Through the project B2B – From the Baltic to the Barents Sea: Communities, Ecologies and the “green” transition, Baltic Circle (FI) and Pikene på Broen’s Barents Spektakel (NO) create new performances, exhibitions and test-lab workshops for the festivals in 2022–2023. The collaboration opens a geopolitical dialogue between the city and the arctic periferia. In their programme the two festivals explore issues relating to green colonialism, multi-species communities, and the relationship with their common neighbour Russia.
In autumn 2022 Barents Festival took part in Baltic Circle’s rewilding work in a peatland in Central Finland, and in November, a Murmansk-based collective, Fridaymilk will create a durational multimedia happening Inversia in Exile Showcase for Baltic Circle Festival that then grows into a several days long programme for Barents Spektakel’s festival club in February. The rewilding themes, and discussions opened in the Baltic Circle will also continue in Barents Spektakel 2023, which presents a Right to repair symposium, exhibition works and other artistic interventions in the frame of this project.
In the fall of 2023, restoration work will continue, and work will begin on presenting the Saami Truth and Reconciliation Commission moderated and facilitated by Taru Elfving, founder and curator of Contemporary Art Archipelago. The Commission’s mandate will be presented, and the role of the arts community will be discussed in joint workshops at the festival in 2023. The work will continue into 2024, aiming to activate the arts community in reconciliation efforts.
B2B is the first project that brings together Pikene på Broen, Post Humanities Hub, Contemporary Art Archipelago, and the Baltic Circle International Theatre Festival. Pikene på Broen is a collective of curators and producers who have been carrying out large and small cross-cultural projects for the past 20 years and addressing issues related to the North and the Barents region. Barents Spektakel 2023 is a six-day festival featuring contemporary art projects, discussions, exhibitions, performances, and concerts. The Posthumanities Hub is a research collective founded by Cecilia Åsberg, focusing on feminist posthumanism.
The project has been funded by the Nordic Culture Fund (2022–2023), the Nordic Culture Point (2023), and the Finnish-Swedish Cultural Foundation (2023).