International Festival of Contemporary Theatre

Programme

Lighter Than Woman

Kristina Norman (Tallinn)

11, 12, 13 September 19:00, Theatre at Ģertrūdes street, Ģertrūdes iela 101a | € 10 / € 7

‘Lighter Than Woman’ is docu-poetic performance about women who once in their lives have leaped into the unknown, both literally and metaphorically. The basis for this work is Kristina Norman’s study of and collaboration with Ukrainian women working as carers for the elderly in Italy where they are called a special term, badante.

In the context of modern migration, this is yet another untold story about leaving the old in hope of finding a new life, yet remaining in a limbo between the two, without a solid identity.

Here Kristina also tells us about herself, a contemporary European artist, and the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who has spent all her life fighting the gravitational force of the Earth. Combined, the portraits of these different women create an image that rekindles the pride of being a human.

About the artist

Trained as an artist, Kristina Norman is active both in the field of contemporary art and documentary filmmaking. When addressing issues of collective memory and forgetting, and the memorial uses of public space, she often searches for ways to physically and symbolically intervene in the environments in focus. While many of her art projects are presented in the form of video installations, site-specificity and performativity are of great importance in these works.

Among the projects that provoked the most public discussion, mainly concerning the role of art and artists in the society, about ethics in art, and the line between art and politics, is a vast research-based art project titled ‘After-War’ with which she represented Estonia at Venice Biennale in 2009. Some of Norman’s more recent works are dedicated to the issues of migration, focussing on the aspects of memory and public representation.

Credits

By and with Kristina Norman
Dramaturg Laur Kaunissaare
Film by Erik Norkroos
Music: Jēkabs Nīmanis
Choreographic advice: Joanna Kalm, Karolin Poska
Lights: Oliver Kulpsoo
With participation of Isadora Angelini, Ivana Abbondanza, Halina Fomiceva, Liubov Sandulovych, Nataliya Sandu, Victoria Bilivska, Mariia Filonenko, Mayya Romashchenko, Rina Pancaldi
Supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Ministry of Culture of Estonia
Co-producers: Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Santarcangelo Festival, New Theatre Institute of Latvia, Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione / Atlas of Transitions Biennale

Image: Erik Norkroos