Nordic Bridges announces latest highlights in spring programme

Nordic Bridges, a year-long exchange of art, culture and ideas between Nordic and Canadian artists led by Harbourfront Centre in Toronto and supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers, continues this spring with exciting premieres and events across the country. 

“Our year-long celebration kicks into high gear this spring, with programming across Canada, and across performance genres,” says Laura McLeod, Director Cultural Engagement at Harbourfront Centre and Lead Producer, Nordic Bridges. “Canadian audiences will have access to Nordic music, visual art, film, dance, and theatre that is either new to Canada, or a world premiere collaboration between Canadian and Nordic artists.”
 

From dance performances, documentaries, theatre performances and art exhibitions, to music, workshops and talks. Here’s a selection of Nordic highlights from the launch of the second phase of the programme for Nordic Bridges. There are loads of opportunities for Canadian audiences to experience both artists well known in the Nordics and new talents, as well as other creative collaborations never produced before. 

• The Coastal Dance Festival in Anvil Centre, British Columbia, with premieres by Sámi artists Liv Aira, Marika Renhuvud, Sara Marielle Gaup, and Camilla Therese Karlsen.
• The North American premieres of dance performances The Days by Maria Nurmela and Ville Oinonen, and Story, story, die by Alan Lucien Øyen and his company Winter guests (multiple locations).
• The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto presents Sasha Huber’s first solo show in North America You Name It.
• Theatre performances for children and families from Teatret Gruppe 38, Kitt Johnson X-act and The National Theatre of Greenland at Harbourfront Centre’s JUNIOR festival.
• Feature films presented by the Toronto International Film Festival, including works by Lone Scherfig, Amanda Kernell, Iram Haq, Pirjo Honkasalo, Katrin Ottarsdóttir and 22 documentaries by Nordic filmmakers at this year’s Hot Docs Festival.
• Musical acts including Jenseeraq X Uummatit, ISÁK, and Sara Ajnnak at Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit.
• Monthly Nordic Talks, free to attend at Harbourfront Centre, and much more.

The CoMotion Festival in Toronto (April 20 to May 1), a deaf and disability arts festival, presents a multidisciplinary programme including visual arts, music, performances, digital art, workshops, and panel discussions. Nordic artists featured in the programme include deaf rapper Signmark, and artists Gudrun Hasle, Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen and Erla Björk Sigmundsdóttir.

Multidisciplinary artist Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen from Finland is artist-in-residence at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. She sees this as a great opportunity for spending time immersed in another culture for several months. Wallinheimo-Heimonen says:

“I have many questions for local disability activists during my Nordic Bridges residency. For example, how do we fight for our right to exist in the future? And how to restore the sense of belonging of people with disabilities in communities? How to change the phenomenon whereby people without disabilities want to help us rather than get to know us?”
 

Nordic Bridges launched in January – in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions – with the acclaimed outdoor light art exhibition Nordic Lights at Harbourfront Centre, DesignTO’s collaborative visual art exhibition Shared Terrain, TIFF’s national tour of films by Roy Andersson, and events during BreakOut West in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The list of events, artists and acts will be updated continuously throughout 2022. Keep up to date by following #NordicBridges on social media.
 

The year-long cultural venture initiated by the Nordic ministers for culture and led by Harbourfront Centre in Toronto – one of Canada’s leading arts and culture institutions – will engage artists and cultural stakeholders from all the Nordic countries. The key programming pillars of Nordic Bridges are artistic innovation, accessibility and inclusion, indigenous perspectives, resilience and sustainability. This international venture, which seeks to raise awareness about Nordic art and culture in Canada throughout 2022, is the most comprehensive ever.