PERFORMANCE · Henna Nerg & Sangría Valentino · The HagFags

Photo credit: Sangria Valentino, Henna Nerg

PERFORMANCE · Henna Nerg & Sangría Valentino · The HagFags

The HagFags is a long-term artistic collaboration and project by the Danish-Finnish duo Henna Nerg & Sangría Valentino. Through video, sound, photography, performance, and sculpture, the project explores the artists’ Nordic heritage and queer identities by examining the history of Nordic witch persecutions and looking for ways in which it relates to the contemporary political climates, marginalized bodies, and the pressing climate crisis.

On the afternoon of 20 June the duo invites the audience to a performance in public space at Enghave Plads to mark the ending of their exhibition installation at Basement. The performance takes place at Enghave Plads/Enghaveparken 16:00-18:00

The project began in February 2024 with a residency at Bergen Kunsthall, where the duo developed the project’s drag-witch characters, Mr. Pentatits and It’s Whitney Witch, while studying local history. In Bergen, a woman was accused and executed for allegedly cursing a neighbor’s pear tree. The project then moved to Helsinki in June with a residency at Recover Laboratory, where they filmed and photographed historical sites and hosted a drag workshop. In August 2024, the project continued in Copenhagen, with further research and filming in Køge and Ribe. In October and November, the artists began developing the live performance elements of the project, presenting performances at PAB Open Festival in Bergen and VENT Space in Tallinn.

Nerg and Valentino began collaborating shortly after starting their MFA studies at the Bergen Academy of Art, where they founded the queer-feminist artist collective WILD THINGZ in 2021. The collective has hosted reading sessions and curated exhibitions, including at ODP3 in Copenhagen. Their shared interest in exploring queerness, otherness, and social and collective practices is the core of their duo-based artistic practice.

Henna Nerg (b. 1991, FI) is an artist working in textiles, sculpture, and installation. Their practice combines found and repurposed materials in various ways. Sangría Valentino (b. 1987, DK) explores gender, body, sexuality, and identity through photography, video, weaving, and performance, using their practice as a space for and of queer care and imagination.

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The HagFags er et længerevarende kunstnerisk samarbejde og projekt af den dansk-finske duo, Henna Nerg & Sangría Valentino. Projektet begyndte i starten af 2024 og har de to hekse og drags,

Mr. Pentatits og It’s Whitney Witch, som hovedkarakterer. På tværs af video, lyd, workshops, fotografi, performance og skulptur udforsker projektet kunstnernes egne nordiske tilhørsforhold og queeridentiteter ved at undersøge den nordiske hekseforfølgelseshistorie som et nationbyggende apparat og lede efter måder hvorpå dette relaterer til samtidens politiske diskurser, nutidige andetgjorte og marginaliserede kroppe, og den presserende klimakrise.

Om eftermiddagen den 20. juni inviterer duoen publikum til en performance i det offentlige rum på Enghave Plads for at markere afslutningen på deres udstillingsinstallation i Basement. Performancen finder sted på Enghave Plads/Enghaveparken kl. 16:00-18:00.

Nerg og Valentino begyndte at arbejde sammen kort efter at have startet på MFA-studierne på Kunstakademiet i Bergen, hvor de i 2021 dannede det queerfeministiske kunstnerkollektiv, WILD THINGZ. Kollektivet har bl.a. afholdt læsesessioner og kurateret udstillinger, fx. på ODP3 i København. Deres fælles interesse for at udforske queerness, andethed, og sociale og kollektive aktiviteter er kernen af deres duo-praksis.

Henna Nerg (f.1991, FI) er en kunstner, der arbejder inden for tekstil, skulptur og installation. I deres praksis kombinerer de fundne og genbrugte materialer på forskellige måder.

Sangria Valentino (f. 1987, DK) undersøger gennem fotografi, video, vævning og performance repræsentationer af køn, krop, seksualitet og identitet, og udforsker deres praksis som et rum for og af queer omsorg og fantasi.