HOME by Vera Boitcova

HOME is part of Vera Boitcova’s ongoing doctoral artistic research that explores the notions of home and belonging within queer migrant dramaturgies. Expanding this inquiry, Boitcova brought together four queer migrant artists currently based in Helsinki to reflect on themes of displacement, absence/presence, and the complex meanings of belonging. The project consisted of four workshops designed by Boitcova to methodologically experiment with the languages of queer migrant dramaturgy. These workshops aimed to create a space for collaborative experimentation and exploration, where participants could test how personal practices and lived experiences might be translated into shared, performative forms. The sessions also facilitated the discussion of artistic methods and ideas related to home and belonging among fellow queer migrant artists in Finland. The participating artists were selected through an open call posted by Boitcova in March 2025, with selection criteria emphasizing the specific focus of the project (exclusively for queer migrant artists) as well as the artistic merit of the applicants. The outcome of the workshop series was the creation of five individual, site-specific, performance-based works presented on Suomenlinna Island in and around HIAP Gallery in June 2025. Each piece responded not only to the physical and symbolic context of the island but also acted as a form of cultural translation, transforming personal and collective experiences of displacement, identity, and belonging into performative language. The second outcome was participation in a group exhibition at the same gallery titled Unfolding Island Ecologies, which featured video documentation from the creative processes behind each artist’s work. This exposition presents materials created and collected during the workshops leading up to creation of the performances. It documents the ongoing effort to develop a performative language capable of expressing queer migrant narratives centered around the concept of home. It attempts to capture dramaturgical methodologies-in-progress and the process of translation of personal artistic practices into shared experiences. The exposition is structured into five sections: brainstorming exercises, workshop designs, artistic tasks, writing prompts, and reflective texts. Each section was designed to highlight different methodological aspects of the process and to offer multiple perspectives on this exploration.