Biography

Maritea Dæhlin is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Norway and Mexico, second generation Cameroonian. Her work, spanning between video, performance art, sound, theater and text, is shaped by shifting geographies and contexts, being multilingual, non-linear and sometimes absurd.

Dæhlin has a BA in Devised Theatre with Digital Arts at Dartington College of Arts (2007-2010) and was an associated artist at Black Box teater (2020-2021). Her work has been nominated for the Norwegian critic’s prize (2020) and for the Heddapris (2022).

In 2024 she created Sleep Locks the Bones in collaboration with Corentine JPM Leven, Truls Hannemyr, Soh Tokunaga amongst others. They now wish to create a new public project drawing from this auditive indoor experience around the subject of sleep. 

Artistic project

We are developing a new work for the public space (title forthcoming), growing from Sleep Locks the Bones (2024), where text and voice stand at the center of a collective experience around the theme of sleep.

This work explores what it means to allow sleep—or even just rest—in public space. In many cities and towns, “defensive architecture” discourages lingering, making vulnerability and stillness rare. Who gets the chance to pause, to let go of constant alertness, to simply be? Our approach is informed by a multilingual, cross-cultural team, bringing diverse national and gender perspectives to shape the work and its encounters.

The encounter begins with a phone call. One participant at a time is invited to walk through a square, park, or other everyday site, guided by conversation with a performer they will never meet in person. The walk leads to a mirrored box in the landscape. From inside, the participant sees out while being unseen. Inside: a bed. A resting place. Still connected by phone, we share reflections on space, presence, and care—like insomniac wanderings under a shared sky.

To passersby, the mirrored surface offers only their own reflection, layered with traces of a fading dream of public rest. For the participant, it becomes a quiet, protected “room of one’s own” within the city/town—a site to open perspectives, bridge people and places, and question who truly has access to rest.

We already have partners in Norway who have shown an interest in the work, and we are seeking funders, co-producing partners, residencies, workshops, and presenters to expand through Europe, adapting the piece for each local context.

Format: installation / mirror box with bed and phone call between performer and audience

Size of audience: one to one 

Specific location: outdoor space (listen to pitch for contextualisation)

Timing / duration: day/night installation of 30- 40min