Magic and despair – Maija Hirvanen

Magic and Despair investigates performative and complex sides of empathy. Moving in between subjective projection and the attempt to see the world through the eyes of another, Magic and Despair performs paradoxes, frictions and meetings of different kind in the shady, yet crucial area of human empathy. The work paves a way for a collective imagination and capacity to create more empathic futures.

The performers shift attention inside the work with their gaze, breath, movement and speech, creating an extremely delicate yet dynamic space of performance. Vibrating out unspoken thoughts and physical materiality of the body, the performers travel though differences in between each other and the audience. They perform empathy which is directed towards inorganic and non-human subjects, building a composition of interrelations and interventions. Not all of the endeavours made for connections are successful - failure is an inherent part of Magic and Despair.

The close proximity of the audience, seated on four sides around the stage, as well as the amplification and modification of the physical material with the technologies of light and sound are also central aspects of the work. Magic and Despair sets perception in motion in several levels, working through gaps in the human mind and body.


Choreography, direction: Maija Hirvanen
Performers: Lindon Satoru Shimizu, Maija Hirvanen
Lighting design: Heikki Paasonen
Sound design: Joonas Pehrsson
co-production: Kiasma Theatre, The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux/GoCommission
collaborators/support: Kunstencentrum BUDA, Kortrijk, Belgium / Kunstencentrum Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium / Art Promotion Centre Finland
Image: Kansallisgalleria / Pirje Mykkänen