Liv Kristin Holmberg is a research fellow in artistic development work at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo. Holmberg has a Master’s degree from the Academy of Fine Art, Oslo and trained as a classical pianist and organist at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo and the Sibelius Academy. Helsinki.

Marija Zdravkovic born in Belgrade.Holds a degree in painting from the Faculty of Fine arts of Belgrade, where she is currently pursuing her PhD and working as assistant professor. The artist’s main fascination and subject of artistic research are the structures of nature and the way they change over time.

In 2018 and 2014 Marija cooperated with Liv Kristin Holmberg on performances, in Bergen, Tromsø, Oslo and Skien.

Aija Jönsson Sillén is an artist and musician who recently completed her studies in composition at the Academy of Music and Drama at Gothenburg University. By constructing sound artifacts and working with aleatoric techniques, she tries to blur the boundaries between composition, sound art and improvisation. Her work explores, through fictional means, hidden narratives rooted in reality. In most cases it is about social hierarchies, communication and community. 

About the event 

The performance artist and organist Liv Kristin Holmberg has for many years immersed herself in the intersection between the theological and the artistic. In recent years, under the collective name Art Liturgy, several diverse projects have emerged that challenge and invite the discovery of the spiritual and the artistic in a profoundly shocking way. This is how Liv Kristin herself writes:

”The Art Liturgy could be described as a ritualistic musical theatre based on utopian philosophy, wherein I develop new liturgical elements for existential events and life transitions: A sort of metaphysical theatre of the real. My artistic background as a church musician and performance artist is the core of a long-standing stage art-, and performative practice, in which I investigate the cantor’s role as a ritual master..”

In tonight’s introduction, she explains in more detail…

In order to participate in the performance (which is done one person at a time) registration must be sent to info@kalvfestival.se, then you’ll receive a specific time when you are asked to come to the church and then be accompanied and experience “In the dark hour”

Performance by Liv Kristin Holmberg with the assistance of Marija Zdrakovic & Aija Jönsson Sillén

Performance by Liv Kristin Holmberg with the assistance of Marija Zdrakovic & Aija Jönsson Sillén

Performance by Liv Kristin Holmberg with the assistance of Marija Zdrakovic & Aija Jönsson Sillén

About the performance 

It is a ritual for meeting the darkness, Les Ténèbres: a meeting with oneself.  In the dark hour is specifically prepared for Kalv: its church, its place, its people and its festival.

The title is taken from the ninth section of Olivier Messiaen’s final work for organ, Le Livre du Saint -Sacrament (The Book of the Holy Sacrament), which provides the basis of the musical content. The performance is philosophically grounded in Heidegger’s concept of being- towards-death, where an encounter with one’s own fear and pain can be thought of as an opening of recognition; an opportunity to become real, to become ourselves.

Les Ténèbres – In the dark hour, communal ending 

(NB! For this event no pre-booking is required, everybody is welcome)

About the event 

The performance In the dark hour has a joint ending here, where everyone who wants to (regardless of whether or not they participated in the performance) can participate. In the summer darkness, experiences are shared, and we look together towards the light.