NEW THEATRE INSTITUTE OF LATVIA

contemporary performing arts in Latvia and abroad

From October 2022 to March 2023, The New Theatre Institute of Latvia organized the project “Forest School”, in which, curator Bek Berger and artists Rebeka Birch, Daniel Peltz and Sissi Westerberg, together with artists, scientists and environmental activists of other countries, have traveled digitally across various ecosystems starting from the Ķemeri peatlands in Latvia, a forest in the Helsinki suburb of Rastila, Nordhavn tip in Copenhagen, former industrial area of Stockholm et al. We have delved into such issues as water contamination, land reclamation, the influence of drainage in peatlands and other with the help of local scientists, habitat experts and a hydrogeologist.

In each session the scientists were paired with academics and artists, in order to explore the specific topic from different prisms. The artists selected, whether visual, movement or theatre artists, were selected with the location and theme in mind. Therefore, each session was based on strong collaboration between the scientists and artists.

Here we have compiled all of the recordings of the six Forest School sessions, making your life easier. Enjoy all of the various locations, themes and conversations with the artists, scientists, and activists carefully selected for each session.

Recording of the first Forest School session: Rebecca Birch from the former substrate of a Norwegian Forest:

 

Recording of the second Forest School session: Sissi Westerberg from former industrial area of Stockholm

Recording of the third Forest School session: A view from the peatlands with Anete Pošiva-Bunkovska, Bek Berger and Daniel Hengst

Recording of the forth Forest School session: Nana Francisca Schottländer from Nordhavn tip in Copenhagen

 

Recording of the fifth Forest School session: Daniel Peltz and Alyssa Coffin from a forest in the Helsinki suburb of Rastila

Recording of the sixth Forest School session: Getting lost in the forest with Latvian artists Rasa and Raitis Šmiti and habitat expert Anete Pošiva-Bunkovska

 

Forest school’s creators:
Rebecca Birch (NO) is an artist working with entanglements of people and their local landscapes, her long-term research project Lichen Covered Stick traced histories of human-lichen encounters. She is currently Visiting Scholar at Oslo School of Environmental Humanities.
Bek Berger (LV) is an artist and the artistic director of the New Theatre Institute of Latvia. In her personal practice she has been working across German, Italian and Latvian forests and peatlands researching mechanisms to create art for non-humans.
Daniel Peltz (SE) is an artist, co-founder of Rejmyre Art Lab and Professor of Site and Situation
Specific Practices at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.
Sissi Westerberg (SE) is an artist, co-founder of Rejmyre Art Lab and Senior Lecturer at Konstfack University College of Arts Crafts and Design in Sweden

The event is implemented by the project “ACT: Art, Climate, Transition”. Supported by the EU program “Creative Europe” and the Nordic-Baltic mobility program “Culture”.

“ACT: Art. Climate. Transition” is co-financed by the EU’s programme “Creative Europe”. ACT is a European cooperation project on ecology, climate change and social transition. In an era of climate breakdown, mass extinction and growing inequalities we join our forces in a project on hope: connecting broad perspectives with specific, localised possibilities, ones that invite or demand that we act. ACT is a project initiated by 10 cultural operators from 10 European countries, working in the field of performing and visual arts. More about the project read at artclimatetransition.eu.

  

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