00
BORDER-CROSSING EXERCISES
• Welcoming speech by the Minister of Culture of Switzerland DOMINIK RIEDO.
• Pikene på Broen have produced numerous Border-Crossing Exercises promoting artistic border-crossing practices and people-to-people cooperation in the Barents Region, which historically has had peaceful border relations. Across Europe we have a different border-region – Caucasus representing a long history of border disputes. Pikene på Broen present some of the joint Barents-Caucasus projects.
• Norwegian writers KJARTAN FLØGSTAD and MORTEN STRØKSNES present Nordic view on the border dialogues and tensions and Norway´s relation to EU.
• Video by ANE LAN from Oslo: follow-ups of “marrying someone (read: joining the EU)”.
• Video by LOS TORREZNOS from Madrid produced in Kirkenes: “When you cross the border, if you look back – the border is still there, and it is still in front of you”.
“Warm Music from the Cold Climate”: electronic musician Mombus from Murmansk.
Speciality: Norwegian fish soup.

Friday, April 3, 19:00
BORDERS – CONTROL OR ROCK-N-ROLL?
“Borders – Control or Rock-n-Roll?” was the slogan of the annual winter festival Barents Spektakel 2009. Rock-n-roll (read: arts and culture) is a folk alternative to border control!
• Director of the Barents Secretariat in Kirkenes RUNE RAFAELSEN places us geopolitically into the essence of Barents Cooperation as a new security model.
• Performance by AMUND SJØLIE SVEEN from Oslo: an alternative history of the Barents Region. Welcome to the brave new world of the United States of Barents!
• Pikene på Broen zoom into the heart of the Barents Region – the twin-cities Kirkenes (on the Norwegian side) and Nikel (on the Russian side) and present project «Promoting eternal values» by OLGA and ALEXANDER FLORENSKY from St Petersburg, and video “Kirkenes & Nikel: Feel the Difference” by BLUE NOSES from Moscow that captures possibilities of border-crossing labour market.
Concert by the leading rock-band TEQUILAJAZZZ from St Petersburg.
Speciality: Russian soup borsch.

Saturday, April 4, 19:00
SAMI-SALAMI
• YVETTE BRACKMAN from Copenhagen began her project «The Catalyst» in Lovozero on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia, during spring 2006. She initiated contact between local craftspeople in Lovozero and Camper. You will not hear the story of “Lovozero-Camper case”. You will act the story: you get a role of a local craftsman, a Camper representative, local entrepreneur, advocate, artist, etc., and become part of the play written and directed by Yvette Brackman.
• Rector of the Sámi University College, STEINAR PEDERSEN, Kautokeino: “The Sámi – the indigenous People of Europe”
• Wolf-joiking by Johan Andersen from Tromsø.
• “Language Memory Project” by musician ESPEN SOMMER EIDE from Bergen: a dictionary of Skolt Sámi language samples.
• Video “Mun Rahkistan” where Serge Gainsbourg’s “Je t’aime” is performed by a Norwegian artist GEIR TORE HOLM in Sámi language.
The Russian- Sámi -Norwegian world music project “THE BRIDGE” with the queen of the Russian world music INNA ZHELANNAYA, Sámi guitar virtuoso ROGER LUDVIGSEN, sax-player OLEG MARIAKHIN and the LINK TRIO from the northernmost region of Norway Finnmark.
Speciality: Sámi soup bidos.

Transborder Cafes are supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Project “The Bridge” is produced by Musikk i Finnmark.