A bunch of youths from the 40ies sharing rømmekolle in the show.
Rømmekolle is a fermented milk dish made from fresh milk fermented with a bacterial culture that is said to originate from the plant Butterworth many centuries ago. The culture has been passed down through generations and generously shared amongst people till the 60-ies. Over the last 50 years it has gradually died. In this project I am reviving this traditional, but rapidly vanishing, fermented milk culture that has roots in the Norwegian, Finnish and Sami cultures. (Read more about the artistic research for Rømmekolle Revival here.)
During Barents Spektakel 2015 I transformed the Seamensclub, located in the centre of Kirkenes, into a café for cross-cultural and cross-generational exchange, social fermentation and rømmekolle sharing. The Rømmekolle Revival café was filled with revived and homemade rømmekolle to share and had a varied program of happenings from performance lectures, rømmekolle making demos, culture dialogues and a freshly made rømmekolle radio.
The rømmekolle served during Barents Spektakel 2015 was made with raw milk from Øverli Farm in Pasvik. The furniture and utensils in the café were lent by Fretex (Salvation Army) and were for sale during the festival.
