Residency artists and researchers

Performing arts, performance art

IGNIS

The durational performance piece IGNIS will premiere in Colombia in 2026 and will subsequently tour across Latin America as part of Roimola’s Ancestral Dreams exhibition. IGNIS focuses on the sun as an essential element for life, as well as the myths surrounding it—stories of humanity and its potential destruction. The piece explores identity crisis and trauma born in the in-between space of two countries and cultures, but it has evolved into a broader investigation into the struggles of Indigenous peoples to protect nature.

We would use the residency period for a comprehensive development of the work. The performance is a collaboration between Finnish and Colombian artists. From Colombia, the participating group is the art collective Minga de prácticas De-coloniales, whose work is deeply rooted in community processes involving Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in southwestern Colombia.

The Cauca region is currently a hotspot in the country—at the heart of resistance—where communities are seeking collective ways to confront the legacies of centuries of racism, displacement, and armed conflict. At the core of these processes lies an aesthetic, cultural, and holistic autonomy that serves as a healer of individual, collective, and territorial colonial wounds. Another vital healing force is nature itself, which all Indigenous peoples fight to protect.

We will work in a rehearsal space for three weeks, focusing on creating the full performance through sound, visuals, costume design, and movement language. Above all, our aim is to create a space for transformation and reflect on how we can shift our collective perception of the Earth and other people—from seeing them as resources to embracing them as a community and home that we must care for.

The goal of the residency is to shape a framework for the performance, which will continue to evolve throughout the tour in each country, adapting to the contributions of local artists and gathering thoughts and wisdom—much like a tree adds rings as it grows.