Share some of the labour. With Heneliis Notton

A conversation with Heneliis Notton, freelance writer, dramaturg, curator, critic and lead producer of the performing art festival Baltic Take Over, whose 2026 edition has been co-produced with Konträr.

The performing arts festival Baltic Take Over 2026 has taken place from 8–10 May in Stockholm, Sweden. Baltic Take Over presents performances by artists primarily working in Baltic countries. It’s like a journey through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, making meaningful stops along the way. In 2023 and 2025, the festival passed through Helsinki and Turku, now, in 2026, it mapped its way through Stockholm.

In dialogue with various partners, the festival seeks moments of connection with local scenes, artists, and audiences. This year’s program has come together in artistic duos who are approaching the space between them in politics and in proximity, in geopolitical conflicts and contemporary love stories, between black curtains and bookshelves, wearing VR-glasses or nothing at all. The festival aims to offer a shared space of thought during and in between the shows. In this year’s edition, the audience is invited to performances by IevaKrish, Agniete Lisičkinaite and Igor Shugaleev, Liis Vares and Taavet Jansen.

Baltic Take Over is a performing arts festival co-curated by the New Theatre Institute of Latvia, Kanuti Gildi SAAL (Estonia), and Lithuanian Dance Information Centre since 2023. Baltic Take Over thinks of taking over as a way of shifting habitual structures that cultural work often follows. Taking over is gently negotiated and only possible thanks to a warm invitation. In Stockholm, Baltic Take Over is made possible in collaboration with STHLM DANS, Konträr, höjden studios and Tranströmer Library. Baltic Take Over is also included in the program of STHLM DANS.

The 2026 edition is supported by the Baltic Culture Fund, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Embassy in Stockholm, Embassy of Latvia to Sweden and Lithuanian Culture Institute.