Permanent Resident is a new solo work by Maria Metsalu that proposes fear not as a temporary emotion, but as the fundamental architecture of the self. The work unfolds as an internal childlike landscape – one in which the performer’s body negotiates a dynamic and paradoxical relationship with its surroundings.
Through a synthesis of movement, visual design, and poetic metaphor, Permanent Resident maps the geology of a psyche, creating a visually and physically demanding exploration of what it means to live intimately with a fear that has become home. The core of the work is a simple question - how do we live with a part of ourselves that we did not choose? The piece moves on from fear as an emotion, and rather presents it as a building block of an identity.
The Permanent Resident delves further into one of the central questions in Metsalu’s creations - how does the internal landscape of the mind with its fears, memories, and rules externalise itself physically upon the body?
Maria Metsalu is an artist whose work centers around the body as an archive of lived experience – a focal point where social and political issues merge. Her performances delve into the tension between abject embodiment and flawless design. Rather than defining meanings, Metsalu cultivates ambiguity – opening space for expanded interpretation instead of offering a conceptual closure.
The artist co-founded the performance collective Young Boy Dancing Group (YBDG) in 2014.
Concept, performance, text: Maria Metsalu
Sound: Rodrigo Sobarzo de Larraechea
Landscape: Maria Metsalu, Madlen Hirtentreu
Production assistant: Madlen Hirtentreu
Technician: Henry Kasch, Kalle Tikas
Construction: Konesko Autotarvik
Light: Maria Metsalu, Henry Kasch
Outfits: Kirke Talu, Liisa Kanemägi
MUA: Kristiine Kaljurand
Photographer: Kertin Vasser
Advisor: Jaakko Pallasvuo
Project manager: Kaie Küünal
Co-production: National Museum (Norway), Kanuti Gildi SAAL, Maria Metsalu
Supported by: Estonian Cultural Endowment, The Ministry of Culture of Estonia, Estonian
Embassy in Oslo, OÜ NOBE
Premiere: 14.04.2026, National Museum, Oslo
Duration: approx 75’
Language no problem
Kanuti Guild Hall • Pikk tänav 20, 10133 Tallinn, Harju maakond, Estonia
