Register for UTLYSNING: ANDRA ENERGIER

Rural Movements invites you to an artistic residency that explores alternative energies in the Värmland countryside. The residency is open to choreographers and dancers where, for six weeks, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in an artistic process that is centred on the relationship between you and your surroundings.

Concept
The Alternative Energies residency provides time and space to unconditionally reside in an artistic process that grounds itself in a specific place, and the existing and fictitious energies that arise there. As a resident artist you will be introduced to the area through a program of activities, workshops and conversations. The residency is divided into two sections: three weeks in May/June and three weeks in August/September.

Alternative Energies
According to the principles of energy it cannot be created or disappear – only transformed and added or removed in closed systems. Putting something into motion requires energy. Our modern consumption patterns consume a lot of energy and create growth that is considered necessary for the well-being of our society. But can we find other ways to manage our energy resources and revisit our approach to growth and welfare?

Where is energy taken from and how is it distributed? In terms of natural resources, raw materials, electricity, labor and recreation, the countryside can be described as a feeder to the cities. How can we relate to this and what energies can we transform in the meeting between our artistic processes and places, people, non-humans, events, ideas, etc.?

Alternative Energies also brings to mind the supernatural, the mysterious and the occult. Energies that are communicated through our bodies during seances, rites and ceremonies. Various movements that through the ages have created meaning, comfort and togetherness, but which have also excluded, exploited and misled. What existing or fictitious contexts, places and beliefs live on today? What spaces and ceremonies do we need, in order to see other realities and perspectives?

During the Alternative Energies residency, you will get the opportunity to choose your own direction, perspectives and interests in relation to the program’s theme.

Experience the countryside
The start of the residency coincides with the Rural Development in Emtervik's annual plant market, which many people visit to buy cuttings and seeds. At the same time, the members of the Rural Movement's residency Choreographic Architecture/Architectural Choreographies will be presenting their work.

During the first part of the residency between May 21st – June 10th, participants will get an opportunity to explore their surroundings and meet other artists – both from Rural Movement's residency and the Alma Löv Museum of Unexpected Arts.

During the second part of the program, between 29th Aug – 18th Sep, participants will return to Östra Ämtervik to further explore the theme of Alternative Energies for three more weeks. The residency comes to an end the same weekend as the Rural Development in Emtervik's Harvest Market, which can create unexpected meetings and public interactions in connection with the residency performance.

The two periods of residency provide an opportunity to forge collaborations with other artists, local associations, individuals, etc.

About Östra Ämtervik
Östra Ämtervik, located in Sunne municipality in Värmland, is an agricultural and forestry community with some 800 inhabitants. The flat landscape was previously a bay of the Fryken lake. According to legend, the population around Fryken - Freja's lake - and Fryksdalen lived in a matriarchy until the place became Christian. Several bays have served as gathering places for religious rites and ceremonies. As the ice sheets retreated and the land rose, the bay was transformed into marshland. This beautiful place has a rich cultural life, being the home of the author Selma Lagerlöf's Mårbacka and the contemporary art museum Alma Löv Museum of Unexpected Art, which also runs Residens Gunnerud – a meeting place for locals and cultural practitioners.

Despite the fact the local population has decreased in recent decades, Östra Ämtervik can still rightly be described as a living countryside. The country store in the church village of Prästbol was reopened in 2021. In the same village, at the mouth of the river Ämtan, which meanders between the fields and meadows past Mårbacka before it mixes with Fryken's waters, you’ll find the community house Sjösala. The building has, since the 1940s, been a popular gathering place in the area, with dance nights, revues and concerts. Sjösala has a small stage, a large hall with beautiful wooden floors and a café.

About Rural Movements
Rural movements – choreography and dance as a political force and movement – is a three-year regional dance residency that was formed and is being developed in Värmland between 2021-2023. It is also a platform where the rural countryside and choreography can meet for productions and public events that take place in Östra Ämtervik and the surrounding area. The initiative aims to strengthen the ongoing development of dance and support existing and new spaces for public meetings in rural areas. It is a collaboration between Riksteatern, Region Värmland, Riksteatern Värmland, Kultur på landsbygd and Alma Löv Museum of Unexpected Art.

Who can apply?
Choreographers and dancers.

When?
A total of six weeks divided into two three-week periods in 2022

May 21st to June 10th, 2022
August 29th to September 18th, 2022

Practical information:
During the residency participants will work and reside at Residens Gunnerud in Östra Ämtervik. Sjösala bygdegård is the residency's main workplace and stage. Participants also have access to a mobile, modular dance floor that can be used as a stage, meeting place, seating and spatial installations. The process takes place based on current possibilities at the location and primarily aims to work with existing resources.

It is a 20-minute walk from Residens Gunnerud to Sjösala, where the country store is located. It is useful to have a driving license and access to a car during the residency for increased freedom of movement. The residency's project manager is able to pick up and drop off participants at the train station at the beginning and end of the program.

The residency includes:

• Fee of SEK 80,000 + VAT (F-tax is a requirement) and a total of SEK40,000 + VAT for any production costs and collaborations
• Accommodation at Gunnerudsgården
• Workspaces and places for public meetings
• Activities, workshops, talks and meetings with researchers, artists, local businesses and figures
• Hosting and on-site project management 

What to include in your application:

• Your CV
• A description of why you are interested in working with this concept (max 1 A4 page)
• A brief description of your artistic background
• Feel free to attach video or links from previous or ongoing work

The application must be received by Rural Movements no later than 28th February 2022. The participant will be chosen no later than March 15th, 2022. All decisions are made by a selection group consisting of representatives of the cooperation project and the surrounding area.

Download the open call as a PDF. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
ANNA ASPLIND: anna.asplind@ruralmovements.se