Date: Saturday 28th of February
Time: 14:30-16:00
Language: English
The event is free, but registration is required so we can make enough coffee
In this conversation, dance artists Eun Me-Ahn, Chollada Phinitduang, Carl Aquilizan and costume designer Fredrik Floen will talk about stereotypes related to identity, cultural background, gender and orientation, and how this is used in contemporary art, dance and choreography.
The conversation will be led by curator Noor Bhangu. who has, among other things, curated the exhibition Deviant Ornaments at the National Museum, which deals with how different aspects of identity (gender, orientation, ethnicity and cultural background) are fused together in artistic expression.
Together, the panel will examine the potential that lies in framing and staging different stereotypes: Does this contribute to further petrifying the images or can it explode the stereotype and thus also expand the space for interpretation and meanings? Exaggeration of stereotypical expressions is part of many queer performativity strategies. Is it also present in other cultures?
Noor Bhangu is a curator and scholar, whose practice is rooted in relational curatorial aesthetics and practices. She completed her BA in the History of Art and her MA in Cultural Studies: Curatorial Practices at the University of Winnipeg. In 2018, she began her PhD in Communication and Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University in Tkaronto, Toronto. Her dissertation investigates cultures of sexuality within Islamic visual culture to develop a queer genealogy, linking the past to the contemporary.
Her past curatorial projects include Not the Camera, But the Filing Cabinet (2018) at Gallery 1C03, the excess is ritual(2023) at Dunlop Gallery, Homorientalism (2023) at Smack Mellon, Has My Place Forgotten Me? (2024) at Kistefos, and Deviant Ornaments (2025-26) at Nasjonalmuseet.
Carl Aquilizan (they/them) is a Norwegian-Filipino dance artist living in Oslo. They explore decolonial and transformative practices from a gay and multicultural perspective, with the aim of challenging Western norms and opening up new ways of thinking. In their latest and future projects, they take a look at Filipino heritage and what it means to carry your ancestors’ knowledge and stories in your body. Their work also looks at traces of precolonial worldview in the Filipino language, culture and contemporary expression.
Carl Aquilizan took the foundation course in dance at Spin Off, and graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Previous works include dis_func (2021), Flower Boy (2022/24), Blooming (2022/23) and Out of Place (2025) which have been performed at theatres throughout Norway, including a production of Flower Boy at Dansens Hus in 2024. They are also a performer for various other choreographers and companies.
Chollada Phinitduang, born in 1990, is a Thai-Norwegian dance artist, choreographer and performance artist based in Tromsø. She works at the interface between dance, text, sound and video, using the body as a living archive for memories, heritage and belonging. She explores movement as recognition – an interface between body, language, stillness and landscape. She graduated from the College of Contemporary Dance (now the University College of Dance Art) and has continued to develop her artistry internationally, including a two-year collaboration with Marina Abramović on The Cleaner tour. She has also worked with Carole Douillard (Oslo Biennale), Rina Eide Løvaasen (Sweden, Uzbekistan, Norway) and Lisa Holterman Halle Berge (Malmö Museum and Roskilde Festival 2023).
With her dual Thai and Northern Norwegian background, she is interested in how identity, perception, nature and contemporary structures form ways of being in the world. She created works such as Wounded Rhymes(Berlin 2024) and Wired Buffalo (Bangkok 2024). She has been awarded a three-year work grant from Arts and Culture Norway (2025–2027), and in 2026 will take part in a Dance Artist Exchange Residency between the Davvi – Centre for Performing Arts and the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in Canada.
Fredrik Floen is an artist and designer working at the intersection of experimental clothing and costume design. His practice spans media such as textiles, performance, books, scenography, drawing and sculpture, and he is an associate professor at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where he directs the bachelor's program in clothing and costume. Floen's work is characterized by a lively yet melancholic world and a colorful maximalist expression that explores self-sabotage, human fallibility and visual culture. His works have been shown at institutions such as the Munch Museum, Black Box Theatre, Palais de Tokyo and Stockholm City Theatre, and in 2023 he represented Norway at the Prague Quadriennial. Through flamboyant reactions to existing structures, he seeks to create new forms and dramaturgies, with a desire to place his work outside of traditional production platforms. This approach allows for exploration and rethinking of silhouettes and ideas within experimental fashion and performing arts design.