Bergen International Performance Festival 2023
The 6th edition of the Bergen International Performance Festival (BIFF), organized by Performance Art Bergen (PAB) took place at Bergen Kjøtt from August 24th to 26th 2023. The festival brought together performance artists from all over Europe to perform together.
Artists: Mari Norddahl (NO), Elizabeth Tomos (UK), Maire Karuvuori (FIN), Ana Matey (ES), Isabel León (ES), Giusseppe Dominguez (ES), Mario Montoya (ES), Lorena Izquierdo Aparicio (ES), Héctor Navarro Agulló (ES), Thomas Reul (DE), Stephan US (DE) and Surya Tüchler (DE)
This year's festival drew inspiration from Angela Carter's novel 'Nights at the Circus' (1984), where the main character is a trapeze artist whose ambiguous but physically overwhelming presence manifests as half-bird, half-woman. The novel takes us from London to Siberia, using a train journey to explore the transformation of identity through the violation and liberation from cultural norms by connecting with our animalistic selves.
A journey often serves as a spatial metaphor in everyday language. In the art world, journeys are referred to as a journey of the mind, not a physical movement from one point to another. The journey encompassed cities, former industrial buildings, and untouched landscapes. The artists explored how encounters with each other and the environment can transform and expand us.
Photography: Bjarte Bjørkum
As part of BIPF, an evening seminar was also hosted. The seminar was moderated by the Bergen-based performance artist Eleanor Clare, and the speakers were Thomas Reul, Maire Karuvuori, Elisabeth Tomos, and Eirik Fevang. The seminar addressed the theme of transformation through interaction, using the practice-based perspectives of our festival artists and the theoretical lens of philosopher and literary critic Eirik Fevang.
BIPF 2023 was organized by Anette Friedrich Johannessen (Chair of PAB) and Marit Tunestveit Dyre. In partnership with: EXCHANGE Live Art (ES), https://linktr.ee/exchangeliveart, PAErshe (DE) http://www.paersche.org and DIÀLEG OBERT (ES) https://www.instagram.com/dialeg_obert/
With sincere thanks to the support for BIPF 2023 from Bergen Municipality, the Norwegian Arts Council, Vestland County Municipality, and Acción Cultural Española (Through the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE), in the framework of the Mobility grants)
About BIPF:
Bergen International Performance Festival (BIPF) is organized by Performance Art Bergen (PAB). PAB's ultimate goal is to strengthen, visualize, and promote performance art in Bergen, on the West Coast of Norway, and in Norway as a whole. BIPF is held every other year, and the format has varied between individual and group performances. BIPF offers professional development opportunities for the art community in Bergen through the presentation of international, national, and local high-quality performance art. The festival introduces performance art, brings new impulses to Bergen, and inspires and challenges a broad audience interested in the arts.