Welcome to the Faroe Islands
Welcome to the Faroe Islands (2002) by Jo Strømgren Kompani: A green emerald in the eternally blue Atlantic Sea, a pocketful of mysterious cliffs and juicy grass slopes with bearded locals and windblown sheep - welcome to The Faroe Islands!
But what's really going on out there? Can we trust travel agencies and polite historians? Sometimes we simply need an anthropologist to decode customs and rituals of savage indigenous tribes.
Information
(Objekt ID 2071)| Object type | Production |
| Premiere | August 1, 2002 |
| Produced by | Jo Strømgren Kompani |
| Coproducers | BIT Teatergarasjen, Black Box Teater, Rosendal Teater |
| Audience | Adults |
| Language | Gibberish and Norwegian |
| Keywords | Theatre, Performance, Lecture |
| Running period | August 1, 2002 |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Website | Jo Strømgren Kompani |
In Welcome to the Faroe Islands by Jo Strømgren Kompani an anthropologist presented an hour long slide show lecture about his trip to the Faroe Islands. With him was an indigenous Faroese boat builder with a full-grown beard to demonstrate language and different customs.
The point was of course that all given information was false. Wrapped in ambivalent wit, the performance commented the general lack of knowledge people have about these islands. Or any island or place for that matter. People tend to think we know much about things, while in reality they have no clue whatsoever.
The performance was also a comment on our hunger for exoticism. People tend to desire other nationalities to be different and strange. And they tend to define themselves as very much different from everybody else. Where anthropological illusions start and end is a vast subject to cover, though. Welcome to the Faroe Islands by Jo Strømgren Kompani did not dig deep into that, but merely offered a chance to see how ridiculous viewpoints upon others can be.
Welcome to the Faroe Islands by Jo Strømgren Kompani was supported by the municipality of Bergen and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Touring: Norway, Denmark
Currently, there is no plan for further performances.
Source:
Jo Strømgren Kompani, jskompani.no, 08.08.2010, http://jskompani.no/productions/8
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Jo Strømgren | – Script |
| Jo Strømgren | – Idea |
| Jo Strømgren | – Direction |
| Jo Strømgren | – Costume |
| Lars Årdal | – Sound design |
| Stephen Rolfe | – Lighting design |
| Espen Reboli Bjerke | – Actor |
| John Brungot | – Actor |
| Knut Bry | – Photo |
| October 4, 2002 – Danseteatret / Turnhallen, Carte Blanche (Oktoberdans) | Show |
| October 3, 2002 – Danseteatret / Turnhallen, Carte Blanche (Oktoberdans) | Show |
| August 1, 2002 | Worldwide premiere |
| Oktoberdans | October 3, 2002 |
Writer and date unknown, Bergens Tidende [Bergen, Norway]:
"In addition to exposing a defect in the academic rhetoric, Welcome to the Faroe Islands also shows the weakness of the audience. We understand how little we know and how easily we are fooled to accept information, as long as it is passed on in a credible manner."