House for Homeless Grief - an International Multidisciplinary Installation of
Voices, Music, Performative Rituals, Plants and Collective Memory.
House for Homeless Grief is an international multidisciplinary installation
developed by Teater Viva and Willow House/Rooted Festival with collaborating artists.
The project addresses the “homeless grief” of our time, giving voice to the unheard
and creating a shared space for recognition and healing.
Through performance, text, music, sound, video, ritual
and dialogue with plants and the more-than-human,
the work explores intergenerational grief
and its impact on individuals and communities.
The project develops from April to June 2026 with an artistic residency
at the music performance venue RADAR
and will premiere at ROOTED Festival in Aarhus
on 13 & 14 June 2026 hosted by RADAR.
Idea and Context
The installation creates a house - both symbolic and physical –
that gives shelter to the “homeless grief” of our time.
It acknowledges experiences that often remain unspoken in contemporary society:
intergenerational trauma, personal and collective losses and the impact and influences
these issues can have on our actions and imaginations.
By combining song compositions, physical theater, poetic texts,
soundscapes, crying choir, performative rituals,
and encounters with plants and the more-than-human, the project creates an immersive environment
that recognizes grief and potentially transforms it into collective strength and healing.
The installation is nomadic by nature and will be adapted to different contexts,
but its premiere in Aarhus will mark its first version.
Vision
In times of overlapping crises – climate emergency, wars, social fragmentation –
the project responds to the urgent need for cultural spaces
where difficult emotions can be expressed and transformed.
While grief is often silenced in public life, this work makes it visible and shared,
offering a form of cultural resilience.
The potential of the project lies in weaving together grief work, music
and ecological performance art in a multidisciplinary installation.
Research in eco-psychology and plant studies shows that contact
with plants and the more-than-human world
supports emotional regulation, resilience and healing.
By grounding grief in embodied artistic practices and encounters with plants,
the project expands, what art can offer in times of crisis -
not only representation, but potential for transformation.
In this sense, House and Healing for the Homeless Grief contributes a timely artistic form –
one that allows audiences in many ages to face difficult emotions
arising from intergenerational trauma and ecological collapse,
while also experiencing collective care and renewal.
Artistic team
The project gathers a diverse group of internationally recognized artists.
Confirmed collaborators include musician, composer, poet Anette Hagnell, N
(working with grief and lament), UK storyteller Xanthe Gresham
(exploring myths, lament and plant narratives),
musician Ida Lod, SE (working with voice and grief), musician Agnieszka Bulacik, PL
(working with voice, lamenting, and storytelling), scenographer Malene Pedersen, DK
(working with installations of organic materials),
light and video artist Carina Backman SE (light designer specialized in inter active installations)
and four female performers from Sydhavnens Gadeteater,
which consists of socially vulnerable people, who bring powerful experience
in working with trauma, healing, and community-based text and song.
We will also have Jonatan Spejlborg Juelsbo, PhD student, Aarhus University, DK
following the work and helping us
together with his supervisor; grief researcher Dorthe Refslund Christensen.
Juelsbo is an artist, researcher and educator working with practice-based means and methods
for collaborative knowledge formation and articulation.
His current studies explore contemporary experiences of loss in relation to climate change,
and the collective practices of grief and memorialization that emerge and arise in relation to such loss.
The project is initiated and led by Katrine Faber and Liene Jurgelāne.
Katrine Faber is a theatre artist, singer, performer, composer, and director with many years of experience
in creating cross-aesthetic works at the intersection of music, voice art, ritual, installation and theatre.
Her work with Teater Viva has often centered on giving voice to the unheard, exploring themes of grief,
nature and transformation through a combination of song, physical theatre, and participatory formats.
She brings a deep artistic commitment to exploring how art can be a space
for healing, connection, and community building.
Since 2015 Katrine has created performances, concerts, installations
and community projects internationally
within the frame of the project Singing Our Place;
a cross art project exploring resonance between humans
and the more than human and our common future.
Liene Jurgelāne is an artist, curator, and the artistic director of ROOTED Festival.
Her practice is rooted in sound, ritual, and participatory performance,
often exploring temporalities of plants and multispecies relationships.
Her previous projects show a consistent interest in creating participatory spaces
where ecological awareness can meet emotional depth.
Alongside her extensive experience as a cultural producer and festival organizer,
she brings an artistic voice that integrates ecological awareness,
ritual practice rooted in Baltic traditions, and embodied listening.