Open invitation for female identifying artists to join a day of sharing and experimenting

As a part of my research on Nordic womanhood, I am organizing open artistic meetings in Oslo and Gothenburg, to meet other female artists in a context of sharing and exchanging, with the aim to generate discussion around the themes of the project and to gain new perspectives for my research. The day of meeting will consist of conversations, short writing practices and physical practices. You don’t need to be a professional dancer to join, but some curiosity for movement and openness to the body-mind connection is recommended.

Note: Everyone regardless of their cultural background is welcome! In Other words, even though the theme is “Nordic womanhood”, you don’t need to be based or from a Nordic country to join, the more cultural diversity we can have in the meeting, the more interesting the discussions will get.

Paluu Pohjoiseen - Aftur norður

In this project I am looking into the building blocks that form the structure of the Nordic female identity. How do we experience the role of being a woman in the Nordic countries, and how does it differ from that in Central Europe? What historical, cultural, social and environmental factors have influenced the position that women hold in today's Northen European societies? 

I grew up in Finland and left for study dance in the Netherlands when I was 20 years old. I ended up spending 16 years of my life in the Netherlands and Belgium, and during that period, I got to experience the role and space that women were given in those cultures. After returning to my home country in 2020, I was confronted with the Finnish society’s rather different idea of womanhood. As I got to observe the Finnish society from a very different perspective than when growing up there, I noticed some very particular differences from Central European culture, in terms of what the society expected women to be and to represent. I got curious to understand more about the root reasons of why Nordic womanhood is what it is today, in all its complexity. 

As a part of my research, I would like to meet other female dance artists living in the Nordic countries, to share thoughts and discussions around these themes, to hear their experiences and perspective s as Scandinavians, on the topic. I am interested in finding the links and similarities of womanhood within the Nordics, as well as the differences.

The project is supported by Nordisk Kulturfond.

Meri Pajunpää is a dancer and choreographer based in Helsinki. She has been working internationally in

numerous projects over the past 15 years. Her career as a dancer comprises of works with choreographers

such as Petri Kekoni, Bára Sígfúsdottir, Olga de Soto, Isabella Soupart, Theo Clinkard, Vera Tussing,

Arno Schuitemaker, Jenni Kivelä and Francesco Scavetta among others.

In her choreographic work, Meri has been collaborating with musicians, light artists and visual artists

such as Jan Fedinger, Michael Picknett, Rubén Orio, Simon Verheylesonne and Eeva-Mari Haikala. She

works closely with her co-creators, and the dialog between different art forms in creation is one of her

continues interests. Another re-appearing theme in her works is the use of text and spoken word in all its

complexity, immersed into - or in dialog with - movement. Her physical research has been influenced by

her studies in Shiatsu, Tai-chi and Qi gong, allowing the treatment of energy in motion through the

understanding of these Eastern practices.

Photographer: Heli Sorjonen