WAUHAUS is a Helsinki-based multidisciplinary arts collective that was founded in 2016. Their works are situated between different genres of art and have taken place at various venues, such as gallery spaces, small black box venues, urban sites, large stadiums, and the main stages of established theatre houses. WAUHAUS is known for their comprehensive audiovisual stage aesthetics and methods of shared authorship. The members of the collective are scenographer Laura Haapakangas, director Juni Klein, scenographer Samuli Laine, sound designer Jussi Matikainen, choreographer Jarkko Partanen, sound designer Heidi Soidinsalo, and managing director Julia Hovi.
WAUHAUS collaborates with artists and institutions both in Finland and abroad. Their works have been presented at e.g. the Helsinki Biennial, Helsinki Art Museum HAM, & Espoo Theatre, National Theatre of Finland, Zodiak – Centre for New Dance (FI), Kiasma Theatre (FI), Helsinki Festival, ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival (FI), Kanuti Gildi SAAL (EE), Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (EE), Baltoscandal festival (EE), Multiplié Dance Festival (NO), ICE HOT Nordic Dance Platform (FI, NO & IS), New Baltic Dance Platform (LT), Santarcangelo Festival (IT), METEOR International Theatre Festival (NO), Homo Novus Festival (LV) and Vooruit (BE).
The stage of Renaissance is a place of dreaming and reimagining. The performance evokes mythical bodies through which fantasies become flesh.
In the performance the stage is taken over by tameless, bucking centaurs. The centaur, a mythical creature that is half-human and half-horse, is a hybrid body that refuses to fit into any mould. The queer centaurs of the performance manifest the entanglement of sexuality, gender, wildness and pleasure in all their messiness.
This exploration of fantastic bodies is linked to the deconstruction of gender and sexuality. In this work, the biopolitical norms that are used to restrain our bodies are transformed into a biopoetical approach – a quest for a space where bodies can renew themselves and reinvent their form again and again. Renaissance lures the audience into a queer world of wonder, pleasure, and strangeness. The performance asks, what would magic be without illusion? How can we re-enchant ourselves in a world where centuries of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchal domination have left us disconnected from the land, from each other, and from our own imagination? The work is loosely framed around the Renaissance as a period of artistic, cultural and ideological upheaval in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The performance flirts with this era that defines our current world order and asks whether a period that began 600 years ago has finally come to an end through the ongoing eco-crisis? Renaissance reaches out towards a new time, towards various fantastical worlds, connections and reconnections, pleasure and perversity. It proposes a new order (or disorder) and way of being in the world.
Renaissance is a stage work for five performers. The performance is aimed for stages with approximately 150–300 seats. The premiere will take place at Dance House Helsinki in December 2024, and is co-produced by WAUHAUS and Zodiak – Centre for New Dance.
