Tromsø, Spring Scene Festival. April 28, 2023.

With and by Bernt Bjørn, Kristina Junttila, Marita Isobel Solberg, Sigbjørn Skåden, Kristin Bjørn, Trond Ansten, Tale Næss, Mary Ailonieida Sombán Mari and Mikko Moilanen's Orchestra.

THE BLOOD CLUB SONG

Gather here for marking and fair
It drips and drips from the ears and heart
Ancient footsteps, a club and a flock, Varra čoahke,
Land and water, contempt and shame, yes fuck it,
because blood flows through my veins
Weird looks, genetics, yeah fuck it,
because blood flows through your veins

Wolf takes reindeer like a runaway without a herd
family books closed with leaden lids
Are you lightning without noise, a tourist without language?
It's nice that you're here, but are you the same?
Love who you are.
but what the hell is that?
Is the pedigree a genetic variety?
The voice that laughed, the hand that struck

BLOOD

Land and water, contempt and shame, yes fuck it, because through my veins runs the blood of queer looks, genetics
yeah fuck it because blood runs through your veins
Gather here for marking and fair
It drips and drips from the ears and heart
Ancient footsteps
a club and a flock, Varra čoahke
Varra golga Varra goaiku, Varra čoahke, Vara valvi

At this blood club meeting, we gathered around alcohol and its many sides in Tromsø's oldest building, Skansen. Alcohol was allowed to flow into the blood of the blood pack.

BE VALVI!

About Blood Club #5 – Alcohol in the blood?

Based on our own history, we tackle one of the biggest taboos in relation to the Sami: the relationship with alcohol.

Maybe you'll get an answer you need from the drunken oracle, maybe you can complain about the legacy of booze, maybe the yoik will come, maybe the king will come, maybe you'll sacrifice blood and alcohol, maybe you'll go home with new shoes? At Blodklubb #5 we want to create an evening of intoxication, with or without alcohol in the blood. An informal celebration of each other and blood and genes and where we come from and where we are going.

Reviews

The almost three hours flew by, and suddenly it was over. I stood there, full of impressions and speechless. “Botany is the worst thing flowers know,” wrote Nordahl Grieg, and it feels relevant when I try to put into words the loving ruckus that Blodklubb created. Perhaps it is precisely because you can’t put your finger on where art ends and life begins, between coincidence and dramaturgy, that Blodklubb works so damn well. Through an experimental, playful and curious approach to performing arts as a social arena, they create an effective platform and a safe space. And from here they manage to deal with the nuances of complex questions without being admonishing or building on clearly preconceived viewpoints. The event was sold out and quite packed, but I wish there were even more of us and that it lasted even longer.

Espen Johansen for the online magazine Hakapik

Fresh Scenes pokes, teases, investigates, questions and digs into the relationship between identity and genes, and they are particularly interested in the Sami, the Kven and the Norwegian. With great creativity, courage and a willingness to take risks, they move into a minefield that dominates many of the most heated and conflict-filled discussions of our time.

…Fresh Scenes creates a completely unique artistic arena. An arena that touches on a deeply human, but also political level. And for which there is also a great need. In a time when “us” and “them” have taken a position that should scare us all.
...it is true and honest, and not least complex. As most things in life and in our identities actually are.

Anki Gerhardsen for Northern Lights