Sasha Amaya: Tanzraumberlin, August 20th 2018
“...What unites and underlines each of the inquiries is the concept of practice, both in the exercises Hirvanen demonstrates with a clarity that makes repeating them at home truly possible, but also more fundamentally as a way of being: for example, the practice of loving something by a repeated, and often habitual, attention turned on that thing...
...It would be tempting to say that Hirvanen’s work is reminiscent of The Symposium, albeit a fresh, contemporary take, but there is something so pure feeling and genuine about the work—a mix of full imagination, exactitude, surprise, and earnestness—that makes it totally different in kind and in spirit. Rather, we are presented with visions of love that are both charming and challenging, destabilizing the topsoil of our usual narratives to make room for fresh sprouts beneath. In this way, Hirvanen’s ”Art & Love” proves a precious piece which offers us a shifted perspective and thus an opportunity for renewal. Art and love.”
See the whole review: http://tanzraumberlin.de/Maija-Hirvanen-TiA--2288-0.html
Beatrix Joyce: Berlin Art Link, August 25th 2018
“Onerous is the task of an artist to—amidst the current political turmoil and the creeping, post-truth skepticism—re-introduce the grand themes of art and love. Without hiding behind the pretense of obscure intellectualism or calling on the solid defenses of the extreme niche, the artist would be left entirely exposed. Nonetheless, Finnish choreographer Maija Hirvanen, in ‘Art and Love,’ took this bold task upon herself, unpicking exactly those words that are universal, accessible and highly recognizable to every audience member present in the auditorium of HAU3 during Tanz im August...
...With an eye for clear-cut categorization and a feel for the impossibility of encompassing everything, Hirvanen proposes that a balance should be found between criticality and hope. Perhaps, returning to the wider context, it is exactly in these times of distrust and disillusionment that we are in need of art that sheds light on what we hold most dear. “Post-modernism has already turned so many wheels around and we are so aware of everything, that it feels like deconstruction doesn’t do the work anymore. It is really intriguing to try to make a suggestion. If not this, then what?,” Hirvanen asks, adding urgency. Her art seems to answer to this, as she does not shy away from her responsibility as an artist to reinstate faith in the normal citizen. In reframing the archetypal and revisiting the positive notions of art and love, Hirvanen paves the way for empathic approaches to tackling our future.”
See the whole review: https://www.berlinartlink.com/2018/08/25/maija-hirvanens-art-and-love-during-tanz-im-august/
Dorion Weickmann: Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 3rd 2018 (translation Zodiak – Center for New Dance)
“...The Finn develops a phenomenology of love, a puzzle of language, dance, closeness and distance. From time to time, an assistant hurries in and makes herself available for an intimate duet, a tangible duel. Hirvanen’s study was one of the hits, and the choreographer one of the discoveries of the festival. (Tanz im August 2018)
Jan-Peter Kaiku: Hufvudstadsbladet, September 30th 2017 (translation from Swedish Hannah Ouramo)
“Hirvanen is accompanied on stage by Hanna Ahti as the lecture assistant, a role that Hannah Ouramo carried through the rehearsal process. The piece is based on such sharing. This sharing is delivered through an address that is neither direct or indirect. This begins already in the hand programme, as a letter to the individual spectator. Under Hirvanen’s instruction, we are made conscious again and again during the course of the performance of both our subjective and our shared experiences or conceptions of art and love, which are attended to and explored in different ways.
The chosen method is process-oriented and accomodates questions and possibilities rather than presentation; it makes the “fourth wall” elastic or permeable. Maija Hirvanen is refreshingly sincere and frank, with streaks of humour and self-irony in her autofictive and occasionally purely documentary approach.
...As a whole, the performance is extremely inspiring, evoking both thoughts and emotions, and clearly invites what is less obvious or expected within the frameworks of these massive and eternal themes.”
Sara Nyberg: Finnish Dance and Theatre Magazine 7/2017 (translation from Finnish Hannah Ouramo)
“Here is a lecture that every lecture should be like. Art and Love starts from behind a podium, but soon expands into the space, as an intensive dance performance. The themes processed through the piece open up without words and in an experiential way. The lecturer is calm, self-confident and clear in her articulation. The thoughts pass like crossing a bridge from the speaker to the audience. ...Hirvanen’s way of presenting her thoughts in a physical way opens up the lecture and turns it into a warmhearted performance. The feeling is gentle and after the performance, serene. Maybe I understand love a little bit more now.”
Maria Säkö: Helsingin Sanomat, September 28th 2017 (translation from Finnish Hannah Ouramo)
“Art and Love moves with small, microlevel observations and big questions at the same time. The statements of the piece are big, without being pompous. The images Hirvanen creates don’t necessarily need any explanations. However, one shouldn’t look at them thinking that one knows everything in advance.”
