about Protest Factory | about the artists

Above: “My Zeitgeist Hurts” by Siri Hjorth (NO) and Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas (NO).

Kikka Rytkönen will perform.

Timimi Marak, Sapmi Pride 2016 - Foto Alice Marie Johansen

Heidi Kilpeläinen

PROTEST FACTORY:
ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Siri Hjorth and Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas has worked together on a series of collaborative projects. They are participating in the exhibition “Machines à penser”, curated by Dieter Roelstraete, at Prada Fondazione, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice, Italy, in May to November 2018, and in August they will unveil the world’s largest monument to the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein by his cabin in Skjolden, in collaboration with Marianne Bredesen, The Fritt Ord Foundation and KORO (URO). In November they will showcase their film installation “Pathos and Potatoes” with support from the DNB Foundation and Norwegian Art Societies, followed by two intertwined solo exhibitions at Sandefjord Art Society in Desember 2018.

Sebastian Makonnen Kjølaas (born 1985) is a Norwegian artist. He has a MA degree from Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2007-12). In 2015, while participating in the National Art Exhibition, Kjølaas won the Norwegian Art Society's debutant price for his works I’m So Oily / A Puzzle Building Muscle, Cyber-fun in the Algorithm Gravy / Powerhouse on the Rooftop and It’s Mega-personal / Training to Become a Train. http://sebastianmk.no/

Siri Hjorth (born 1986) is a Norwegian artist. She has a BA degree from Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2010-14). Her latest works include the costume production for the cross-disciplinary theater production From butter to margarine, a part of the contemporary art programme Munchmuseet on the Move, at Whitelight Theatre F and 1857 in 2017. http://www.sirihjorth.no/

Hjorth and Kjølaas co-founded two artist run galleries in Oslo during the period 2009-13, GAGO (Galleri Godteri) and SALT.

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PERFORMANCE VOYAGE 7: PROTEST SONG COMPETITION!

Performance Voyage 7, an international collection of video performances produced by Artists’ Association MUU, Finland, will be screened at Kunstplass. Performance Voyage 7, with theme Protest Song Competition! includes works from 18 international artists / groups who explore the political situation and frustrations, the contemporary or future form of the protest song.

The Performance Voyage, series of international video performances created for the camera, has been produced annually by MUU galleria - Helsinki, Finland since 2011. Taking the video performance collection on a worldwide tour is a new way to introduce the artists and their works. The tour ables to spread the artists’ networks, working possibilities and increase their reputation as performance artists. One of the key aims of the Performance Voyage series is to record and document ephemeral performances and thereby extend their lifespan.

The exhibition at Kunstplass included live performances by Kikka Rytkönen and Heidi Kilpeläinen at the opening on 9th March.

Kikka Rytkönen
TRASH-ARTIST, PERFORMING ARTIST Kikka Rytkönen grew through the 70´s as a hippie and political activist. Educated by the 70´s singing movement she is founder, drummer and songwriter of post-punk girlband Edith Biafra. She continues as a singer and performer, and she has been actress in films like Räpsy and Dolly, and Mercy all the way. She has been working in visual arts since end of the 80´s. She has used household and recycled plastics as material for environmental art, light art and video art works. Music, rhythm, themes of womanhood, political background, and other contemporart themes have been subjects for her performances. Rytkönen has also been co-operating with Romanian and Bulgarian migrants, who make their living on the streets of Helsinki.

Heidi Kilpeläinen lives and works in London, UK. She graduated from Central St Martins 2004 (M.A.) and has since explored crossovers between visual art and music merging their boundaries in ‘total works of art’ and creating combinations of video, installation art and performance. Her work is equally inspired by the contemporary world and its technological fascinations, as well as the ancient, mythological forms that run through collective memory. She produces works of aesthetic interest with a critical eye on our social environment, reflecting on our human condition within it. Her current project titled ‘Tango Therapy’ (funded by KONE) is a performance tour of Finnish tangos sung to one person at a time at refugee centres and war invalids and widows homes in Finland. The tour is filmed and edited into a 3 channel video installation. Kilpeläinen has widely exhibited and performed in galleries and prestigious institutions, with a rich record of participations in shows and festivals. She has also released 3 albums under the title HK119 (One Little Indian Records, 2005 - 2013) and has performed the material internationally in music venues, galleries and museums.

Protest Factory is supported by Fritt Ord, Agency for Culture City of Oslo, and FINNO, and with general support from Art Council Norway.

Copyright: Kunstplass [10]