Residency artists and researchers Circus Metsäläiset / The Forest Project circus The Forest Project We are Sade Kamppila and Viivi Roiha, two circus artists also known as Duo Kamppi & Roihu. In 2015, we launched a project spanning several years, with its main theme being the creation of circus art in the forest. The Forest Project consists of various sections and forms of implementation, all of which intertwine with the forest theme. The sections include creating a performance in the form of a nature trail in the forest, short films using acrobatics as their form of expression that are filmed in the forest, the Circus Art in the Forest series of photographs, and forest-based workshops for children and adults that promote well-being and expressive movement inspired by the environment. We also seek to study the relationship between people and the natural environment and deepen our relationship with nature. The Forest Project is mobile, but tied to a specific type of environment. The performance will be adapted to each forest, producing a unique work in which the natural environment is the third performer. The idea for the project arose from our desire to spend more time in nature. Spending time in a forest is a purifying experience that makes you feel more grounded. We feel that our examination of the forest and our relationship with nature will provide us with new dimensions and inspiration for creating circus art and art based on movement. Through the project, we want to take circus and its audiences from the traditional theatre setting to the forest. We seek artistic freedom and interaction with nature, and we hope that our project will provide viewers – even those estranged from the forest – with a reason for sharing a moment in nature with us and for breathing deeply. We will arrive at the Saari Residence after a residency period and demos of the nature trail performance at the Silence festival in Kittilä, Finland, and the Scenes de Rue festival in Mulhouse, France, as well as photography retreats with Isla Peura and Ben Hopper in Pyhä-Häkki and Uukuniemi in Finland. At the Saari Residence, we will focus on research into circus art that is inspired by nature and physical exercises. More information about the project is available at www.metsatheforestproject.info.