A central part of WORLD EXPO 2023 is a programme of artists, musicians, composers, choreographers and poets invited by Carl-Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren to perform their work. On four nights during the spring, a total of twelve performances (three per night) will be presented. The works are related to artists, choreographers and composers who have passed away. New interpretations and celebrations will bring the work of the dead artists into our age. 

On Wednesday 19 April, Tobias Kirstein, Anna von Hausswolff and Sofia Jernberg will perform works in relation to Zbigniew Karkowski, Elfrida Andrée and Anne-Marie Berglund.

Tobias Kirstein will perform a piece in the spirit of Zbigniew Karkowski. Comparing a composition to time, which can be prepared but not repeated, Karkowski believed that a composition should leave room for improvisation or other risk-filled elements. The performance is based on Kirstein’s ongoing communication with Karkowski even though they last saw each other ten years ago.

Anna von Hausswolff will present a performance in relation to Elfrida Andrée. The work is a free interpretation of Andrée’s 1874 composition “På vattnet” from Tre tonbilder, opus 4, originally composed for the piano.

Sofia Jernberg will perform the work One Pitch: Birds for Distortion and Mouth Synthesizers in relation to Anne-Marie Berglund’s writing. Jernberg’s solo performance focuses on the sonic qualities of the human voice. Text and anything that can be perceived as language is washed away in the creative process. Jernberg strives to achieve a multifaceted soundscape solely through her voice in the space, with no electronic effects.

From 16:00, von Hausswolff and Elggren will be onsite in the exhibition at the Elgaland-Vargaland’s Passport Office. Here visitors can apply for citizenship of the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland. 

Performance: 18:00-20:00

The Passport Office will be open from 16:00

Free entry. No pre-booking required.

Participants

Tobias Kirstein (b. 1972) is an artist, writer and composer based in Copenhagen. Often focused on sound and power, his work has long explored the agency of listening as an aggressive, but invisible, territorial tool.

Zbigniew Karkowski (1958–2013) was a Polish experimental musician and composer who was based in Gothenburg in the 1980s. He composed both acoustic and electroacoustic music for, among others, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and chamber music performed by ensembles throughout the world. During the last two years of his life Karkowski lived and worked in Tokyo and was active in the Japanese underground noise scene.

Anna von Hausswolff (b. 1986) is a Swedish singer, pianist, organist and composer. Since 2010 she has released five albums that have received widespread attention in Sweden and abroad. Known for her expressive voice and her live performances, von Hausswolff’s music has been described as belonging to genres such as art pop, drone and post-metal with a synthesis of dark and light.

Elfrida Andrée (1841–1929) was a Swedish composer, conductor, Europe’s first woman church organist and Sweden’s first woman telegraphist. Often referred to as a pioneer and a ground-breaking composer, as a woman Andrée encountered many setbacks in her musical career. In 1879, she was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and in 1921 to the Swedish Society of Composers.

Sofia Jernberg (b. 1983) is a Swedish experimental singer and composer, based in Stockholm. She is interested in exploring the “instrumental” possibilities of the voice and works with singing techniques that frequently break with traditional techniques and conventions.

Anne-Marie Berglund (1952–2020) was a Swedish author and poet born in Finland, who wrote poetry, prose and radio drama, often exploring women’s desire for freedom and liberation beyond prevailing conventions. Through her self-revealing style and autobiographical perspective Berglund gave voice to women both in vulnerable situations and to those enjoying personal liberation.