Portfolio - grosses treffen

Maija Hirvanen
artist and choreographer
based in Helsinki
born 1977
www.hirvanen.net
samples of work
Operation We, stage work trilogy 2011-2014
Medium: Performance/choreography.
Our social democratic bodies, 2011.
For those who have time, 2012.
Days without Names, 2014.
The parts of the trilogy are independent,
standalone performances each exploring from a
different perspective the question of what unites
the people of today. What is ‘we’ made of?
Our social democratic bodies asks how one of the basis
of the Finnish society’s welfare, social democracy, could
be approached choreographically and in a performative
manner.
In For those who have time brings together stage
minimalism with complex emotional experiences. At the
core of the piece is an invitation to take a kinesthetic look
at the habits formed by the fast pace of contemporary
life, which ironically both unite and isolate us.
Days without Names looks at the physicality of “we” from
perspectives of the global level, the near future and the
act of dancing.
Maija Hirvanen / Our social democratic bodies.
Photo Aada Niilola
.
Maija Hirvanen / For those who have time
Photo Uupi Tirronen.
Maija Hirvanen / Days without Names
Photo Aki-Pekka Sinikoski
Walkapolis is an ongoing project exploring walking and
performance in city environments. The project is run by
Maija Hirvanen and works with varying working groups
and people. Previous Walkapolis city walks took place in
Helsinki (summer 2014), New Performance Festival,
Turku and Baltic Circle festival, Helsinki in 2014. First
Walkapolis walks took place at Helsinki Festival 2013.
2014 walks were be made together with diverse group of
people, who each act as guides to the city, from their
unique perspectives.
All Walkapolis walks are not necessarily considered as art
works, they are city walks in the context of art.
Walkapolis
Photo Maija Hirvanen
Walkapolis
photo Maija Hirvanen
If only I had learned in school is a collaborative work by Maija
Hirvanen, Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen. The artists
invited Finns to contribute 45 minute lessons each about What I wish
I had learned in school. They sent out an invitation to participate. The
invitation asked– is there some knowledge, skill or understanding
about something in particular that would have helped you
considerably in life, if you had learned it earlier?
Of those who replied, 11 people made a lesson about their subject
matter at the new art museum of Kerava in the pedagogical room.
The classes range from practical skills to very big personal
revelations which brought on by difficult experiences. The lessons
have were prepared in a dialogue between the participants and the
artist threesome.There is a 15 minute recess between lessons.
Visitors are welcome to come to all of the lessons, or to just one of
the lessons. Each lesson can accommodate 30 people at a time.
Lesson 10 / If only had I learned in school: Inkeri Aalto-Setälä “…how to
publicly mourn, and appreciate hard life experiences that can help you
find a new life.”
On Ice, performance solo (2009)
Maija Hirvanen's choreographic performance is built
around an unhinged female protagonist. ON ICE takes
its creative cue from Hirvanen's time as a cheerleader
for the Turun Palloseura national league ice hockey
team, while she was studying her serious art degree.
Contradictory and absurd, the experience served as the
basis of a solo performance created for performer
Anna-Maija Terävä, centering on themes such as
achievement, the act of gazing and the process of
letting go. The subject matter is explored through a
humorous perspective. ON ICE works like a comic strip
that is made up out of episodes and associative
images.
Maija Hirvanen / On Ice
Performer Anna-Maija Terävä. Photo Aada Niilola
Maija Hirvanen / On Ice, re-make 2012
Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki. Performer Anna-Maija Terävä.
Photo Kuvataiteen keskusarkisto / National Museum of Contemporary art Kiasma
Maija Hirvanen / On Ice, adaptations 2012: Ice rink.
ANTI festival, Kuopio. Performer Anna-Maija Terävä.
Photo Pekka Mäkinen
Maija Hirvanen / On Ice, adaptations 2012: Statue of a Finnish
suffragette Minna Canth
ANTI festival, Kuopio. Performer Anna-Maija Terävä.
Photo Pekka Mäkinen
Maija Hirvanen / On Ice, adaptations 2012: On Ice repertoire dance
class. ANTI festival, Kuopio. Performer Anna-Maija Terävä.
Photo Pekka Mäkinen