Föreningen JA! // The YES! Association

We are currently working on a new interactive piece that we hope you would like to be part of: När helvetet frös över (When hell froze over) – A performance in 4 parts. The piece will be performed June 27th, 12-5 pm at Röda Sten in Gothenburg as part of the exhibition A Space on the Side of the Road, curated by artists Kajsa Dahlberg and Henrik Andersson. The point of departure for the exhibition is the law called “Allemansrätten” translated in English to “Freedom to Roam” or “Legal Right of Access to Private Land.” According to the Swedish national encyclopedia the law provides the right for all to spend time in nature and to move through woods and fields, pick wild flowers, berries and mushrooms. The exhibition raises questions about rights of importance today and how we can use the concept of “Allemansrätten” to understand the individual’s relationship to the collective.

The YES! Association was founded in 2005 through the declaration of JämlikhetsAvtalet (the Equal Opportunities Agreement) at the opening of the exhibition Konstfeminism (Art Feminism - Strategies and Consequences in Sweden from the 1970s to the Present) at Dunkers Kulturhus. The YES! Association formulated this agreement as a complement to the equality opportunity plans that the Swedish government recommends all art institutions follow. If an institution signs this agreement and fails to live up to its conditions, the institution is sanctioned by having to pay a fine to the YES! Association’s fund. This fund has been established to financially support artists who have been victims of discrimination due to their gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. So far, no institution has signed the agreement.

In the difficulties faced through our different attempts to communicate our Equal Opportunities Agreement with art institutions, it has become evident that questions regarding equality are highly sensitive, as they are connected to specific situations and personal relationships at the workplaces. Given these past difficulties, we have decided to try a new strategy within the frame of A Space on the Side of the Road.

När helvetet frös över (When hell froze over) should be understood as a concrete exercise related to a concrete situation – the material working environment at Röda Sten. It is a dialogue, an investigation and an analysis built on participation and activity that is intended to offer another axis of engagement with the Equal Opportunities Agreement. The piece consists of 4 parts: 1. Prologue, 2. Negotiation, 3. Evaluation and 4. Epilogue. At Röda Sten we want to create a fictitious situation, an enactment where we perform the prologue from a script, negotiate the Equal Opportunities Agreement and end with the evaluation and epilogue. In scene 2. Negotiation, we want to interrogate the terms of our Equal Opportunities Agreement and find new solutions and formulations connected to the actual work situation at Röda Sten. Our negotiation will use the everyday experiences of the board, the members, the employees and other participants as starting points.

We will work partly through improvisation within a set structure and partly from a script. Our approach is informed by Augusto Boal’s “forum theater,” where fiction is understood not only as a way to reflect on the past but also as a way to prepare for the future. Through the piece När helvetet frös över (When hell froze over) we want to produce experiences within the frame of a fictitious enactment that later can be utilized in “real situations.” The goal is, through negotiation, to realize the Equal Opportunities Agreement. We have invited the staff, the members and the board of Röda Sten, in addition to our members, friends and supporters, to be part of the piece. We need all the support we can get! Before and during the day of the performance we will need help in the actual negotiation/performance but also help with logistics, documentation and preparations.

We are collaborating with drama pedagogue Helena Ulinder who will host a workshop for everybody interested in learning more about “forum theater” and participate more actively in the work around När helvetet frös över (When hell froze over). We will also hold open meetings for those interested in participating.

The negotiation and the workshop will be in Swedish.

If you want to be part of this in some way, please contact us! We will be in Gothenburg June 11-15th and 23-29th.

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The exhibition A Space on the Side of the Road opens Saturday June13th, 12-5 pm at Röda Sten.
 
Workshop with drama pedagogue Helena Ulinder, Sunday June 14th, 10am-4 pm. (Maximum number of participants: 22. Location to be announced.)
 
Info and preparation meeting, Thursday June 25th, 7 pm at Röda Sten.

När helvetet frös över (When hell froze over) - A performance in 4 parts. June 27th, 12-5 pm at Röda Sten.  

If you would like to participate in the workshop and/or in the performance - please send an email with your name and phone number to: info@foreningenja.org
 
If you have any questions:
Johanna Gustavsson +46 (0)70-1570559, Malin Arnell +46 (0)70-6432106, Åsa Elzén +46 (0) 70-4973276