About the Art Group
Our art group is a collaboration of three talented individuals. Musician Jukka Juhola provides an improvised guitar accompaniment, seamlessly following the performers’ movements. The performance features Katja Juhola, a Finnish-based multidisciplinary artist, alongside Hugo Peña, a Chilean choreographer and dancer. Together, they create a dynamic and immersive artistic experience.
Symbiosis has been performed in Italy, Irpinia 2022, Finland, Aletheya Festival 2023, Finland, Mustio ISEAS 2024
Photograph Antti Ahonen 2023
A real-time performance of interconnectedness
Symbiosis is a live performance where two human bodies engage with their natural surroundings, creating an intimate, perceptual, and physical dialogue. The performance begins with the performers lying down, their bodies camouflaged with clay, blending seamlessly into the environment. In stillness, they enter a meditative state, attuning themselves to the sounds and rhythms of nature. These sensations gradually translate into movement—slow, organic, and deeply intertwined with the landscape.
As the bodies awaken, they begin to move through the space, always in harmony with their surroundings. Their movements reflect an active listening process, a translation of the environment’s pulses into bodily expression. The performance unfolds as a continuous exchange, where the performers seek not to dominate nature but to merge with it, respecting its presence and agency.
A Posthumanist Perspective
Inspired by the philosophy of posthumanism, Symbiosis challenges human-centered perspectives, questioning the idea of human exceptionalism. It embraces the interconnectedness of all life forms, advocating for a relationship with nature that is based on mutual respect and recognition rather than hierarchy.
Posthumanism invites us to rethink our place in the world—not as separate from nature, but as part of a vast, interwoven ecosystem. Through this lens, Symbiosis seeks to dissolve the boundaries between human and non-human, offering a vision where bodies and landscapes coalesce in a shared existence.
Movement as Dialogue
The performance unfolds as a series of meditative, adaptive movements that respond to the environment’s stimuli. The performers listen with their bodies, adopting the forms, flows, and textures of nature—merging with the earth, reborn from its depths, and embodying the life force that sustains all beings.
Unlike traditional art forms that treat nature as a passive backdrop, Symbiosis recognizes the natural world as an active collaborator. Through movement created in situ, the performers channel the energy and voice of the landscape, forging a material and corporeal dialogue between human and environment.
A Call for Connection
Symbiosis is more than a performance—it is an invitation to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. By tuning into nature’s rhythms, the work encourages viewers to adopt a more humble and inclusive perspective, one that values the intrinsic worth of all life forms.
Through this embodied experience, Symbiosis serves as a statement of the potential for deeper ecological awareness—one that transcends language, culture, and traditional artistic boundaries.
All photos: Antti Ahonen, 2023
Katja Juhola 