A River of Seeds:
Diablada In-apropiada
Friday August 1, 17—20
A River of Seeds consists of four performance-ceremonies to take place at Oksasenkatu 11 Gallery in 2025. Together, they explore the themes of death and rebirth, beginnings and endings. Understanding ceremonies as gatherings rooted in gratitude, attention, and connection, the cycle offers audiences an intimate yet collective framework to hope, grieve, celebrate, and release. Each session adopts a particular format and explores the intersections between ritual and art, performance and ceremony.
A River of Seeds is curated by Candama, a platform that offers curating, coaching, and poetic consultancy services. Candama is a project by artist and curator Daniela Pascual Esparza, through which she creates a context for her practice while nurturing collaborations with other artists and professionals.
The third ceremony of the cycle, Diablada In-apropiada, is happening on Friday, 1.8, 17–20. Find all the information below!
Diablada In-apropiada
Welcome to Galleria Oksasenkatu 11 to experience Diablada In-apropiada, a ceremony by Impropias Collective rooted in joy and mischief.
Diabladas are vibrant, irreverent celebrations from Latin America that rebel against the fearful colonial and Catholic conception of the Devil, transforming it through dance and satire into a symbol of cultural resilience. Our playful take on Diabladas and their characters resignifies these traditions and brings these collective fiestas to Helsinki.
So, join this celebration of subversiveness! We will dance, we will shout, we will feast. Participation is entirely up to your comfort level, though be warned: the devils are cheeky. They might get a little too close, tease a bit, and there’s not much you can do to stop them. Embrace this risk with a playful spirit.
To indulge the Belzebubian appetite of these creatures, you will need to offer an edible or drinkable tribute. You heard it well: bring something sinfully tasty to share, otherwise you will stay outside.
We have a limit of 30 participants. No registration is needed, but please arrive on time to secure your spot. The beasts will be unleashed in Oksasenkatu 11 (00100, Helsinki) on August 1, at 17:00, and we will feast until 20:00. Bring your devilish self and don’t forget your offering!
The gallery space is unfortunately inaccessible for wheelchairs, and there is no elevator. It has two floors connected by steep stairs that we will use during the ceremony. More information on accessibility here: https://oksasenkatu11.fi/about
If you have any further questions, contact Daniela at ccc.candama@gmail.com
About us
Mercedes Balarezo is an Ecuadorian dance artist and pedagogue based in Helsinki. With a deep belief in the power of shared expression, she crafts spaces where everyone can dance, encounter, and belong. Her work reimagines Latin American traditions through a playful lens, blending voice, body, and memory. Mercedes holds an MA in Dance Pedagogy from the University of the Arts Helsinki. She is a member of Impropias Collective, serves on the board of Circus Maximus Association, and is a proud mother. Find more at https://mercedesbalarezo.com/
Yes Escobar (b.1991, Habana, Cuba) is a Mexican, Finnish, and Cuban artist, curator and entrepreneur whose work explores the elements that shape traditions and identities. Working between Mexico City and Helsinki, she investigates and challenges post-humanist realities, examining the cognitive, emotional, financial and cultural dogma embedded in our social systems and processes. Find more at https://www.yesescobar.com/art
Paola Nieto is a cultural manager and performing artist whose practice intertwines Latin American popular culture, dance, and music traditions into experimental and transcultural contexts. Through this lens, she is developing a sonic and movement proposal based on son jarocho zapateado, an Afro-indigenous dance and foot percussion tradition from Veracruz, Mexico. As a cultural manager, Paola explores alternative and community-based models of cultural organization to foster spaces for intercultural exchange. Find more at paolaelean.com
Daniela Pascual Esparza is a Helsinki-based performer, curator, and educator. She is the creator of Candama, a platform that offers art and poetic consultancy services. Daniela has experience in making participatory performances, urban consulting, coaching, working with children, and curating site-specific works. Plants, urbanism, rituals, astrology, and Andean Cosmovision inform her practice. Find more at https://danielapascual.com/
Impropias Collective is a Helsinki-based multidisciplinary art collective that explores Latin American identities from an embodied, situated, and feminist perspective. Through our embodied knowledge, we reinterpret our cultural heritages and research dance as a social phenomena. Our practice disrupts spatial conventions, reinhabits public spaces, and fosters moments for conviviality, alterity, and celebration between diverse audiences. Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impropias.collective/
The participation of Impropias Collective in A river of Seeds is also supported by Circus Maximus.
