Program
Initiation
Opening joik with Inna Marja Amundsen
Welcome to NORDAFØRR with festival director, Ragnheiður Skúladóttir
Consulting the oracle
Panel discussion: Common things made holy
The theme for the 2025 Festival is Common Things Made Holy, a challenge to all of us to see the sacred or magnificent in everyday life and not least in the festival itself. We humans have used the term festival to mark the seasons, the harvests and to honor the gods for millennia. Perhaps never in recent times has it been more urgent than now, to come together, look in the mirror and celebrate humanity in all its glory.
Ritual of rebellion
Artist talk with Festspill profile artist Tore Vagn Lid
Tore Vagn Lid is a Norwegian theatre director, playwright, musician, and artistic director of Transiteatret-Bergen. Lid holds currently professorships in dramaturgy at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and was previously professor both in directing and dramaturgy at Oslo National Academy of the Arts. He earned his PhD from the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen, Germany. Lid has been central figure in what is seen as a new political turn in the contemporary Norwegian theater. Besides his own plays he has written numerous articles, especially focusing on the relationship between theater and music, music-dramaturgy and artistic research. Tore Vagn Lid has been rewarded with a number of prices and awards for his work in theatre. Among these the National Hedda Award for several of his works and as dramatist he received the National Ibsen Award in 2016.
Tore Vagn Lid is one of two profile artists working with Festspillene i Nord-Norge. His expansive project Triggersystemet is the opening show of the festival and is a unique opportunity to experience his work.
The Prosession
PechaKucha: Meet the North
Through the short and snappy Powerpoint format Pecha Kucha, we will have the opportunity to take a closer look at some of the organizations working with arts and culture in Northern Norway/Sápmi. Each organization gets 20 seconds per slide and a maximum of 20 slides to introduce themselves.
To the Temple
Guided tour in Háhtešeatni doali dàdjadit – Festspill exhibition 2025 and excerpt of the performance Čitna Báffa
Máret Ánne Sara is a Northern Sámi artist and author known for her work exploring global ecological issues through the lens of her lived experience withi n the Sámi community. Sara was born in 1983 to a Sámi reindeer herding family in Guovdageaidnu in the Norwegian part of Sápmi, the traditional territory of the Sámi people which is today divided between the nation states of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, where she continues to work today. Through her multidisciplinary practice, Sara highlights the impact of Nordic colonialism on Sámi ways of life, exploring the importance of preserving Sámi ancestral knowledge and values to protect the environment for future generations. Often using materials and methodologies derived from reindeer herding, Sara creates powerful sculptures and installations which uphold the reciprocal relationship between animals, lands, waters, and humans. She was one of Sápmis representatives at Venice Biennale 2022 and will be creating next annual Hyundai Commission for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall! Sara is one of two profile artists working with Festspillene i Nord-Norge and will premiere her new exhibition during the festival in 2025. During the tour, we will get to know her artistry and what comes next.
