Again this year Pirkanmaa Dance Centre organized an international dance residency at Haihara manor in cooperation with the city of Tampere and the Artists at Risk organization. Through Artists at Risk, we had dance artist Maria Martos from Ukraine as our guest during September.

Two local dance artists Tuuti Touhunen and Kornélia Mangi worked with Martos in the residency. Each artists’ individual work was developed in weekly meetings where they shared their work and had a chance to get feedback. At the end of the residency, a public demo evening was organized in Haihara manor 9th of September 2024.

The artists described that the residency was a good experience, during which their own practice developed. In particular, Haihara Art Center’s closeness to nature, its beautiful milieu, and sharing one’s own work with others and being influenced by it were the highlights of the month.

Maria wanted to explore the theme of home and belonging, Tuuti was interested in landscape and site specific work, and Kornélia was inspired by an interview with a 95-year-old woman and her way of thinking about life.

Tuuti Touhunen:

“The contribution of the residency was the internationality, the special environment of Haihara manor and sharing my own work with other artists. How to use time is always a challenge: how to narrow down the work, where to focus and how to build the work in front of an audience in a timeframe set from outside. It is always positive to share the work, it makes me feel that my art has a place and value, it doesn’t just stay floating in the air.”

(original FIN)
“Residenssin anti oli sen kansainvälisyys, erityinen ympäristö Haiharan kartanon alueella ja oman työskentelyn jakaminen muiden taiteilijoiden kanssa.
Ajankäyttö on aina haaste: miten rajata omaa työskentelyä, mihin fokusoida ja miten koota työ yleisön eteen aikaraamissa, joka on asetettu ulkoapäin. Työtä on aina positiivista jakaa toisille ja ulospäin, silloin tulee sellainen olo että taiteellani on sijaa ja arvoa, se ei jää vain ilmaan leijumaan.”

Kornélia Mangi:

“Overall it was an intensive, inspiring, great residency for me. Intensive, because the time felt short. Inspiring, because the other´s works, ideas, views which they shared, were so interesting and inspiring. 

It was great, because it gave me the possibility to start working on my project idea, to connect with other artists and their ideas and because the work was supported by these sharings and this community that we had with the other artists. 

The “time limit” narrowed wondering and deep research, but on the other hand it really created a focused, productive working structure.”’

Maria Martos: 

“I had a great time working on my own in a truly wonderful space of Haihara Art Center, and at the same time, working in a small international community of other residency artists, sharing experience and getting to know more about their projects and cultures as a whole.

Also, I had a lot of support from Pirkanmaa Dance Centre, concerning everything I needed during my stay and creation of performance. 

The best thing that happened to us three, was the interaction of our researching topics, that reinforced every of our performative works, creating additional levels and connections. For me individually, it was also very important to stay close to nature and the opportunity to work in site-specific format.”

Project coordinator Emma Heinonen:

“In various projects I have been involved in, I’ve noticed how fascinating it is when artists who don’t know each other are brought together to work, and common ground is immediately found. I observed the same during the first sharing session with Maria, Tuuti, and Kornélia, where ideas and thoughts flowed as each was inspired by the others.

It’s truly beautiful how open and trusting they are towards one another — I think this is something unique when working with artists. The focus is more on finding commonalities than differences. Art and artists have an incredible ability to bring more listening, empathy, and harmony into the world.”

Text: Emma Heinonen
Photo: Liisa Mäkinen

Aiheet: Residenssi, residenssitaiteilija