Sense of Place II

In 2005 Sense of Place was chosen as the artistic main event during Porsgrunn’s jubilee as a town; a large town wandering tour should be arranged annually from 2005 to 2007. The project became so popular among the audience in particular and performers of all kinds and categories, the project continued after the jubilee celebrations ended.

The model Sense of Place by Grenland Friteater has inspired towns like Kongsvinger, Kongsberg, Sandnes and Notodden in Norway and Santa Clara in Cuba. China, Vietnam and Colombia are new possible countries for internationally developing the project.

Vision:

We wanted to explore the hidden town, the one behind the facades, reshaping it in an artistic vision never seen before. A vision to revive memories, ruins and traces from life and activity, hidden stories and dramas usually covered by the daily life activities, through breaking up the conventional logic of the theatre stage and to create performance arenas from the town’s real spaces.

We wanted to capture the town’s architecture, its entrances, streets and squares, its spaces in between, using the whole body of the town as a stage. We connected with national and international artists, architects, writers, visual artists, historians, composers and musicians, on their own and in groups. Large parts of the town’s artistic and cultural environment, associations and unions were drawn into the event to create a full-length experience for the audience’s better. The whole thing is made in the shape of a grand-scale town wandering tour.

Source: Grenland Friteater, grenlandfriteater.com, 18.08.2010, http://www.grenlandfriteater.com