Blog: PUSH+ artists at Showbox Festival 2019

6 March 2020

Photo of Oslo by Jassy Earl
Photo of Oslo by Jassy Earl

By Gabrielle Haga Senior Adviser with Scenekunstbruket

Showbox has become the largest theatre festival for a young audience in Norway. In addition to being an open festival, we are also a place where the performing art field meets. Scenekunstbruket is a national network and we make Showbox a natural meeting place for artists producers, presenters, and delegates from Norway and abroad. Through the PUSH and PUSH+ projects we have established connections between Norwegian artists and artists from our partner countries, and we try to facilitate meeting points at Showbox, where the artists and partners can reconnect and establish friendship and cooporation possibilities.

At Showbox 2019 we had an inspiring combination of three PUSH artists performing alongside a group of PUSH+ artists and partners visiting as part of the Home Festival Visit. Bringing artists together in this way is at the heart of the PUSH and PUSH+ projects, creating a strong community that crosses borders and artform. Several performances touched the topic of Home and belonging in this years’ Showbox. Also, the perfomances crossed over, touching on several of the PUSH and PUSH+ topics of gender, (over)protection and home.

Katja Lindeberg (Gender Lab) showed her performance Polar Bear Father, a personal story of a father-daughter relationship, about belonging and not belonging in the line with those who came before us.

Tony Tran (Migration Lab) had his dance performance Jacob, which is the continuation of Tran’s ongoing research on power and identity in human relationships.

Mari Bø (Gender Lab) danced in the performane Ritsj by Katma, a well known dance company in Norway.

In addition, we worked with Jarl Flaaten Bjørk from the (over)protection Lab to host and produce our 25th anniversary party and performing arts award The Golde Wolverine.

Also Showbox hosted Home Festival Presentation with PUSH+ Home lab artists Ilke Teerlinck, Mette Møller Overgaard, Els Robroeck and Rebecca Lenaerts.

During Showbox and throuhout the year, we have close contact with artists connected to our Creative Europe projects, making sure they are all included and are ambassadors for PUSH+.