EVENTS UNDER
BORNHOLMS CRAFT AND CULTURE WEEKS

Hope and Ponies at Hodda 4-12/9

An installation and workshop by the Scottish company Two Destination Language exploring hope, hopefulness, hopelessness, and what we hope the future will bring. The two artists, Kat and Alister, will be based at Hodda on Store Torv in Rønne from 4–12 September, 3:00–5:00 p.m.

Come and contribute your own sentences about hope, bring along old fabric scraps, have a chat, and perhaps sew a colourful banner together with them.

There will be an exhibition at Hodda featuring banners created previously, while the new ones will be added on an ongoing basis. On 12 September at 2:00 p.m., there will be a reception and celebration of all the works.

All the materials have had a previous life and are being reused: visitors may bring their own materials or use those provided. Although the work occupies only a small part of the physical space, it fills it with the sound of hopeful activity and activates a work that is constantly alive and changing. The contributions will become part of a growing installation that flows through—and possibly beyond—the building in which it is situated.

The project will be supplemented by ongoing screenings of a film featuring reflections by the artists, including the perspective of Ukrainian artist Nadia Sokolenko from a war zone, as well as a journey to the hardy ponies at “the end of the world” in the northern Scottish Shetland Islands.

The Hope and Ponies project was originally initiated during a residency at BIRCA, and now returns to Bornholm in collaboration with Hodda in Rønne.

Kristian Husted and Daniel Norback are working on the project The Baltic Sea, My Eye, in which they explore the meaning of cultural resilience and geopolitical community across the islands of Bornholm, Gotland, and Saaremaa. Until recently, the islands were peripheral parts of their respective countries—Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia—and were mainly remembered as holiday destinations during the summer. Now they find themselves at the centre of a new security-policy landscape and have become a top priority in defence policy and the media.

What does this uncertain situation do to those of us living on the islands? How can we find a language for it beyond defence agreements, statistics, and reported incidents in the Baltic Sea? Do we feel safer now that the military has returned—or is the opposite true?

At BIRCA, they will present their research and open up a dialogue around these important questions. Preppers’ soup will also be served.

Kristian Husted is a director, a member of The Algorithmic Theatre, and the author of the critically acclaimed documentary book Ivan, about a Ukrainian refugee. Daniel Norback has been part of Copenhagen’s experimental performing arts scene for more than 25 years. He is the artistic director of the theatre Norpol and was born and raised on the island of Gotland.

Together, they are conducting research based on interviews, the sea, and personal reflections.