– People were tired. Many were afraid. Everyone felt a violent polarization. Americans of all ages feel that they cannot talk to each other anymore, says photographer and filmmaker Io Sivertsen to Dagsavisen.
– Everyone feared what would happen to the country. Both sides feel that the other is destroying the United States, says illustrator and artist Christa Barlinn Korvald.
Swing states in the United States
Throughout October and half of November, the two artists were traveling in the swing states in the east and middle of the USA. There they interviewed Americans from across the political spectrum. Palestine activists and Trump supporters, election workers and concerned parents.
The Americans were incredibly nice. But some were a little scary too
— Io Sivertsen, photographer and filmmaker
– The paradox is that the Americans share the same concerns: What if there is a war? How will the economy go? And with grandma who is sick? But the answers to the questions are completely opposite for the Republicans and the Democrats, says Sivertsen.
Read also: Large overview of Christmas performances (+)
«When I say dream, I say America»
The two artists created the media house Move fast! Breaking News! In the period before and immediately after the election, they published videos, drawings and photographs on their own website.
Read also: Soldiers train for war in a district of Oslo
Now they have created a show at Vega Scene, together with director Tani Dibasey and actors Mohammed Aden Ali and Mina Fuglesteg Dale. The performance is called “When I say dream, I say America”.
– Some things cannot be told through a screen, like a quick TikTok. You have to be present to get a feel for what they are like, says Dibasey.
– The origin of theater in ancient Greece was that people went out, experienced something, and then came back and told about it. They stood on a box and dramatized their experiences. We will achieve something like that with what Io and Christa have experienced in the USA. Share the energy. Such meetings are undervalued in our culture, he continues.
Harris: NOK 180 – Trump: NOK 50
The audience at “When I say dream, I say America” ​​can choose between different ticket types: Working class tickets cost just NOK 30, but then you have to turn up before the performance to help.
Both sides feel that the other is destroying the United States.
— Christa Barlinn Korvald, illustrator and artist
A Harris ticket costs NOK 180, while a Trump ticket is cheaper – only NOK 50. The most expensive is a neutral ticket – blank vote.
– The public is invited to a rally, i.e. a kind of election meeting. There is possibly a bit of a republican mood in the room, says Dibasey.
– A multimedia rally. We use a lot of our material from the USA. Pictures, films, art, say Sivertsen and Korvald.
Read also: They invaded America. After that, nothing was the same (+)
A president for all
The president in the fictional universe of “When I say dream, I say America” ​​is called President Ma.
– Ma is a president of the people. No matter what people say, he has you. You hate gays? He has you. Do you feel discriminated against? He has you. You don’t want to vote for someone? He has you then too.
– This is how President Ma becomes a representative of the most cowardly side of democracy. A guy who just wants to like and be liked by everyone, without really taking a stand on anything, even when the atmosphere in the room is much rougher. Perhaps a bit like Kamala Harris, who also became a bit difficult to understand for many, says Dibasey.
Read also: Many of us use them every day. Now it will be illegal
Nice Trump fans
While traveling around the USA, the artists Io Sivertsen and Christa Barlinn Korvald thought a lot about the contrast between how people received them and what they stood for politically.
– We felt very welcome. Everyone was incredibly accommodating. They asked to be interviewed. Showed real interest. It felt different talking to the Americans than talking to people I disagree with politically in Norway. At the same time, people said, for example, fairly homophobic and transphobic things, before immediately afterwards smiling gently and saying “but I like you, that is,” says Korvald.
Nobody thinks that they are the bad guys
— Tani Dibasey, director, actor and artist
– They were incredibly nice. But some were a little scary too. At some of the Trump rallies, it was the paramilitary who made it clear that I not was welcome with the camera there, says Sivertsen.
– For many of the Trump supporters, the MAGA community felt like family. They talked about feeling ostracized by their families because of their political views. “Because of that I is», was the expression several people used, says Korvald.
– “I am who I am, and you don’t accept me for that”. Like a kind of reverse, dark pride, says Sivertsen.
– Nobody thinks that it is the which is the bad guyssays Dibasey.
A mirror to the nation
There were many journalists in the United States in the time around the presidential election. Including many Norwegians. Io Sivertsen and Christa Barlinn Korvalds still believe that something a little different happens when there are two artists who go on a reportage trip.
– In contrast to news journalists in traditional media houses, we did not have to deal with which cases have the highest news value, or uncover matters worthy of criticism. It is a type of journalism, but more personal and experience-based, says Korvald.
– In the 1930s, then President Roosevelt introduced what he called the New Deal to improve the economy during the depression in the United States. It was important to give people jobs. Many artists were also employed. They were supposed to go around and document what was happening in the country. Hold a mirror up to the nation. Something similar is what we are doing now, says Sivertsen.
The performance “When I say dream, I say America” ​​will be played at Vega in Oslo throughout the week. Photographs, art and reports from the USA are on Move Fast! Breaking News! its website movingfastbreakingnews.org.
Also read several issues about theatre, music, literature and art on Dagsavisen’s culture pages