#4: Belong to the city – Franzisca Siegrist. Thursday 4th July, 12:30 – 15:30
What happens when we move to a new city; a new environment or start a new daily routine? We try to find our place, we adapt, to the point that we perhaps willingly modify our own routines, habits, rituals, and social behavior as a camouflaged strategy in search of belonging. We merge, while at the same time our presence leaves its impression on the city. We can interpret this process as two identities merging into something new.
At times, we may desire to rediscover our own city or a part of it. This time we will explore the district of Grønland, an area which is in rapid and constant flux in the city of Oslo, due to gentrification and demographic changes within its communities. Together, we will try to understand its public space by discovering and exploring neglected places; spaces, objects, urban furniture and spots that we can fleetingly inhabit, integrate and camouflage ourselves in. Extending our bodies to be a part of the city, otherwise we risk becoming unseen.
Franzisca Siegrist was born in Switzerland, raised in Spain, and currently lives and works in Oslo. She holds an MFA from the University of La Laguna and the Polytechnic University in Valencia, where she studied performance art with Bartolomé Ferrando. Her body of work is mainly performative, yet installations and photography also come into play in her practice. In addition, she is co-founder and chair of the artist-run initiative PAO – Performance Art Oslo. Siegrist’s work has been displayed in many European countries, Asia, and the US.