As if your life was tied to mine

Nadja Voorham

This exhibition of video portraits asks the viewer to reflect on the connections between the interviewees, who all currently live in Hammerfest.

"As if your life was tied to mine" is a series of 7 video portraits presented as part of the project "Tomorrow’s Witnesses". "Tomorrow’s Witnesses" is a dance/theatre project by LAVA-Danseproduktion and Stellaris DansTeater that speaks about the impact of war on the individual and what it means to be forced to leave your home, your family or your country because of war. It bridges stories from World War II to the present, from the forced evacuation of Finnmark and the scorched earth campaign that followed, to the stories of refugees who have recently fled from war and conflict in other parts of the world.

The portrayed in "As if your life was tied to mine " are four who have fled their home country to Norway because of war and three who lived through the forced evacuation of Finnmark. They speak about living and surviving; about their journeys, sorrows, joys and the impossibility to forget; they reflect on being a child and forgetting to be a child.

Photo: Nadja Voorham

Produced by Lava–Dansproduktion in collaboration with Stellaris DansTeater and the Museum of Reconstruction. With support from Svenska Postkodstiftelsen.

Interviewees:
Ahmed Takesh, Syria
Mahir Abdullrahman, Syria
Mohammad Khaled, Syria
Odd Selnes, Norway
Randi Simonsen, Norway
Thorbjørn Stenvoll, Norway
Zubair Mangal, Afghanistan

As if your life was tied to mine is an extract from a poem written by Mohammad Khaled.

There will be a guided tour of the Museum of Reconstruction Saturday 12.00 noon (in Norwegian) and Sunday 11.30 hr (in English). www.gjenreisningsmuseet.no