The theme of the fourth edition of the Drift Festival was Precarious Lives. It focused on the vulnerability of life in the face of violence and hatred that cross borders. The festival engaged with the social scars caused by fascism and capitalism that oppress and dispossess lives and addressed contemporary urgencies in Suomenlinna, a site where wounds from various historical moments/periods remain. The festival collaborated with 43 local and international art practitioners, presenting public programs such as audiovisual performances, film screenings, lectures, and exhibitions. It invited audiences to engage deeply with the theme of Precarious Lives, fostering collective understanding, accountability, and imagination in addressing the vulnerabilities and resilience of human existence and decolonization.
Precarious Lives confronted present-day oppressive social conditions and ideologies affecting migrants, refugees, races, and genders against all forms of repression. The festival revealed enduring legacies of past injustices: the shadows of warfare, silenced memories of colonization, erasure of cultures, and uprooted and diasporic experiences. It challenged the hegemonic fascist, capitalist, and imperialist narratives that perpetuate these cycles of violence, colonization, occupation, exploitation, oppression, control, and discrimination.
Participants
Forensic Architecture, DAAR, Camille Henrot, Adrian Paci, Puce Mary, Maria W Horn, Christian Nyampeta, Minna Henriksson, Ahmed Al-Nawas, Dis Fig, ikkibawiKrrr, Clément Beraud, Azar, Saiyar, Saila Puranen, Haliz Yosef, Nori Kin, Tuuli Kudjoi, Farbod Fakharzadeh, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Kate Ruck, HNV Collective, Nikolay Smirnov, Hanna Ahti, Anna Maria Häkkinen, Maija Mustonen, MTBF, SUMUD, Hayoun Kwon, Niko Hallikainen, Rohan Stevenson, Kaisa Rönkkö, Jan Ijäs, SITOI, Nora Sternfeld, Renan Laru-an, Anna Knappe, Amir Jan, Ulriika Hyry, Daniel Malpikka, Majed Abusalama, Antti Tarvainen, Maija Kalikwela Baijukya, Ville Laurinkoski
Partners
In 2024, the Drifts Festival was realized in partnership with The Governing Body of Suomenlinna, Nordic Culture Point, AV-ARKKI, Goethe-Institut Finnland, Finnish Institute UK & Ireland, Art School MAA, The Temporary Bookshelf, Under The Leaf, Up Node, Mad House Helsinki, ShopperScreen, and with the kind support of the Kone Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Niilo Helanderin Säätiö, City of Helsinki, Oskar Öflunds Stiftelse, Konstsamfundet, Nordic Culture Fund, and 1664.
Team
Artistic Director | Soko Hwang
Production Manager |Phan Nguyen, Ahmed Barakat
Producer | Justin Ugochukwu
Curator | Marianne Savallampi
Lighting Manager | Kristian Palmu
Lighting Technician | Mikko Kaukonen
Sound Technician | Kalle Mantere
Graphic Design | Soko Hwang
Web Programmer | Tõnu Kaggovere
Documentation & Translation | Aala Nyman
Production Volunteers | Amy Merigo, Aria Ti, Eleni Vlachos, Cyriaque Le Saint, Juho Herranen, Juno Suvijoki, Kai Nordfors, Sanna Nykänen, Telma Pietiäinen, Valtteri Moilanen.
