Espen Sommer Eide is a composer and artist based in Bergen, Norway. His artistic practice involves time-based media with a special focus on music and sound. This is further characterized by an experimental approach to instruments, archives, places and languages. In addition to installation and performances, he is a representative of experimental electronic music from Norway, growing out of the techno scene of Tromsø in the 90s, with main projects Alog and Phonophani, and a string of releases on the labels Rune Grammofon, Hubro, Sofa and others.
His works have been exhibited and performed at Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen Assembly, Manifesta, Marres, Henie Onstad kunstsenter, Stedelijk Museum, De Halle Haarlem, Dark Ecology, Sonic Acts, Mutek festival, GRM/Presences Électronique, Performa Festival, Museo Reina Sofia and more. Sommer Eide is also a member of the theatre/art collective Verdensteatret, with extensive international touring and exhibitions.Espen Sommer Eide contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021 and is currently developing a new artwork in relation to det gode liv. He will also take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
Vera Dvale – seamstress of nocturnal synaesthetics, weaver of worlds of spatial immersion- is occasionally producing and releasing music. Recent output is «Music is Kinship» (Good Morning Tapes) and in March a new release, «Garden of Feelings», is presented on the new label In the Neighborhood of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars (INSMS). Vera Dvale contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.
Ksenia Gavrilova is Junior Research Fellow at Arctic Social Sciences programme, department of anthropology, project coordinator at the European University in St.Petersburg. Her main research interest is discourse studies, ethnography and the industrialization of the Arctic.
Zhanna Guzenko has been a project producer and curator at Fridaymilk since 2012. Fridaymilk is an independent curating organisation based in Murmansk (Russia) which aims to develop culture and art in the North. United by the idea of Northern identity Fridaymilk is promoting the concept of cultural decentralisation by shifting the cultural centres «from capitals to remote areas». http://www.fridaymilk.com
Brith Hennie Halvorsen is a craft artist based in Tromsø, working in both two and three dimensions with the traditional and relatable material of wool. Often displayed as large-scale installations, her works invite visitors to physically enter inside the artwork and become part of it, sensing the materials, sounds and smells, and considering their associations. Brith Hennie Halvorsen initiated the artwork Så Nær through det gode liv, in collaboration with the sound artist and composer Nils P. Johansen and with thanks to Elliina Peltoniemi, Sylvi Hollman, Daniil Efremov, Ekaterina Efremova, Gunnar B. Halvorsen and Luna Aareskjold Drecker.
Sergey Kostyrko is a mathematician and sound artist originally from the border town Nikel, and now based in St. Petersburg. As a sound artist Kostyrko focuses on science and bio art projects as well as the field of improvisational and noise music. Sergey Kostyrko will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Marietta Radomska, PhD, is Research Fellow in Environmental Humanities at Department of Thematic Studies (Gender Studies), Linköping University, SE; co-director of The Posthumanities Hub; founder of The Eco- and Bioart Research Network; co-founder of Queer Death Studies Network; author of Uncontainable Life: A Biophilosophy of Bioart (2016) and has published in Australian Feminist Studies; Somatechnics; Women, Gender & Research and Artnodes, among others. Marietta Radomska contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021. Web: www.mariettaradomska.com
Tatjana Schnell is professor of Psychology of Religion and Existential Psychology at MF Specialized University, Oslo. Her research addresses fundamental issues like meaning in life, suffering, alienation and religious/spiritual/secular worldviews, and their practical significance for individuals, organisations and society. Tatjana Schnell will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
The Independent Air is a Danish non-profit art organisation focusing on creating environmentally sustainable cultural projects as group residencies, master classes, exhibitions, symposiums, seminars and workshops in Denmark, Scandinavia and internationally . The main theme of the activities are the increasing ecological and social crises the world is facing and how art and culture can address this through collaborations on many levels. The Independent Air work towards change through strengthening community values, transdisciplinary dialog and development with art as the focal point. Web: http://www.theindependentair.com/
Alena Vlasova is a graphic designer, illustrator, media artist and curator from Saint- Petersburg, who creates and visualises multimedia artistic works, site-specific projects and traditional theatre performances. Alena Vlasova will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Silje Linge Haaland lives and works in Oslo. She works with video, text, sculpture and choreography. In recent years, she has worked on an extensive project entitled Hjernen er for nær munnen. Linge Haaland graduated from Gerrit Rietveld in Amsterdam, the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and Städelschule in Frankfurt. In the spring of 2018, she completed a one-year specialization in text at the Writing Arts Academy in Bergen. Silje Linge Haaland contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.
Am Johal is Director of Simon Fraser University’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement in Vancouver, Canada on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleilwaututh peoples. He is author of ‘Ecological Metapolitics: Badiou and the Anthropocene’ and co-author with Matt Hern and Joe Sacco of Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life: A Tar Sands Tale. He has a doctorate in media philosophy from the European Graduate School. Am Johal contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.
Oleg Khadartsev is an experimental filmmaker and visual artist from Murmansk, also known as 1999Q. Oleg is researching the issue of migration from the northern regions and tries to find motivation to stay in the north, which is reflected through multilayered meditative live visuals. Oleg Khadartsev will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Puolanka Pessimists Association (PPA) is a cultural association in Puolanka. The foundation of the association is based on the fact that Puolanka is the most remote village in the most remote region in Finland. Under the PPA, the members of the association practice various types of cultural activities, including production of short videos, long theatre musical plays and depressing pieces of music.
Yury Shachnev is a Murmansk based artist, illustrator and calligrapher who explores the art of fonts and lettering in his work. Yury is mixing the calligraphy techniques with the colours of northern landscapes, creating new patterns and styles in the classical field of painting. Yury Shachnev will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Matt Hern is the founder and co-director of Solid State Community Industries, a project that builds worker co-ops with youth from racialized migrant families. He has founded and directed many other community projects and his books have been translated into sixteen languages. Matt Hern contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.
Line Thastum Environmental coordinate, BA in Human Ecology, Aalborg University, educated organic farmer and alternative therapist. Beside her work with green transition and environmental management in Herning Municipality in Denmark, she works creatively with writing. Line is co-founder of The Independent Air and has run the organization since 2013 together with Sissel Thastum. Line Thastum contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.
The Posthumanities Hub is a research group and a platform for postdisciplinary and more-than-human humanities, for philosophy, arts and sciences informed by advanced cultural critique and creativity. In our research, we specialise in the more-than-human condition and inventive feminist materialist philosophies. We work to meet up with pressing societal challenges, across the natureculture divide and target specific cases. Curiously, creatively and critically. The Hub is based at Linköping University, Sweden. Web: https://posthumanities.net/
Olga Zubova is a sound and visual artist, performer, and an art historian. She works in various mediums, including sound, performance, video, and installations. In her projects, she investigates human self-representation in different realities, and draws on a speculative or parafictional approach, creating alternative scenarios of the world. Olga Zubova will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Alexander Vileykis is an object-oriented philosophy researcher, the curator of the Center for New Philosophy of Tyumen State University, and the organiser of the ‘Illuminations’ research school. He is also investigating the issues of living in the northern monotowns. Alexander Vileykis will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Matti Aikio is an artist working mainly with photography and video as well as with sculptural installations, sound art, and music. His ongoing work explores the phenomenon where Sámi people find themselves caught in the middle of opposing nation state run nature politics – where the Sámi people’s land is roughly speaking seen either as a resource for extraction, or strict nature reserve that has to be protected also from the Sámi people and their livelihoods. Matti Aikio initiated an artwork through det gode liv/ The Sweetness of Living – The archives of Matti Aikio: The idea and image of nature and why self-determination of indigenous peoples is so crucial for all of us – and he will also take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
Philipp Guzeev is software engineer, media artist and musician whose artistic interest lies in composing for multi-channel audio systems, creating audio-visual installations and exploring the capabilities of VR\AR technologies in the context of art and theatre. Philipp Guzeev will take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Murmansk in August 2021.
Paavo Heinonen Born, raised and living in Oulu, Paavo J. Heinonen spent his youth role-playing and loitering within Finnish sci-fi fandom. After studying literature and theory for five years at the universities of Stirling, Copenhagen and Sussex, he returned home in 2003 to start a life as a cultural character. Now Paavo has been editing Kaltio magazine and organising Oulu Arts’ Night event every August for over ten years. He is also a member of Oulu city council since 2012.
Kvae & Bark is a collaboration-duo formed by the artists Karoline Sætre and Øyvind Novak Jenssen. In their collective practice, they work with projects that explore the spaces between gastronomy and contemporary art, often taking place through performance or events. Their artworks often make use of raw materials, local knowledge and stories, and the practices of foraging and sharing. Kvae og Bark have initiated two artworks through det gode liv – Taxi Take Away and Strukturer for ytelser og gjenytelser. They will also take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
Tommi Rajala is the executive director of Puolanka Pessimists Association. He was raised in Puolanka but left it after finishing high school, never wanting to return. He then lived in Helsinki, Niger, Tanzania and Italy, only to come back in 2015 to Puolanka. He still hates Puolanka, but for some vague reason doesn’t want to work anywhere else anymore. He has working experience in teaching, software design, documentary filmmaking, development aid and in cleaning toilets.
Riikka Keränen is a visual artist and farmer from Ristijärvi in the Kainuu region of Finland. She graduated with a degree in sculpture from the Kankaanpää School of Fine Art in 2010. Keränen’s work involves playing and thinking in dialogue with the entire spectrum of the world’s materials. Through her work, the artist reflects upon the entangled nature between human and other-than-human worlds. Riikka Keränen contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021 and is currently developing a new artwork in relation to det gode liv. She will also take part in the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
Gunn-Britt Retter is a Norwegian Sámi politician, born and raised in the village of Unjárga (Nesseby) in the Varangerfjord in eastern Finnmark. She is a trained teacher at the Sámi University College in Kautokeino and has a master’s degree in bilingual studies from the University of Wales. Since 2001, she has worked with Arctic environmental issues, first as an employee of the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS) in Copenhagen, and then as head of the Arctic and Environment Department at the Sámi Council. In their position as head of the Arctic and Environment Department in the Sámi Council, Retter has been involved in cases concerning indigenous peoples and indigenous peoples’ knowledge in relation to climate change, biodiversity, language, pollution and the management of natural resources. Gunn-Britt will contribute with a digital talk during the Sweetness of Living test lab in Kirkenes in August 2021.
Sissel Thastum is a photo based visual artist. She holds a MFA from Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and a BA in documentary photography from University Newport, Wales. She primarily works with video, photography, sound and spatial installations. Sissel is the co-founder of The Independent Air and has run the organization since 2013 together with Line Thastum. Sissel Thastum contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021. Web: http://www.sisselthastum.com/
Cecilia Åsberg, Prof Dr (KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm and Linköping University); Founding director The Posthumanities Hub (2008-on); The Seed Box: Environmental Humanities (2013-2017), & Rachel Carson Centre Fellow at LMU. Publications: Åsberg & Marietta Radomska (2021) in Violence, Gender and Affect (eds Marita Husso et al); Åsberg (2020) “A Sea Change in the Environmental Humanities”, Ecocene: Cappadocia Journal of Environmental Humanities; “Checking in with Deep Time” (2020) with Christina Fredengren, in Deterritorializing the Future (Open Humanities Press). Cecilia Åsberg contributed to the The Sweetness of Living Art Symposium in February 2021.