open stage
13.04.24–13.04.24
Time
6–8 p.m.
Entrance
Included in the entrance fee
Language
Many languages
13.04.24–13.04.24
Time
6–8 p.m.
Entrance
Included in the entrance fee
Language
Many languages
How are we affected by the prevailing norms surrounding us? In which ways can we reclaim power over ourselves and our history? How can we grant ourselves permission to embody our identities in all their complexity, beyond questions of right or wrong? How do we ensure representation on our own terms?
Based on the exhibition Crossing the Blue Bridge by Selma Selman, Röda Sten Konsthall invites you to an Open Stage. Come and hear poetry, prose, drama and interdisciplinary text-based works dealing with the themes of identity, heritage, power and resistance. Details of the participants will be presented before April 13.
Guest artists Bagir Kwiek and Shirin Kaj will talk about their experiences as Roma in Sweden, using spoken word, poetry, and literary elements.
The evening is coordinated by Tara Talebsafa as part of her internship in the educational program Kulturverkstan.
Prior to the Open Stage, we invited the audience to an Open Call for text-based works for performance.
The participants who were selected are:
Clara Lund
Hanna Monola
Jakob Niedziela
Gum Lina Gabrielsson
Lillion Lost
Susanna Johansson
Ramona Hezaveh
Matteo Heimann Ippolito
Bagir Kwiek was born in 1971 and resides in Bergsjön, Gothenburg. He is a Swedish author, editor, and Roma activist, and served as Sweden’s Reading Ambassador between 2019 and 2021. Kwiek was the initiator of the acclaimed exhibition Vi är romer! (We are Roma!) at Gothenburg City Museum in 2013. Together with Monica Hirsch, he authored the fairytale book Det var en gång det som inte var (Once upon a time there was what wasn’t) in 2013. Bagir has also worked on documenting Roma testimonies from the Holocaust and contributed to the anthology Den ohörda historien: romska och resandeberättelser (The Unheard Story: Roma and Traveler Narratives).
Shirin Kaj is 18 years old and lives outside Gothenburg. She is a rapper and musician with a Roma background who has been involved in the music scene since she was 11 years old. Kaj has participated in the performances En oförglömlig historia om romsk historia (An unforgettable story of Roma history) 2018–2020 with Trajosko Drom and Carmen med förhinder (Carmen with Obstacles) with Artem – Romska Teatern 2022. She created the short film Vi är romer (We are Roma), which was shown at the Travelling People’s Day at the Röhsska Museum in 2023.
