PAO – A polyphony of voices

17.11. – 19.11.2017 | ROM for kunst og arkitektur, Maridalsveien 3, 0178, Oslo

The 5th-anniversary edition of PAO Festival, Oslo´s only yearly international contemporary performance art festival, will once again take place in November this year at ROM. The anniversary was marked with an open call receiving 168 applications from all over the world. During the process of selecting the 12 artists, a variety of issues were uncovered, all with an interconnected common thread which brought together this year's constellation of artists.

During the festival the artists will reveal their interpretations of society in diverse and unique ways. We will see concerns ranging from the increased contrasts between technology and nature, how information flows through social media, communication, identity issues and the transformation of places and cultures, climate change and political turbulence.

When looking at the works for open call, many questions arised:
How are artists affected by current political climates and social structures in their everyday lives and how do they convey this in their work?
How do artists reflect on the new contemporary political unrest?
How are artists expressing the gap between reality versus technology and social media?
How are they reacting to climate change and environmental threats?

During the PAO Festival 2017, we hope to find some answers and perhaps even more questions.

Milos Sejn: Oír Arran / Ireland –2016/09/17 / written images // place – watching – world – body – words – traces – language – shapes – voice // Legs and body in the sand, eyes and mind somewhere above and immediately in this place