Unfinished Tales is a Nordic and cross-Atlantic project investigating the bodily, cultural and emotional presence of Nordic colonialism in collaboration between artists and youth from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), Førøyar (Faroe Islands), Ísland (Iceland), Norge (Norway), Sverige (Sweden)/Sapmi, Finland/Sapmi, Ghana, Ay Ay (St Croix) and Danmark (Denmark). Based on embodiment, choreography, film and performance, the project travels through the vulnerable landscapes of the colonial body, investigating the footsteps of Nordic colonialism.
Unfinished Tales is based on a 3-year strategy. The first part of the project, unfolding 2019–2021, consist of a series of choreographic short films where youth express their thoughts and experiences of Nordic colonialism through dance and words. In the second part, unfolding in 2022–2023, inherited emotions expressed in the short films form base of a participatory performance lecture for 13–18 year olds. In a combined physical and virtual room, the performance lecture gather youth from across the 9 participating countries, opening an immersive, sensurous and tactile space for connectivity, in between the young participants. In the project’s third part, undfolding in 2023/2024, visual and audio material created throughout the project is curated into an exhibition aimed at youth audience. The exhibition tour educational institutions and museums and additionally constitute a strong visual archive for the posterity.
The Unfinished Tales project was granted funding from the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Culture and art programme in 2019 for its strong collaboration between Nordic professionals and young participants.
The project is created in collaboration between: Artistic director, choreographer and dancer Ingrid Tranum Velásquez (DK), playwright Camara Lundestad Joof (NO), filmartist Stina Aletta Aikio (Sapmi/FI), scenographer Annika Nilsson (SE), composer Henriette Groth (DK). – and the choreographers/dancers: Alexander Montgomery Andersen (GL), Justin Francis Kennedy ( Ay Ay / St.Croix), Auri Ahola and Heli Huovinen (Sapmi/FI), Marit Shirin Carolasdottir (Sapmi/SE), Ásrún Magnusdottir (IS), Nii-Tete Yartey (GH), Katya Nielsen (FO), Jon Werede Hope (NO)
– and youth between 13-18 years from Nuuk, Inari, Skellefteå, Oslo, Tórshavn, Reykjavik, Accra, Ay Ay and Copenhagen.
Credits of promotionfilm:
Dance and voices performed by: youth from Nuuk, Inari, Skellefteå, Oslo, Tórshavn, Reykjavik, Accra, Ay Ay and Copenhagen
Choreographic facilitation of youth process: Alexander Montgomery Andersen (GL), Justin Francis Kennedy (Ay Ay / St.Croix), Auri Ahola (Sapmi/FI), Marit Shirin Carolasdottir (Sapmi/SE), Ásrún Magnusdottir (IS), Nii-Tete Yartey (GH), Katya Nielsen (FO), Jon Werede Hope (NO), Ingrid Tranum Velásquez.
Camera: Kevin Francett, Ullanaq Ingemann, Tobias Norrfors, Manuel Brown, Carlo Cupaiolo, Stina Aletta Aikio, Barbara Lervig, David Berg
Edit: Stina Aletta Aikio
Composer: Henriette Groth
Consultant: Ingrid Tranum Velásquez
Youth interviews: Ludvik Hedinsson, Ululinannguaq Olsen
