Ptarmigan existed as a project space in Vallila from 2009-2011 and a mobile curatorial/creative platform until 2014. We no longer exist as an organised collective, but this website will continue to serve as an archive of the activities produced as/at Ptarmigan during these years.
Johannes Blomqvist was born 1985 in Tibro, Sweden but has now his base in Norrbotten (the most northern county in Sweden). Johannes mainly works with performance art, but sometimes also with theatre, dance and installations. He has participated at many festivals, galleries and other events in many countries, such as Norway, England, Spain, Portugal the UK, Germany and Brazil. In Norrbotten his touring performance Personal Shopping has been a big success, and he has been organizing the performance Art Festival “LEIF” in Luleå. He has recently started a new platform for performance art called PAIN (Performance Art In Norrbotten), which organizes performance events, Artists Residencies and workshops in Norrbotten. Alongside, Johannes has worked as a companion for visually impared people and got an interest for perception and the complexity of our senses. During his residency at Ptarmigan in Helsinki, Johannes will develop and deepen his artistic research in these themes by making performances and other happenings together with visually impared people in the city.
"I love performance art. It is for real. Real emotions, real people. I also love working with real stuff - in nature and use organic, natural material such as dirt, water and food. I love the sublime, the dressed, the grand, the festive. I love combining this with the natural. For me the site, space and context always is the starting-point for my work. And while doing it being present and trying get my audience to be that too. I want to give my audience a experience and that it include use of more than just one sense. I want to really meet them. Be in the meeting. For real. I also try to warp the reality a bit and what I show doesn´t have to make sense."