• We believe the art world as well as the society to be a place for urgent issues, where conflicting opinions may exist side by side without the need for consensus. Different artists' works, just like other people's claims, constitute separate statements in the public debate. This conversation needs to be kept open, accessible and rich in order to make a democratic society possible. We CONSIDER art as both A critical and poetic force.

  • ON-GOING

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    Nuckan - the epilogue

    Performed at Atalante on March 1-3, 2019

    Somewhere on our way from girlhood to middleaged women we were taught that it is extemely dangerous to talk about ourselves as women not desired by men. No matter what happened to us in life we weren’t ever allowed to describe ourselves in this way. Not even to ourselves, in solitude.

     

    Malin Lindroths essay Nuckan wants to break this woe of silence, reclaim the position of the involuntary spinster and reinvent her as a cultural critic and a much needed voice in contemporary society.

    The essay, published in the spring of 2018, has sparked debate and strong reactions. In Nuckan – the epilogue the writer herself appears on stage, revisiting the book in the light of its reception. This staged reading takes place in a borderland between spoken word, performance lecture and installation.

     

    A first sketch of this staging was made as a performed reading on Scener & samtal in connection with the Gothenburg Book Fair on September 29, 2018.

     

    On stage: Malin Lindroth & Anna Gustavsson
    Director: Cecilia Lagerström
    Sound composition: Anna Gustavsson
    Moving image & set design: Karin Wegsjö
    Props: Emma Sande och Matilda Sande
    Texts: Malin Lindroth

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    Xenophobia

    Premiere at Folkteatern on November 16, 2018 

    Three persons are called to a nameless zone where the terrain seems unsafe and full of traps. Alarm signals reappear. A misstep may lead to death. They have to keep their eyes open. They must look for strangers. Who can they really trust?

     

    XENOPHOBIA poses questions about the fear in the society at a time when the world seems more uncertain and unstable than ever. Threat scenarios appear. Opinions of the stranger grow. Fear builds nests among us.


    The performance is a poetic "Gesamtkunstverk" that not only examines and discusses the fear of contemporary society, but also stages and evokes this particular state of mind, through the performative experience. Physical theater merges with image projections, light, sound compositions and poetic texts that create a theatrical whole.

     

    To be performed at Folkteatern in Gothenburg

    on November 16 and 17 at 18.30

     

    directing CECILIA LAGERSTRÖM
    with HELENA KÅGEMARK, ALOUN MARCHAL, MICHAEL NORLIND
    guest performer CAMILLA EKELÖF
    visual design JOHAN RÖDSTRÖM in collaboration with ANDREAS LÖFGREN
    texts LINA EKDAHL
    sound ANNA GUSTAVSSON

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    Det där man brukar kalla havet

    Site-specific video installation

    Det där man brukar kalla havet is a mobile video installation that raises questions about our fear of the stranger. Two young people are talking about an unknown object floating ashore. Is it a threat, an opportunity or something they must get rid of? They are accompanied by a silent ghostly choir of adults.The installation was screened for the first time on the yearly event Konstepidemin’s dag in Gothenburg on June 2 and then at the art hall Konsthallen Hamnmagasinet in Askersund July 24-29, 2018, and will appear in different places when you least expect it. By Cecilia Lagerström, Johan Rödström and Malin Lindroth. With Ellen Rödström, Milou Lagerström Bonde, Johan Svensson, Moa Myrén, Meira Ahmemulic and Georgios Giokotos.

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    Residencies and presentations

    ​Development and sharing during 2017-18

    In the autumn 2017, we began an exploration of working methods at two residences: at Scenstudion in Gerlesborg and at c.off in Stockholm.

    We also conducted two work demonstrations and presentations at conferences in Gothenburg (the Artistic Research School) and Gent (International Platform for Perfomer Training, University of the Arts). Participating artists: Cecilia Lagerström, Michael Norlind and Mertcan Semerci.

     

    coff.se

     

    scenstudiongerlesborg.se

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    Suffering

    Performed at Atalante in 2017

    In the spring 2017 we worked with the performance Suffering, which investigates suffering and the imagery of suffering in our time, and which was performed at Atalante in Gothenburg in May 2017. The project started off as reaction to the flow of images and descriptions of human suffering that has become an increasingly common part of the everyday media flow. Images with a strong angle largely taken at a distance and where the sufferer has no voice.

  • About us

    Alkemisterna (The Alchemists) is an association of performing artists who work with performances, projects, readings, performance acts, installations, film and text production. The works that are created are often physical, visual and conceptual. An explorative process is always at the heart of our projects. We believe in art as a critical and poetic voice, as a participating force in our contemporary time.

     

     

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    Cecilia Lagerström

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    Helena Kågemark

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    Malin Lindroth

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    Michael Norlind

     

     

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    Johan Rödström

  • Associated projects

    ett ögonblick jag är på väg

    Walking with donkeys

    In 2017-18, Helena Kågemark and Carlo Magnani are conducting the walking project Ett ögonblick jag är på väg, a walk on foot between Italy and Sweden return with two donkeys. The walk poses questions about sustainability, hospitality and crossing borders.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/unattimostoarrivando/

    Rekonstruktörerna

    A directed reading at Gothenburg City Museum

    In the Autumn 2017, Malin Lindroth and director Nina Holst conducted Rekonstruktörerna, a directed reading at Göteborg City Museum. The newly written play deals with issues of guilt, morality and money, stemming from the events surrounding the Gothenburg newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, the owner group Stampen and the controversial reconstruction that took place.

     

  • HISTORy

     

     

    Alkemisterna was formed in 2012 by director Cecilia Lagerström and actor Helena Kågemark, as a way to create a platform for their long-term collaboration. With a background in physical theater (laboratory theater), the Alkemisterna places exploratory work at the heart of its activities. In 2017, the duo was extended to a performing arts collective who conducts projects together or individually.