Alle indlæg af Charlotte Østergaard

Scenographic object

At soprano, vocal performer and researcher Felicita Brusoni 75% intermediate phd seminar (artistic research project A Voice beyond the Edge at Lund University) February 12, 2025 Felicita and dancer/choreographer Valentina Sechi performed RED CARPET. The combination of Felicita’s amazing voice and Valentina’s movements made a strong and powerful performance.

I had knitted the scenographic piece (the red vulva) for the performance.

RED CARPET (2025).

The textile material that the knitted scenographic piece are made in where originally from Kitt Johnson X-act performance STAFET (2017). For STAFET I had also knitted the textiles into a knitted scenographic object (placed on the floor). As Kitt Johnson no longer had room to store the “old” scenographic object she asked if i wanted the material.

STAFET (2017). Photo: Per Morten Abrahamsen

I am so happy these wonderful red textiles now have gain a new life and once again appear on stage in a new scenographic shape in another performance.

I imagine that the textiles still hold traces of Kitt Johnson‘s performance and of the nine wonderful performers that interacted with it in 2017. And now the textile material once again collect traces of the two wonderful performers that interacts with it.

In 2017 where crafted the material into a scenographic object I had no idea of the I years later would re-craft and re-shape it. I makes me proud that these textiles now have a circular life.

At some point when RED CARPET performance no longer is touring the red textile material will return to me. And who knows which life or which shape it it will re-appear in in the future. For now the red textile as a scenographic vulva are with Felicita and Valentina and I wish them and the RED CARPET performance a wonderful life together.

Performance credits:

Red Carpet is a performance that, ranging between present and past, investigates forms of exorcisation of repression in the feminine, understood as a collective archetype, that has always had to devise ways and means to manifest itself and survive in its essence. On the Red Carpet parade images of women, two but numerous, who embody through the use of multiple vocal techniques and corporal utterances, the cries of a “collective trauma”, which suffocates the expression of the self.  Body and voice are the protagonists as they are symbols of both censorship and expression par excellence and are used as a means of individual exploration and collective voicing. On this red carpet, a metaphor for formal public exposure, the singer tries to give voice to those who are told to remain silent and the dancer to give substance to catharsis, in a succession of anarchic fragilities and ferocious desires for survival.

concept Valentina Sechi
created by Felicita Brusoni, Valentina Sechi
scenography Charlotte Østergaard
thanks to the kind permission of Kitt Johnson X-act
light design Carolina Agostini
production Versiliadanza
with the support of MiC, Region Tuscany, Municipality of Florence
thanks to Inter Arts Center, Lund University

Phd defence

On January 15, 2025 at Bryggeriteatern, Malmö Theatre Academy, Lund University, Sweden I had my doctoral defence. At the defence I had made an exhibition in the theatre space with the connecting costume and the knotted textiles that I had made during the research periode.

Photo: Sergio Gianoli

I wanted my textile companions to surround me – to be present as they speak for themselves – as well as that I wanted the audience to enter my textile world.

As part of my defence I had invited the dancers Alex Berg, Camille Marchadour, Daniel Jeremiah Persson and Josefine Ibsen to perform an improvised version of AweAre – a movement quintet.

Opponent: Dr. Donatella Barbieri, University of the Arts London.   
Chair (Ordförande): professor Sven Bjernstedt, Teaterhögskolan i Malmö.   
Committee (Betygsnämnd): professor Henrik Frisk, dr Anne Louise Bang, dr Rachel Hann and dr Madeline Taylor.    

As written on Lund University’s webpage I am the first person to recieve a doctor degree within the subject of costume. Read more here

Main supervisor: Dr Sofia Pantouvaki – scenographer and Professor of Costume Design at Aalto University, Finland.    
Second supervisor: Dr Camilla Eeg-Tverbakk – dramaturgue and Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.

En tekstil dialog

festivalen PÅ TVÆRS vises udstillingen “En tekstile dialog – en udstilling af søstrene Camilla og Charlotte Østergaard” 12-13 april på Dansekapellet.

Fokus i udstilling er forandringen af Camillas tekstile værker. For 10 års siden fik Camila (født med downs syndrom) konstateret alzheimers, hvilket har forandret hendes tekstile sprog. F.eks. begyndte Camilla at sample tekstile teknikker på uventede måder og hendes udtryk blev overraskende vildere. Forandringerne i og af Camillas værker har rørt og inspireret mit virke. Derfor er de få værker, som jeg udstiller, inspireret af og i dialog med Camillas værker og tekstil teknikker.  

Om os, Camilla og Charlotte: Som børn lærte søstrene Camila og Charlotte Østergaard at trykke, væve, sy, strikke mm af deres mor Ehs Østergaard; tekstile designer/kunster. Gennem deres barndom og nu i voksenlivet er tekstilet et fællesskabende element mellem dem. På trods af deres forskellige tilgange til livet og deres forskellige måder at være i verden på er tekstilet deres fælles sprog.
Hvor Camill (født med downs syndrom) hele livet helt intuitiv har udfoldet og udtryktsig igennem tekstilerne og er Charlotte blevet skolet – hun uddannede sig som designer og nu som kunstnerisk forsker. Hvor Camilla har broderet, hæklet, strikket og kniplet brugsting og billeder, har Charlotte designet/skabt beklædning, kostumer og udstillingsobjekter. På trods af søstrenes forskelligartede måder at skabe og udtrykke sig på gennem tekstiler, så har det tekstile sprog altid skabt et stærkt fællesskab og nærvær mellem dem. De deler passionen for tekstilets poetiske og kunstneriske udtryksmuligheder. 

Island connect residency at Sardinia

10 days Island Connect Residency at Sardegna Teatro in Paulilatino, Sardinia (Italy) with performance artist Linh Le – and we were so lucky to have Ambre Floris as our wonderful host.

Surrounded by water, isolated from mainland, as birds we travel over the waters, we pause and we rest with the island. We wander and wonder, we wonder and wander with the treasures, the secrets and the knowledge that are embedded in island.

Blessed to be invited. As foreign birds the island (its people, its beings, its stories, its places, its vegetation, its knowledge, its food) penetrates our visiting bodies.

And as our journey moves on, our wings are marked with traces of the island, we float and wonder what is archived in our wandering wings and bodies, what will the island traces (that are archived in our bodies) induce in the future.

The theater in Paulilatino is a unique edifice that with its oddness begs for reorientation and rediscovery. It beckons us to delve into hidden spaces, uncover the concealed narratives residing in its nooks and crannies, and decipher the tales it yearns to share with its visitors, be they performers, audience members, or others. As we venture into the vast expanse of theater space, we transform, becoming less of who we were when we entered and more akin to those subterranean beings of Bornholm. We shun the light, embracing the shadows, and defy the norms that seek to constrain the space.

These narratives extend beyond the conventional, embracing non-patriarchal thought patterns and innovative performance styles. Our brief videos serve as an open invitation to fellow explorers, urging them to continue the quest of unveiling the thrilling secrets nestled within this venue in Paulilatino. There, one can unearth myriad untold stories, fresh perspectives, and diverse performance methods, ultimately inspiring the reinvention of the theater space in countless exciting ways.

A tribute to the two Island Connect journeys: Embarking on a journey to explore the islands of Bornholm and Sardinia, we view the worlds through the perspectives and kind invitations of our hosts. Our adventure uncovers enchanting landscapes that hold the rich tapestry of past stories, healing wisdom, and the intricate relationships between humans and the non-human worlds. These experiences transform us into an interconnected collective, blurring the lines of where our creative inspiration originates – for in this entanglement, the source becomes secondary.

What remains unmistakable is the common thread uniting us – the island themselves. Within this entangled web of relationships, we find expansion. Our hosts serve as guides, generously sharing their knowledge of places, landscapes, and stories, and we, in turn, share the profound experience of exploration. As our collective awareness broadens, our conversations intertwine with the very essence of the lands, the flora, the sounds, the people and other beings, the skies, the play of light and darkness, and so much more that often escapes our immediate notice.

In this intertwined existence, we coexist with the myths and the mystical energies inherent to the islands, their landscapes, and the beings that inhabit them, including the mythological creatures like the fairies and the underground denizens “de underjordiske.”

all my relations

The first weekend of september we were group of people from different places that gathered at the beautiful lands of Gylleboverket (Sweden) to attend “all my relations” – a transdisciplinary workshop explored the ecological potential of performance, performativity, and eco-pedagogy.

At the workshop we worked in smaller groups and shared our practice with each other. It was a weekend that felt like a treat for the soul to enter for example different mediative, drawing and listening practices.

In 2022 I attended the first version of “all my relation” and it was at that time I lost my heart to the place – as guest you you are generously welcomed by Etta and Jona (the host and the caretakers of the land).

I was deeply touched by the weekend and generosity of the people and the land – and I made this little video in gratitude to everyone (human and non-human participants). The sound is recorded early Saturday morning where almost non of the humans attending were awake – it was just the birds that accompanied me.

That Saturday morning I while I was sitting there on a small bench listening to the birds I tried to capture the shadows on my paper as well as what I saw behind my closed eyes.

Residency at BIRCA

Together with performance artist and climate activist Linh Le and dancer Alessandra Grieco I was on a two weeks ISLAND CONNECT residency at BIRCA/Bækkelund – international residency for artists in august 2023.

ISLAND CONNECT is a collaboration between Susanne Danig, BIRCA/Bækkelund International Residency Center for Artists placed on the island of Bornholm in Denmark and Sardegna Teatro (together with the local partner FuoriMargine) placed on Sardinia in Italy. The aim of ISLAND CONNECT is to addresses interconnectivity through the ecology of environment, of social justice, of spirit and intellectual dimensions. By embracing the natural surroundings of Bornholm and Sardinia the residency want to create a vision for an ecological future that allows intersection, communication, generosity and sharing.

Photo: Susanne Danig

Over the two weeks we explored the diverse nature of Bornholm with Susanne Danig as our generous host and guide. Susanne shared some of spectacular sites and the more secret places of Bornholm … the explorations set us off on a journey exploring the Bornholmian light.

During the residency we had days with sun and star and other with fog that blurred the vision. We walked in the night to explore the darkness but was surprised of who much light we (humans) produce. We had an immersive showing with a few local artist as our guests … and much more happened that are still thoughts and ideas in-process.




I made the following videos as a tribute to the amazing nature of Bornholm that generously accepted our presents and to my dear travle companions Linh, Alex and Susanne.

A tribute to shadow landscapes

A tribute to those that live in the shadow landscapes

A tribute to the elements that knows




And on the personal note ….. I had a blast cooking dinner over a bonfire

…. and I found a new passion: trying to capture the shadows.

More to come in the future!

Knytte workshop

Under Passage (international street theatre) festivalen afholdt jeg sammen med performance kunstner Linh Le to knytteworkshops, hvor publikum var inviteret til at deltage i at knytte et kostume. Kostumet skulle bruges til en procession gennem Helsingør i forbindelse med Linh Le’s forestilling Saa by som Borger, Saa by som Art.

Første workshop fandt sted 1. august 2023 på Vapnagaard v. Kulturhus Syd i Helsingør.

Anden workshop fandt sted 3. august 2023 i Rosenhaven ved Sct. Mariæ Kirke. Pga. regn flyttede workshoppen ind klostergårdens gange.

Alle materialer som vi bruge til at kostume fremstillingen i workshoppene var genbrug indsamlet at festivalen, Linh Le og donerede restmateriale fra bl.a. McVerdi og Our Shift.

Residency at Gylleboverket

An intens and inspiring three day (May 2023) residency at Gylleboverket. Together with Gylleboverket and their artistic-duo Etta Säfve and Jona Elfdahl, we explored the relationships and (inter)connections between our practices, between us and nature and between different kind of materialities. Our explorations went in multiple directions and fostered multiple lingering embodied dialogues between us.

Below a variation of images from our explorations.