I AM EDITH SÖDERGRAN // Big theatre performance and exhibition. Since the first show on the 6th of October 2022 in Helsinki and by the end of 2022 it was shown in Riga, Vienna, Moedling with more coming planned shows in Stockholm and Copenhagen January 2023, Helsinki – April 2023, Berlin – May 2023. More information https://iamedithsodergran.com/

BEING JOSEF KA // photo performative project in collaboration with Mark Maher, by the end of 2022 we issues 2 volumes of a durational collaborarion (since 2017) we were practicing all around the world.

@SAUNAGALLERY // I opened Sauna Gallery in the art residency in Helsinki where i rent my studio August 2021 as a regular, around every second month art venue united artists from Finland and other countries. I invite artists from different art fields. It`s a non-profit gallery.

PEACE2020 – ARTISTS AGAINST THE WAR // When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th 2022, I stopped all my other artistic activities to focus completely on anti-war art. This mainly took the form of curating a digital anti-war program featuring short videos by more than 300 artists from 25 countries, and presenting it in various artistic and academic venues more than 30 times across Europe. The list of venues: 17.03.2022 Arbis/Helsinki, 19.03 Rankka Galleria/Helsinki, 19.03 Atelier Blumentopf/Vienna, 26.03 Sauna Gallery/Helsinki, 3.04 Momentum Gallery/Krakow, 10.04 Kaffila Bokvillan, Helsinki 12.04 Interview for Austrian Okto-TV, 12.04.2022 EWIGKEITSGASSE Gallery/Vienna 14.04 Yö gallery/Helsinki 14.04 Helmut Gallery, Leipzig, AprilMay 2022 ART OFF Gallery, Hamburg, 24/4 KVADRIENNALEN/Stockholm, April 2022 Mark Maher Studio/Helsinki, 12/05 ONSPACE Gallery Kiel/Germany, 15.05 Fanfulla5//Rome, 21.05.2022 BOLDERAJA Book Gallery/Riga, May 2022 Luckan Swedish Centre/Helsinki 4.06 Sauna Gallery/Helsinki, 10.06 Central Garden/ Vienna, 13.06 Kunstbetrieb Gallery/ Vienna, 18.06 Riga Performance Festival/Riga 25.06 Overlapping Kassel/Documenta15 /Kassel

FUNNY GAMES DURING WARTIME // Summer 2022 I was making a big series of anti-war performances all around Europe. I made all around 15 different pieces in Helsinki, Vienna, Riga, Kassel, Sarajevo, Olib. I performed literally everywhere – in galleries, at the festivals, on the streets. I travelled by bus inbetween countries and stayed at my friends houses, though i applied for travel grants – as you see i didn`t get much luck.

MY BODY BELONGS TO THE STATE // performances reflecting the relations between the state and a human body in a symbolic and literal meaning, This project was shown in different big venues all around Europe, like Overlapping Kassel2022, Vienna Parallel 2021, Riga performance festival 2020, Performance festival in Peru 2020.

INTERNATIONAL SILENCE: GERMANY, FINLAND, AUSTRIA, SLOVAKIYA, HUNGARY, FRANCE // in this project i mix my art vision with the vision of a historian and an anthropologist (i have a degree in history) and as a result i present my site-specific performances and installations reflecting my understanding and feeling a certain country as if there is no more words and all the people got muted or even disappeare. The main venues for that project are different abandoned territories, locations away from everyday life.

PRANAYAMABAND // I began this project 5 years ago during a big group exhibition in Moscow, that time i began studying yoga and i was absolutely deeply involved to yoga breathing system – pranayama. From time to time I invite different musicians to collaborate – play music and breath together.

COLLABORATION // spontaneous collaboration with different artists all around the planet. For this project, I began 4 years ago, I invite the artists from different art fields, to make together a very spontanious and not prepared project, Everything happens here and now, before we start we choose the certain rules. Every action is videodocumented

PERFORMANCE ART FOR EVERYONE: THE WORST THEATRE BY JOSEF KA // all my life since childhood I was attending different theatre groups, and everytime i failed, i was either kicked out by the teacher or just left myself. Since the last time it happened 2 years ago, I understood – it`s time – and I began developping my new concept of the worst theatre. All the participants are free to play the way they feel, though every time the rules are changing. The most successful experience happened October 2022 in Cyprus, when a group of pedestrians joined my street performance

KA YOGA // is a body related practice based upon traditional hatha yoga, but seen through the lens of performance and visual artist Josef Ka. This project participated in many festivals in Italy, Austria, Finland.

RESIDENCY // this project exists only in my dreams so far, still i have a serious plan to start creating my own ART RESIDENCY in the next couple of years. Probably it can be a popup project. I really hope that my big positive experience of being a resident in many art residencies all around Europe together with all the gods known and uknown can help me.

THE CORNER // is an ongoing project by Josef Ka aimed at raising questions about the process by which art is deemed worthy of exhibition – and which is not. The artist standing in the corner of galleries, facing the wall, in which her works have never been shown in.

FUCK YOU PANIC // More than 2 years ago at the rough covid times I decided to make that project to encourage people imprisoned in their houses. I wrote such a text to my friends – Dear Friends! Wecome to join my project Fuck you panic! To participate, simply send me a 3-minute video or audio, or just a text in which you describe (in English is better, but other languages are ok too) your most typical way of panicking and the most typical way of getting rid of it (it can be for example the last time you were panicking). I will then transform your described experience into a choreographed video performance or
visual object that is inspired by and rooted in what you shared with me.Each participant will be fully acknowledged in the final presentation.

INSTALLATIONS // My first serious installation happened 2015 in Moscow at Burning Man Decompression event at a huge abandoned building, i made The White Room inspired by the original Burning Man location in Nevada, but instead of sand i used white plaster/ that had a direct connotation to November time in Moscow covered with snow – so i covered all the huge room with plaster and white textile, inside of the installation i was dancing with random visitors covering them with plaster as well. January 2017 my project The Box was chosen by Vantaan Taide Museo /Finland to be presented in a one year long exhibition. Spring 2018 I made a big installation “Degenerates” accompanied by my performances for Rankka Gallery/Helsinki. November 2020 my project Sandbox was chosen by Culture Centre Annantalo/Helsinki to be presented in a 3 months long exhibition in 2021. December 2020 my project There`s Snow on the window was chosen by The Third Space Gallery/ Helsinki to be presented as a solo exhibition. Since couple of years ago I am interested in live installations made from my own body.

PAINTINGS // I began painting “consciously” around 2018 years ago, since that time i participated in a numerous group exhibitions in Finland and other countries. My main painting references are the images from my performances – they lead me deeper to understanding of my performance art practices and my own body itself.

EVERY DAY IS HOLIDAY // anti-covid series of video performances I was making during deep self isolation times in HIAP residency. Everyday within one month i was choosing the holiday matching the day and same day i was supposed to make and publish the result

FACEMARKET // painting project, encouraging the other artists, not specifically the painters to paint my face in exchange of their portrait made by me.

KLEBNIKOV// a 5 year long project, in collaboration with Austrian broadcasting company, dedicated to a Russian poet, futurist genius Velimir Khlebnikov (1885 – 1922) who predicted many historical changes of the universal scale.

I AM THE ELEPHANT // series of performances/installations dedicated to my deep connection to elephant whenever i feel my deep disconnection to human kind. The project in its variations was shown in Riga performance festival 2022, Art Supermarket in Stockholm 2021, Skvot in Moscow 2021

SUPERFAST // a project of super fast dances in the places where you are not supposed to dance by ridiculous rules. The right to dance everywhere is the right of every body.

COUPLES // a photo series of installations made from different objects

MY MORNING FACE // a series of my self portraits i began 3 years ago

PERFORMANCE ART FOR EVERYONE // performances shown in specific places such as shops, shop windows, train stations, parcs etc with the idea to introduce performance art to people who have never seen performances.

PHOTOCOLLABORATIONS // one of my favourite projects through many years. In a perfect way i call it – photoperphormances. By now I have somewhere 5 photographers in different countries with whom we made several shoots and exhibitions/including publishing photobooks. I always give the ideas and the main direction as well as i am responsible for outfit, make up and performance itself. The result is always unpredictable.

DOCUMENTARY FILMS // I graduated from the documentary film workshop. For many years I have been filming projects about other people (2005-2012). My films participated in different international film festivals and got awarded. Since 2012 I participated in a big russian online project Reality, i was filming my everyday life for 3 years (2012 – 2014). November 2022 I joned online documentary school run by one of the most recognized independent documentary film makers – Dina Barinova. So I plan to restart my internal filmmaker under the new conditions.

MUSIC COLLABORATIONS // I was so lucky since the beginning of my performance art practices to meet many really big musicians to make together around hundred of absolutely different performances all around Russia and Europe. To describe those project I would use the words – site-specific, conceptual based in different dance teckniques, or totally regected any artificial movements.

BODY AND VIDEO //Since i have a very deep connection with film making industry as a film maker I always wanted to place my body inside of a film, but not directly – like being filmed – but somehow different – this idea gave birth to some projects where i communicate with the projection on the wall, where i communicate with the projections of my body on the wall. I was lucky to meet some artists who supported my idea and created several videos for my art.

PERFORMANCE ART MASTER-CLASSES// I have been teaching performance art workshops since 2017. As a rule it is theory and practice. At the end of the course we do solo and group works for display. In January 2023 I start to teach Performance Art on a permanent basis at the Swedish Cultural Center Arbis in Helsinki.