recent activities
RELAY
(2025)
RELAY ARTicle
RELAY is a three-year EU-funded research project supported by the ERASMUS+ programme „Cooperation Partnerships" that focuses on developing the artistic and educational fields of choreography, dance and music.
The concept that gave our project its name – RELAY – is based on deep trust in the transiting and transmissive foundation of both artistic production and knowledge development. RELAY underscores a fluid and processual element in the intersection of art and education. Not only does the actual production and development of knowledge and artworks depend on collective – and therefore transmissive – efforts, but the future life of those productions depends on how they are shared. For example, a dance technique only lives through those who practice it. A piece of music is passed on (through ear, instrument technology, or score) between practitioners, producers, and listeners. Every hand-over gives the possibility for development, re-iterations, and productive misunderstandings.
The exposition here gathers the findings, reflections and insights into the principles and methods of RELAY as well as obstacles, hiccups and (creative) failures as a work-in-progress.
Authors and Contributors: Ana Papdima, Andreea Duta, Catalin Cretu, Evita Tsakalaki, Jan Burkhardt, Konstantinos Tsakirelis, Laura Lang De Negri, Maia Means, Max Wallmeier, Mihai Mihalcea, Nadine Kribbe, Rasmus Ölme, Sergej Maingardt, Stella Malliaraki, Vera Sander
Project D - Public Space | Equilibrium at De Zandwacht
(2025)
Marjolijn Breuring
This project explores the transformative relationship between the human body, its emotional landscape, and the environment through site-specific choreography. The concept centers around the theme of releasing ingrained patterns and embracing vulnerability, inspired by the metaphor of "letting go" to find healthier ways of navigating discomfort and tension.
Set against the striking backdrop of De Zandwacht, an architectural sculpture symbolizing transience and resilience, the choreography invited dancers to engage somatically with their surroundings. Through breathwork, weight shifts, and embodied improvisation, they responded to the structure, the landscape, and each other, creating movement that reflected themes of connection, resistance, and transformation.
The goal of the project was to investigate how dance can serve as a bridge between inner struggles and external environments, fostering deeper awareness for performers and audiences alike. The outcomes included a layered, evocative performance that highlighted the interplay between natural and man-made worlds, leaving audiences with lasting impressions of human fragility and strength.
Resonating Voices - Waves of Sound and Spirit in a Palestinian Musician's Quest for Identity and Freedom
(2025)
Shafeeq Alsadi
This thesis emerges as an exploration of the multifaceted nature of music, identity, and the enduring spirit of a people living through profound challenges. Based on autoethnographic reflection, it provides an introspective exploration of how sound becomes a vessel for presence, a mirror for resilience, and a space for transformation. Through music, this inquiry seeks not merely to articulate personal narratives but to connect them with the common pulse of a collective memory—a memory that is influenced by the persistent realities of displacement and the yearning for freedom that Palestinians, no matter where they are in the world, experience.
At the heart of this research lie three case studies that illuminate the potential of music: Sonic Exile, where traditional Arabic modalities and experimental soundscapes dissolve into a single, resonating voice; Echoes from Bethlehem, an improvisational encounter with Palestinian Nay master Faris Ishaq that brings forth a meditative state of being wholly present in sound and spirit; and the work of the Amwaj Choir, where human voice rises above cultural and physical confines, embodying a living, enduring presence.
The findings suggest that music is not a static act but a living practice—an unfolding dialogue between tradition and innovation, self and other, silence and sound. Improvisation, as a way of being, becomes a method of both reflection and resistance, enabling a deeper connection to the present moment while engaging with the complexity of the past.
The research reveals music’s profound capacity to heal, to resist, and to imagine new pathways for freedom and belonging. Rather than offering definitive conclusions, this thesis extends invitations: to listen, to witness, and to remain open to the spaces where sound and silence meet, where identity and memory evolve, and where the human spirit, despite all, continues to create and endure.
recent publications
A performative approach to wool felting : Rhizomatic relations in visual arts making and art education
(2025)
Samira Jamouchi
This exposition documents the doctoral dissertation “A performative approach to wool felting : Rhizomatic relations in visual arts making and art education” from the University of Agder, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2023.
The exposition consists of a PDF of the printed dissertation and a list of the media (film or sound) that is part of the dissertation.
As the first combined dissertation in Fine Arts with the specialisation Arts in context submitted to the University of Agder, comprising artistic and scientific works, this research evolves between artistic and written acts. It is a performative exploration of a performative approach to the ancestral technique of wool felting. The dissertation includes six explorations: three public exhibitions, three articles, and a 7th element consisting of a series of ongoing ‘minor’ moments related to the topic of the thesis that I carry out in my everyday practices as an artist, teacher and researcher. Alongside with that, I provide a mantle that is a metatext of the dissertation. In dialogue with the works of Deleuze and Guattari (1980) and Barad (2007), I use concepts that denote a theoretical and philosophical position inspired by an ontology of immanence and agential realism. The pedagogical stance of this research acknowledges Atkinson’s (2015) ideas on the adventure of pedagogy that brings forward the notion of the ‘not-known’.
The rhizomatic network connecting the seven explorations is transmitted through four interconnected parts that I call ‘strata’, which is in accordance with my research design. A diffractive reading of the explorations suggests a performative pedagogy that actualises questions related to artistic, pedagogical, and research practices. It underlines the emerging knowledge creation in situ as not-isolated and not pre-existing entities and/or thoughts.
Moving between the de-stabilisation–re-stabilisation, de-forming–reforming, and de-territorialisation–re-territorialisation of my practices brings a fruitful in-coherence. My doubts, interrogations, and experimentations might affect the reader, and provoke new thoughts. The mapping of my explorations can create resonance in readers, also in their own contexts – being similar or different. Maybe this could inspire more persons to explore further how one could teach, not only how one should teach.
This dissertation is dedicated to those that doubt and ask questions, but also to those that work with certainty, in artistic, pedagogical, and/or research contexts.
How to Speak a Foreign Language Without Mistakes
(2025)
Jewellery witch Seraphita
How to Speak a Foreign Language Without Mistakes is a performative video piece centred around the Linguo Booster Phonecase, created for the Tactilite exhibition at Hobusepea Gallery in 2021.
Jewellery witch Seraphita presents the Linguo Booster Phonecase as an intermediary between the person and language. This accessory, engaging with the oral cavity, features a cylindrical jadeite stone. Its translucent green hue harmonises with the exhibition’s style, glowing as light filters through it from the phone’s lamp.
Employing Haptic Visuality, this multisensory approach weaves together emotional resonance and speculative ritual, reimagining connection within a pseudomagical framework.
Idea and performance: Darja Popolitova
Video effects: Jakob Tulve
Sound: Andres Nõlvak
© Darja Popolitova
How to Exercise Self-Control
(2025)
Jewellery witch Seraphita
How to How to Exercise Self-Control is a performative video piece centred around the Irritation Channelling Rings, created for the Tactilite exhibition at Hobusepea Gallery in 2021.
These jewellery pieces invite a pseudomagical interaction, crafting a ritual where the rings serve as tools to soothe irritation and foster emotional transformation. Their dynamic nature is portrayed through movement, bodily interactions, and adaptability, with the visual blur enhancing their fluidity and transformative essence.
Employing Haptic Visuality, this multisensory approach weaves together emotional resonance and speculative ritual, reimagining connection within a pseudomagical framework.
Idea and performance: Darja Popolitova
Video effects: Jakob Tulve
Sound: Andres Nõlvak
© Darja Popolitova