Gråtsång
We live in a world surrounded by trauma and pain, on a personal, intergenerational and collective level. We live in a world where our mental health is rapidly declining in unison with the destruction of our nature and escalating wars. Artists like myself often ask how we can counter this development, how we can achieve change in a world where we ultimately can not change anyone but ourselves. However this also presents an opportunity, as when you heal you also inspire others to heal. By changing yourself you change the collective.
There exists many forms of lamenting traditions throughout the world, where singing is used to express sorrow and pain. Gråtsång is an attempt to create a contemporary version, thus becoming an amalgamation of a therapy modality, an animistic ritual, acoustic noise and vocal improvisation. It tries to answer the question “How can one express severely painful experiences on stage without overwhelm or re-traumatization?”, both through a permissive musical language and a non-exploitative approach to the performers personal history. Therapeutically it’s inspired by Somatic Experiencing and the work of Bessel van der Kolk, which emphasizes the importance of integrating the body in the trauma healing process. Richard Swartz’ work with Internal Family Systems is equally important not just as a way of approaching the parts of the self that holds the trauma, but how to do it benevolently for the whole system.
Tryggve Kemgren: voice, drums, assorted instruments.
Folkets hus, Ankarsrum
31/08
16.30-17.00
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tryggve Kemgren
Composer, vocal improviser and almost clinical psychologist
Tryggve Kemgren’s artistic expressions encompasses anything from hiphop and techno to noise and performance art in search for meaning and healing. From the growing up and learning the fiddle in the Swedish cultural heartland of Rättvik, Dalarna, spending his youth in the vibrant avantgarde scene of Oslo, to studies in composition and live electronics at the music conservatory of Gothenburg where he graduated 2012, the eclecticism has been deeply ingrained with no idiom of expression more valued or preferred. He has played over 100 concerts, collaborated with Isabel Sörling, Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø, Finn Loxbo, Olle Oljud and David Sabel among others, and played att places like Fylkingen (Stockholm), Øyafestivalen (Oslo), Little Bar (Chengdu) and Gothenburg Arts and Sound Festival.
Drawing inspiration from a series of adverse childhood experiences, the focus in Tryggve’s creative expression has always been to explore, understand and heal trauma, with the intention to create music that helps people in their own healing process. With this focus it became natural to enroll at the psychologist program in Växjö, Sweden, with one year away from becoming a clinical psychologist.
