EXHIBITION by Iida Vanttaja: Elements from the show ”Havaintoja kädellisistä” – Observations on primates

During TIP-Fest Light Edition 4.-8.11.2020: TEHDAS Theatre hosts an exhibition in its foyer featuring elements from Iida Vanttaja and Co.’s sperformance Havaintoja kädellisistä – Observations on primates.

Havaintoja kädellisistä scrutinizes the questions considering behavioral differences among humans and animals using puppetry, video animations and visual theatre. Our origin is shared with primates so we can reflect modern human beings with apes with a natural ease. The performance reaches out to our ancestral form from millions of years ago.

What happens in our brains on a chemical level when we fall in love? Can an animal suffer from depression? If animals are discovered to behave altruistically, how can we deny their ability to suffer and feel pain? When do we come closest to animals? What does distinct us from animals, if nearly all our characteristics and differences from animals can be proven false by science?

The performance follows the lives of three people and through them the destiny of our civilization. Human experiences on stage are juxtaposed to the experiences and reactions of animals. The water falls through the rafters at an increasing speed and the surface rises threatening to bury underneath all we have built. Humans might stumble on their wisdom, but nature is forgiving – it comes and covers the wrecks of our greed creating a cradle for the birth of new species.

Havaintoja kädellisistä mulls over the right to use animals for our own needs and questions the position we have taken as the crown jewel of all creation.

The show was performed at Culture Factory Vernissa, Vantaa 17 to 20 October 2019. It was rewarded in Finnish Unima’s Komeetta Review in 2019.

WORKING GROUP
Author, director, visualization, audio engineering and acting: Iida Vanttaja
Actors and puppeteers: Mila Nirhamo and Juho Sarno
Video design, animations and photographs: Sanni Vanttaja
Technician: Mikko Hirvonen
Props and arrangements: Aino Väisänen
Special effects: Jari Uusitalo

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