Isbrytere (Icebreakers)
Produced by Samovarteateret (2024)
Icebreaker 10. Global Power Play, Local Lives
Moderators: Theresa H. Holand and Bente S. Andersen
Introduction by: Kai Eide
How does the global powerplay affect our local lives in the border region? How does it feel to live in a region where civil security and military preparedness is the first priority?
During Kirkeneskonferansen, we invite both visitors and locals to an open conversation at Samovarteateret. As residents, we constantly experience how outsiders define our role and our mandate here at the border. That is why we need to take ownership of our own history and the current times.
To highlight these themes further, we have invited diplomat and author Kai Eide to introduce this Icebreaker. Eide has years long experience of working with international security politics and crisis management. He is now out with his new book called "Vilje til fred". With his book, his experiences of the Barents region and today's challenges, we want to view our current times in a historical context.
Welcome to Icebreaker: Global Power Play, Local Lives
A side-event to Kirkeneskonferansen 2026
Tuesday May 19th, 14:30 at Samovarteateret / Sør-Varanger kultursal
Moderators: Theresa H. Holand and Bente S. Andersen
"We thought we were living in peace. Now things have changed. We are living in pre-war times". These are words from the new chair of The Norwegian Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Peter Christian Frølich.
How are we, as citizens of Sør-Varanger municipality, as a "frontline" for national security, supposed to handle this rhetoric? Are we ready for what is to come? And is it at all possible to create a peaceful world?
Welcome to Icebreaker: Frontline citizens, Thursday March 26th, 18:00 at Samovarteateret / Sør-Varanger kultursal
Moderators: Theresa H. Holand and Bente S. Andersen
A new year has begun, and with that comes a feeling of a fresh start and a new drive. Some people face the new year with resolutions about change, while others set goals on a known path. At the same time, we are being affected by the world news in many different ways.
Samovarteateret is continuing the dialogue about the human experience of our current times in Icebreaker, and we wish both new and known participants a warm welcome. In Icebreaker: Re-coordination, we invite you to share your thoughts and feelings, your worries and hopes that affect your experience of both the contemporary and the future.
Welcome to Icebreaker: Re-coordination, Tuesday January 13th, 18:00 at Samovarteateret / Sør-Varanger kultursal
Moderators: Theresa H. Holand and Bente S. Andersen
National defence is a hot topic in Norway. The military exercises "Totalforsvar 2026" and "Cold Response 2026" are meant to increase the overall defense and preparedness in Norway, and it starts with a number of training operations in Northern Norway. Additionally, the government has set aside funds to increase the defense, especially in Finnmark county. As a part of this project, the youth in Finnmark will recieve basic training in civil protection and emergency preparedness. As the first in Norway, the pupils at the upper secondary school in Kirkenes completed an interdisciplinary week of resilience and preparedness. Here, they learnt about shelters, burns, NATO, civil preparedness and source criticism.
In his new book, the Norwegian chief of defense highlights that Norwegian civil preparedness is more than just military power. Just as important is the public unity. But how do we prepare for unity? And what does resilience really mean? Is resilience in Finnmark different from resilience in the rest of the country?
Tuesday October 28th, 18:00 at Samovarteateret / Sør-Varanger kultursal
Moderators: Theresa H. Holand and Bente S. Andersen
Russia's war in Ukraine continues to affect our world, as well as the border region of Sør-Varanger. New borders are being violated and the tensions in Europe are rising. In Kirkenes, the local community is described as both paranoid and naive. At the same time, we are encouraged to embrace Kirkenes' new title of "spy town". How do the locals feel about this narrative? And how does it feel to live in Sør-Varanger municipality today?
Tuesday September 30th, 18:00 at Samovarteateret / Sør-Varanger kultursal
Moderators: Anja Salo and Bente S. Andersen
One of the themes that we continue to circle back to in our Icebreaker-dialogues is the relationship of trust between north and south, as well as the uncertainty of whether we have the same perception of reality across our country.
It is a well known stereotype that we are vastly different in the north and south of Norway, but is it really true? In this Icebreaker, we invite you to take part in the dialogue that takes the pulse of the trust between the north and the south.
Moderators: Anja Salo and Bente S. Andersen
The world is changing rapidly. European leaders are gathering in emergency meetings, and they all agree to rearm and strenghten our nations' defences. What does this mean for us as individuals? And what does "rearmament" mean to you?
In previous Icebreakers we have explored themes such as "the new silence" and the term "robust frontline". This time, we continue to take pulse of the current times by discussing our everyday life in the border region.
Moderators: Anja Salo and Bente S. Andersen
Growing up in this region, we have become accustomed to close cooperation with both Russia and Finland. We have competed with, visited and hung out with friends across the borders. However, after Covid-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, all cooperation with youth in Russia ceased. From being a "we" in the Barents region, it has become an "us" and "them" situation.
Because we live close to the border, we feel the changes in the political landscape. The new security situation creates uncertainty. Many adults are worried about losing their job. We constantly hear talk about GPS-jamming, spionage and sabotage. The army and the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) tell us to be on the watch for suspicious behaviour, while the growing military activity around us is highly noticeable. Parallel to this, we are supposed to live our lives as usual and treat others with respect no matter who they are.
How does it feel to come of age in the midst of all this? Does if affect us, our values and the choices we make about our future? This Icebreaker is for youth between 15 and 25 that want to talk about how the big politics affect our everyday life.
This evening is reserved for younger participants. We will continue with open, non age-restricted Icebreakers during the spring - in Icebreaker #4 and onwards. More information to come.
Moderator: Anja Salo
From being referred to as a "peace keeping force" and a "bridge builder" through active people-to-people cooperation and interaction across the border, the people of Sør-Varanger municipality must today be a "robust frontline against Russia". By living here, the community in Sør-Varanger contribute to asserting Norwegian sovereignity. Hybrid threats from Russia should be fought with resilience and vigilance against suspicious behaviour. At the same time, more than 400 of Sør-Varanger's citizens have a connection to Russia, many with double citizenship. Additionally, locals are concerned about the future and the community's viability,
In Samovarteateret's second Icebreaker, we explore how the role of "robust frontline" affects our everyday life.
Moderator: Anja Salo
Norwegian authorities are asking the public to be vigilant against suspicious behaviour, but the enemy image is diffuse and the advice is far from as clear as during the pandemic. Uncertainty sparks imagination. Can I trust my neighbour?
The first Icebreaker, The new silence covers fresh empirical evidence about how many in Sør-Varanger municipality chose silence as a survival strategy after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some fear the consequences for their family back home in Russia and surveillance by the Russian government. Other are afraid of the moral stigma of having the "wrong opinion" and to become excluded. Still others are worried of being seen as Russia-friendly and to end up in the Norwegian security authorities' spotlight. In her recent master thesis Anja Salo presents how the war has affected the feeling of security and trust in Sør-Varanger municipality. This is the theme for tonights Icebreaker.
From cooperation to silence
For three decades the border was open, the Barents cooperation and people-to-people initiatives defined the local community along the Norwegian-Russian border. After February 24th 2022, Sør-Varanger municipality has gone through great changes that affect our societal structres, our inter-human relations and how we live our lives. Countless partnerships in sports, culture, education, diplomacy and trade ceased overnight, and various sanctions were imposed against Russia. Russia stifled the freedom of expression and established enemy images of the West. From using interpersonal relationships as a political tool and a deliberate policy for 30 years, everything was turned from friend to enemy in record time. What's left is a multicultural and multiethnic local community whose identity and belonging are being pulled from different directions - both east and west.
Taking the pulse of the border region in the north
Samovarteateret has always had a deep involvement in the community, and has since 1990 taken the pulse on the geopolitical border region in the north. Through newly written drama and contemporary art, Samovarteateret has conveyed the human experience of neighbourhood and border politics and has developed its own methodology that is based on meeting points across age, language and ethnicity. Our aritstic goal is to create contemporary art that expands our understanding of the complex region and time that we are living in.
After February 2022, the border region has become even more complex. We see a great need for local dialogue. A fresh master thesis from the Centre for Peace Studies at UiT shows that many citizens in Sør-Varanger have chosen silence as a survival strategy after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Salo, 2024). This silence makes society vulnerable to information warfare and creates fertile ground for polarization and further division.
«Brave space» + «safe space»
To break the silence and counteract the polarization, Samovarteateret started the dialogue series Icebreaker in cooperation with Anja Salo. The purpose of Icebreaker is to invite everyday people in the local community to an open and safe conversation about thoughts and experiences concerning the current times. This is both a "brave space" and a "safe space". This means that the dialouge concerns themes that for many may seem confrontational. Even so, the conversation is happening in a safe and inclusive framework, where everyone is equal and treat each other with respect.
3 rules for Icebreaker:
1: Speak on behalf of yourself. You are not representative of your workplace, your positions or your nationality. Explain with your own words what you feel and think.
2: Listen to what other are saying with the intention of understanding their position. It is important to not interrupt or argue against, even if you disagree.
3: Show respect. Pay attention and put away you phone, even if you don't want to speak yourself.
Icebreaker is an important part of Samovarteateret's artistic goal of creating meeting places and dialogue that expands our understanding of the complex region and time that we are living in.
Learn more ↓
Samovarteateret's artistic director presenter the Icebreaker-series on NRK P2's Studio 2 on Tuesday September 24th.
Listen to the radio show here.
Samovarteateret adheres to the principles of dialogue by allowing all perspectives to be heard and listening to each other's stories in a safe space. This creates increased understanding and unity in the local community. That a cultural actor takes on such extended responsibility is an example to follow in a time when we all need to talk better together.
Every month The Nobel Peace Center awards someone who has pioneered good dialogue. In April 2025, Samovarteateret recieved this award. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the theatre launched the Icebreaker-series, an inclusive dialogue to counteract polarization and strengthen the local democracy in Sør-Varanger municipality.
Read more about the award and The Noble Peace Center here.