How to like Finland and how Finland can like me (too): patriotic affects of a (queer) immigrant toward a nation state

Application summary

Patriotic markers are everywhere. These signs of national belonging can be subtle or explicit. In my artistic project I confront the complexity of patriotism by examining its affectual nature from different embodied positions of a (queer) non-EU immigrant living in Finland. I come from Russia, a country that is often perceived as a "monster" within the Nordic context, while simultaneously, my own country views me as a "monster" because of my queerness. Now, here in Finland, I navigate the unspoken rules of conditional belonging in a society marked by Nordic exceptionalism. I will be working with three mutually-reinforcing threads: Nordic exceptionalism, conditional belonging and reclaiming monstrosity through multidisciplinary embodied artistic practices. My methods will include fictioning, creating monstrous and alter-ego characters, researching movement, organizing public and educational discussions, and using humor. I begin by focusing on patriotic affects in Finland. Through Pekka Suomalainen, a parodic character entranced with Finnish superiority, I ask, what does it mean to be Finnish? Who is allowed to claim Finnishness? Subsequently, I address the concept of belonging upon the condition of being the right kind of immigrant through fictioning performance and multimedia practices. There, looking at integration and citizenship procedures through performance, I inquire: upon which conditions will Finland like us back? Finally, I reclaim monstrosity through a trans body experience in order to confront both the stereotypes enforced onto the (queer) immigrant body as well as resist the violence of Russian patriotism. The project will result in 4 performance works, an installation, a video piece, and workshops in high schools. The project prompts a public conversation on access, belonging and inclusion – all of which demand urgent attention in the current times of conservative, anti-queer and anti-immigrant turn both in Finland and Europe at large.