LYRA

In collaboration with the Latvian festival Skaņu Mežs, Insomnia has started to work on LYRA - a project aimed at kids and teens that is supported by the EEA Grants and Norway Grants funded by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.

The project title LYRA is a fusion of two words – the Norwegian word “lytte” (“to listen”) and the Latvian word “radīt” (“to create”). The result is LYRA – a reference to both the ancient musical instrument and the northern hemisphere constellation of stars.

The project aims to introduce kids and teenagers to experimental music and to get them involved in its creation. As it is democratic and non-hierarchical in essence, experimental music gives trained and untrained kids the chance to take part in making music. Since the project crosses social and ethnic divides, it is also socially inclusive.

For the first phase of the project, we will organize a workshop in listening.
The workshop will be run by Filipe Felizardo (Portugal), musician, visual artist and thinker who has been conducting music teaching activities since 2011. We will also present two new commissioned works:

The Grinder
Norwegian artist and composer Jenny Berger Myhre together with artist and writer Annie Bielski has interpreted the fairy tale 'The Grinder', about the grinder that never stops grinding at the bottom of the ocean. The fairytale presents two siblings, a trip to hell and back, and the devil’s magical grinder that can give you anything you want, as long as you know how to make it stop. 

The fairytale was collected and published by the famous storytellers Asbjørnsen & Moe in 1852, and is a humorous take on why the sea is salty, as well as a friendly warning to be careful what you wish for. Created with a musical grinder of unpredictable synths and electronics, Jenny and Annie are passing the story on through experimental, rhythmical songs and foley art, together with 3D animated visuals rendered from painted, abstracted dioramas created by paper, fabric, aluminum and glass. The Grinder is an energetic concert that will hopefully be of pleasure to kids and adults of all ages. At the Insomnia Festival this work is presented at the bottom of the old local swimming pool, Alfheim.

Latvian Beasts
On latvian side of the project, composer Linda Leimane and video artist Mārtiņš Grauds are presenting a work that springs out from a series of latvian fairytales about animals.

Their collaborative work, including electro-acoustic music, video, animation and shadow thater, is based on the book “Latvian Animals” by writer Inese Zandere. In the work "Latvian Beasts", five fairy tales for children written by the contemporary Latvian writer Inese Zandere are told in an audio and visual way. In the winter of 2022, the composer Linda Leimane accidentally discovered a very engaging children's design book "Latvian Animals" in an empty apartment, the author of the idea of ​​which is the artist Mārtiņš Grauds. In the summer of 2022, on the textual and visual basis of the book, Linda Leimane and Mārtiņš Grauds create a new collaboration in the LYRA project, bringing the book to life for the children's joy in both sonic rhythms and cinematic sound effects, as well as giving it the life of movement and shadow games. In 2009, near Madona, a unique book project was photographed in cooperation with a whole team - actors, costume designers, photographer and director. This summer, Linda Leimane and Mārtiņš Grauds meet deep in the forest by the Árona River to capture the sounds read in the book and create a joint work - a unique soundtrack for the audiovisual work in the LYRA concert for children.

At the Insomnia Festival these works are presented at the bottom of the old local swimming pool at Alfheim.

For Insomnia it is important to salute the electronic music tradition in Tromsø. A tradition that has raised (and exported) many local stars within the genre. We see it as essential to put focus on facilitating sound- and listening experiences for kids and teens.

LYRA receives grants in the amount of EUR 206,256.00 within the framework of the EEA Grants and Norway Grants funded by Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.

Total LYRA eligible costs: EUR 202,510.00, European Economic Area financial instrument programme Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Culture Cooperation support sum: 85% or EUR 85,000.00, of which:
European Economic Area financial instrument co-financing: 85% or EUR 175,317.60;
State Budget co-financing: 15% or EUR 30,938.40.