VERA
Russian Helsinki-based performance artist, curator, artistic researcher, theatre director, playwright, political activist (LGBT+ and women's rights).
Long-time nomad (lived and worked in the US, the UK, China, and Germany).
Currently residing in Finland.
EDUCATION
WORK AND PROJECTS
Doctoral Researcher – Tutke, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland (2023-to date)
Artist - Future Laboratory EU program (http://futurelaboratory.eu/artists), EU (2022-to date)
Coordinator/Festival Curator – Eve’s Ribs feminist art organization (en.rebraevy.ru ), St-P, Russia (2020-2023)
Coordinator/Festival Curator – Queerfest (website), Coming Out organization, St-Petersburg, Russia (2019, 2022)
Curator - Fairytales for Girls project (web-archive and a series of published books of fairytales focusing on female characters - femitales.pro), online, Russia (2020-2022)
Curator -Tales of Transformation project (performative and web-archive focusing on transforming traumatic experiences into fairytales – website), online (2019-2021)
Drama Teacher – Beijing 21st Century International School, China (2017-2019)
Set Designer – ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg, Russia (2016-2017)
Host - Barbican Centre, London, UK (2015)
Production and Marketing Intern - Freshly Scratched Festival, Battersea Arts Centre, London, UK (2015)
Front of House Assistant – Opera Holland Park, New Wimbledon Theatre, and Charing Cross Theatre, UK (2014-16)
Event Coordinator/Co-producer - DashArts ‘Dacha’ (immersive theatre at Richmix and Latitude), UK (2015)
Actress – RVR Theatre Company, St-Petersburg, Russia (2011-2012)
Theatre Director – ON.Teatr/TUZ Theatre/Izumrudny Gorod Theatre Company, St-Petersburg, Russia (2010-2011)
ART RESIDENCIES
PACT Zollverein – Essen, Germany (September-October 2023)
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch – London, UK (October-November 2022)
The Saari – Mynämäki, Finland (November-December 2020)
Faberlull – Olot, Catalonia (February 2020)
Hectolitre – Brussels, Belgium (December 2019
Loviisa Artists' Studio– Loviisa, Finland (February-March 2019)
AWARDS
DAAD Prize for outstanding achievements for international researchers, Germany, 2022
Best New Play - Lubimovka Festival of New Dramaturgy, Russia, 2021
FESTIVALS/ EXHIBITIONS/ PERFORMANCES
2023
Happy Birthday To Me – author/performer – theatre production, Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt, Germany
Rat City – dramaturge – site-specific performance, MadHouse commission, Helsinki, Finland
Neptune – playwright/performer – musical theatre production, Studio 4, Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland
2022
Ghosts of Guilt – performer/author - site-specific performance, Festival of Political Theatre, Frankfurt, Germany
Queerfest – curator/organizer - festival, Moscow + online, Russia
S2 – performer/author – theatre production, MadHouse commission, Helsinki, Finland (+ Svenska theatre run in 2023)
Tour by an Auslander – performer/author – site-specific performance, Wiesbaden biennale commission, Germany
2021
Feminism, Arts and Activism in Germany and Russia – collaboration with Safethedance sponsored by Auswartiges Amt – coordinator/presenter – conference, online, Russia and Germany
Red – performer/author – queer cabaret performance, the Attic, Helsinki, Finland
Look What You Made Me Do – dramaturge – theatre production, Studio 2, Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland
Fairytales for Girls – curator – book publishing in collaboration with Feminist Library London – presented at the Box gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Today My Cat Died – playwright – play/stage reading, Lubimovka Festival, Sovremennik theatre, Moscow, Russia
The Body – performer/facilitator - theatre production, Alexandrinsky theatre, St-Petersburg, Russia
28 Days – director - theatre production, Meyerhold Art Centre, Moscow, Russia
Eve’s Ribs Art Festival – curator/organizer/programmer, St-Petersburg and Moscow, Russia (repeated in 2023)
2020
Of Mirror People - performer - online performance, Brussels, Belgium
Invisibility - online community theatre laboratory (director and workshop leader), Russia
Tales of Transformation - performance and workshop, University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain
2019
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, QueerFest, Art Muse, St-Petersburg, Russia
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, Final Destination festival, Finland
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, Forum, Loviisa, Finland
Objectify Me – performance, Loviisan kaupungin museo, Loviisa, Finland
2017
Sound of Steps - ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg
Objectify Me – Awkward Bastards Symposium, MAC, Birmingham
2016
Nutcracker – LenExpo, St-Petersburg
Silver Hoove – digital fairytale, ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg
Where is Anton? – installation, ElectroMuseum, Moscow
In the Closet – series of one-on-one performances (various locations)
2015
Love letters from McDonalds, immersive performance – various McDonaldses, London
BI (-polar, -gender, -sexual), multimedia performance - Battersea Arts Centre, London
The Loneliest Whale, multimedia performance – Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London
Talk to the hand – interactive street puppet performance, London
Objectify Me, solo performance – ‘Calm Down, Dear’ Festival, Camden People’s Theatre, London
Objectify Me, excerpt – Miller Club, London
Gloomy Sunday, digital dance - Suspended Animation Festival, Leeds
The Untitled Witch Project, Pregnant Fish Theatre, show – The Space, London
Border Force, Duckie – Brighton Dome, Brighton
When She Left, vers.2.0 – Palazzo Ca’Zanardi and Venice Art House, Venice
When She Left, installation– I’klectik Gallery, London
When She Left, digital performance – Peopling the Palace(s) Festival, AiR Project, London
Border Force, Duckie, performance – Camden Centre, London
What's in a box?, solo-show– Pinter Studio, QM, London
THEATRE:
Actress, “RVR” Theatre Company, St. Petersburg 2011-2014
Director, “On.Teatr”, St. Petersburg 2011-2012
Director, Actress, “Izumrudny gorod” Theatre Company, St. Petersburg 2010-2011
· Robert Thomas’ “8 women”,
· Portnoy’s opera based on Alan Milne’s “The King’s breakfast”,
· Preusler’s “The Little Witch”.
· Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent”,
· Rudolf Friml’s operetta “Rose Marie”
MORA
Mora is my stage name. In Polish folklore, mora are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair or as moths. Accordingly, Polish mora, Czech můra denote both a kind of elf or spirit as well as a "sphinx moth" or "night butterfly". Other Slavic languages with cognates that have the double meaning of moth are: Kashubian mòra, and Slovak mora. In Croatian, mora refers to a "nightmare". Mora or Mara is one of the spirits from ancient Slav mythology. Mara was a dark spirit that takes a form of a beautiful woman and then visits men in their dreams, torturing them with desire, and dragging life out of them. In Serbia, a mare is called mora, or noćnik/noćnica ("night creature", masculine and feminine respectively). In Romania they were known as Moroi.
Russian Helsinki-based performance artist, curator, artistic researcher, theatre director, playwright, political activist (LGBT+ and women's rights).
Long-time nomad (lived and worked in the US, the UK, China, and Germany).
Currently residing in Finland.
EDUCATION
- Doctor of Arts, Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki 2023-to date
- MA Comparative Dramaturgy and Performance Research University of the Arts Helsinki and Goethe University Frankfurt 2021-2023
- MA Theatre and Performance, Queen Mary University of London 2014-2015
- Set Design for Performance, UAL, Central Saint Martins, London 2014
- Directing in Drama Theatre, SPB Theatre Arts Academy, Russia 2006-2011
WORK AND PROJECTS
Doctoral Researcher – Tutke, University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland (2023-to date)
Artist - Future Laboratory EU program (http://futurelaboratory.eu/artists), EU (2022-to date)
Coordinator/Festival Curator – Eve’s Ribs feminist art organization (en.rebraevy.ru ), St-P, Russia (2020-2023)
Coordinator/Festival Curator – Queerfest (website), Coming Out organization, St-Petersburg, Russia (2019, 2022)
Curator - Fairytales for Girls project (web-archive and a series of published books of fairytales focusing on female characters - femitales.pro), online, Russia (2020-2022)
Curator -Tales of Transformation project (performative and web-archive focusing on transforming traumatic experiences into fairytales – website), online (2019-2021)
Drama Teacher – Beijing 21st Century International School, China (2017-2019)
Set Designer – ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg, Russia (2016-2017)
Host - Barbican Centre, London, UK (2015)
Production and Marketing Intern - Freshly Scratched Festival, Battersea Arts Centre, London, UK (2015)
Front of House Assistant – Opera Holland Park, New Wimbledon Theatre, and Charing Cross Theatre, UK (2014-16)
Event Coordinator/Co-producer - DashArts ‘Dacha’ (immersive theatre at Richmix and Latitude), UK (2015)
Actress – RVR Theatre Company, St-Petersburg, Russia (2011-2012)
Theatre Director – ON.Teatr/TUZ Theatre/Izumrudny Gorod Theatre Company, St-Petersburg, Russia (2010-2011)
ART RESIDENCIES
PACT Zollverein – Essen, Germany (September-October 2023)
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch – London, UK (October-November 2022)
The Saari – Mynämäki, Finland (November-December 2020)
Faberlull – Olot, Catalonia (February 2020)
Hectolitre – Brussels, Belgium (December 2019
Loviisa Artists' Studio– Loviisa, Finland (February-March 2019)
AWARDS
DAAD Prize for outstanding achievements for international researchers, Germany, 2022
Best New Play - Lubimovka Festival of New Dramaturgy, Russia, 2021
FESTIVALS/ EXHIBITIONS/ PERFORMANCES
2023
Happy Birthday To Me – author/performer – theatre production, Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt, Germany
Rat City – dramaturge – site-specific performance, MadHouse commission, Helsinki, Finland
Neptune – playwright/performer – musical theatre production, Studio 4, Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland
2022
Ghosts of Guilt – performer/author - site-specific performance, Festival of Political Theatre, Frankfurt, Germany
Queerfest – curator/organizer - festival, Moscow + online, Russia
S2 – performer/author – theatre production, MadHouse commission, Helsinki, Finland (+ Svenska theatre run in 2023)
Tour by an Auslander – performer/author – site-specific performance, Wiesbaden biennale commission, Germany
2021
Feminism, Arts and Activism in Germany and Russia – collaboration with Safethedance sponsored by Auswartiges Amt – coordinator/presenter – conference, online, Russia and Germany
Red – performer/author – queer cabaret performance, the Attic, Helsinki, Finland
Look What You Made Me Do – dramaturge – theatre production, Studio 2, Theatre Academy, Helsinki, Finland
Fairytales for Girls – curator – book publishing in collaboration with Feminist Library London – presented at the Box gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Today My Cat Died – playwright – play/stage reading, Lubimovka Festival, Sovremennik theatre, Moscow, Russia
The Body – performer/facilitator - theatre production, Alexandrinsky theatre, St-Petersburg, Russia
28 Days – director - theatre production, Meyerhold Art Centre, Moscow, Russia
Eve’s Ribs Art Festival – curator/organizer/programmer, St-Petersburg and Moscow, Russia (repeated in 2023)
2020
Of Mirror People - performer - online performance, Brussels, Belgium
Invisibility - online community theatre laboratory (director and workshop leader), Russia
Tales of Transformation - performance and workshop, University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain
2019
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, QueerFest, Art Muse, St-Petersburg, Russia
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, Final Destination festival, Finland
Tales of Transformation – video/performance, Forum, Loviisa, Finland
Objectify Me – performance, Loviisan kaupungin museo, Loviisa, Finland
2017
Sound of Steps - ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg
Objectify Me – Awkward Bastards Symposium, MAC, Birmingham
2016
Nutcracker – LenExpo, St-Petersburg
Silver Hoove – digital fairytale, ArtIzmerenie, St-Petersburg
Where is Anton? – installation, ElectroMuseum, Moscow
In the Closet – series of one-on-one performances (various locations)
2015
Love letters from McDonalds, immersive performance – various McDonaldses, London
BI (-polar, -gender, -sexual), multimedia performance - Battersea Arts Centre, London
The Loneliest Whale, multimedia performance – Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London
Talk to the hand – interactive street puppet performance, London
Objectify Me, solo performance – ‘Calm Down, Dear’ Festival, Camden People’s Theatre, London
Objectify Me, excerpt – Miller Club, London
Gloomy Sunday, digital dance - Suspended Animation Festival, Leeds
The Untitled Witch Project, Pregnant Fish Theatre, show – The Space, London
Border Force, Duckie – Brighton Dome, Brighton
When She Left, vers.2.0 – Palazzo Ca’Zanardi and Venice Art House, Venice
When She Left, installation– I’klectik Gallery, London
When She Left, digital performance – Peopling the Palace(s) Festival, AiR Project, London
Border Force, Duckie, performance – Camden Centre, London
What's in a box?, solo-show– Pinter Studio, QM, London
THEATRE:
Actress, “RVR” Theatre Company, St. Petersburg 2011-2014
- Lukas Bärfuss’ Our Parents' Sexual Neuroses (Dora),
- Julio Cortázar’s Cronopios and Famas (Esperanza),
- Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”(Varya),
- Brecht’s “The Good Person of Szechwan” (Shen-Teh),
- Vampilov’s “The Last Summer In Chulimsk” (Kashkina)
Director, “On.Teatr”, St. Petersburg 2011-2012
- Tennessee Williams’ “A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur”
- Astor Piazzolla’s biography
Director, Actress, “Izumrudny gorod” Theatre Company, St. Petersburg 2010-2011
· Robert Thomas’ “8 women”,
· Portnoy’s opera based on Alan Milne’s “The King’s breakfast”,
· Preusler’s “The Little Witch”.
· Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent”,
· Rudolf Friml’s operetta “Rose Marie”
MORA
Mora is my stage name. In Polish folklore, mora are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair or as moths. Accordingly, Polish mora, Czech můra denote both a kind of elf or spirit as well as a "sphinx moth" or "night butterfly". Other Slavic languages with cognates that have the double meaning of moth are: Kashubian mòra, and Slovak mora. In Croatian, mora refers to a "nightmare". Mora or Mara is one of the spirits from ancient Slav mythology. Mara was a dark spirit that takes a form of a beautiful woman and then visits men in their dreams, torturing them with desire, and dragging life out of them. In Serbia, a mare is called mora, or noćnik/noćnica ("night creature", masculine and feminine respectively). In Romania they were known as Moroi.