Pia Arke Performance: SOIL mit Sarah Aviaja Hammeken

In her first solo performance, dancer and choreographer Sarah Aviaja Hammeken explores the complexity of her own cultural background in both Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) and Denmark. She grew up outside Greenland but Inuit culture is always present for Hammeken wherever she is in the world. Her background brings with it a wealth of possibilities, and although she absorbs both cultures at different times, she feels she belongs to neither.

Hammeken's contemporary dance performances often poetically address the inner conflict of not being able to fully grasp one's own languages, rituals or traditions. They reflect shifts in translation and self-perception and ask at what point one becomes part of a culture and whose acceptance one actually seeks. In particular, the language Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) and the ongoing process of learning it are at the center of Hammeken's ongoing development of SOIL, a physical investigation of communication, its power and its meshes.

SOIL is Hammeken's first performance in Germany. The new piece has been commissioned by KW Institute for Contemporary Art and will premiere during Berlin Art Week 2024.

Sarah Aviaja Hammeken was born in Copenhagen with Danish and Greenlandic roots. After graduating from the Ballet Academy in Stockholm in 2015, she became part of the youth company of Compagnia Zappalà Danza, CZD2. Sarah Aviaja established herself as a professional dancer on the world stage and worked with various international choreographers and companies. In 2019 she founded AVIAJA Dance, a platform where she explores and develops her choreographic practice. Her artistic journey is driven by a deep interest in how the physical body and dance interact with society, often drawing inspiration from her Greenlandic heritage. After spending several years abroad, she brought her latest work SILA to life at the Greenlandic National Theater in 2023, followed by the Danish premiere at Dansekapellet, marking her return to the Danish art scene. Her path earned her a place in the Danish Arts Foundation's career program "The Young Artistic Elite" for 2024-2026. She was also selected for CPH Stage's Emerging Artists & Producers Program 2023/2024.

The exhibition at KW is supported by the New Carlsberg Foundation.