A few years ago SAAL’s curators Eneli, Maarja and Kaie identified a growing issue facing contemporary performing artists - despite (or due to) the growing confidence and professionalism of the scene artists lack (or limit) the space of boldness, failure and risk. It is no fault of artists nor venues only. It's how funding structures are built; it’s what the audience expects; it's "the times". Just as we prefer baked bread to a half baked one we tend to prefer to experience works which are validated by friends, (social)media etc.
So talking with artists, looking at numbers (always handy) and thinking aloud brought us here: a short-prep-short-piece-program called SAAL#3. Three short works one night only.

The third SAAL3 is curated by artist Maike Lond, who wonders “What is the message of the Saal?” (SAAL means a hall in English). Lond continues: “Over two decades, people have tried to silence Saal, and by this, I mean literally – with thick curtains, upholstered chairs, or micro-precision-calibrated speakers – whatever works will be tried. Why? Because this Saal is loud, expressive, and demanding. It doesn’t let the director maintain focus; this Saal throws words from the performers around the walls, ceilings, and window arches. To be frank, this Saal is the nightmare of a theatre practitioner. An endless fight between two art forms – architecture and theatre. In SAAL3, I have chosen peace, an apology in its own way. I am looking for a possibility where ‘The artist is in a Saal,’ without hiding anything, oppressing or silencing it.”

This will be the third SAAL3 made by and with Lisette-Marie Viilup, Lauri Lest and Andrus Aaslaid.

Lauri Lest is a musician, sound and performance artist. He creates and plays atmospheric electronic music, works with found objects, vibration speakers and sound and video editing software. His art can be described as melancholic, dreamy, experimental and sometimes humorous. He holds a degree in sculpture and installation from the Estonian Academy of Arts. As a musician, he creates and performs atmospheric electronic music and has released two studio albums.

Lisette-Marie Viilup finds it difficult to write a biography of herself. She is a dancer and (performing) artist who primarily engages with the world through her body, yet feels the need to occasionally forget it. She can be found moving, observing, and contemplating, mainly intrigued by the physicality of sound, the materiality of the body, and moving on the dance floor through surreal states.
In 2024, Lisette graduated from the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy, having spent the last year and a half furthering her studies at the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT/UdK). By exploring constant transformation and her specific inner world through both natural and artificial elements, she allows space for the viewer’s interpretation – the only condition is presence.

Andrus “Laid” Aaslaid is an enigma, a person about whom nobody truly knows who he is. He is an electronics engineer, visionary, and programmer—a puzzle of 2,500 pieces, but with a difference: while all the pieces are there and nothing is missing, it is still impossible to assemble.
In this context, the bare essentials are presented: he is an irreplaceable member of MIMproject (in fact, there are rumors that Laid himself is the mysterious Manfred Mim), a sound engineer, and the creator of the "sound wall” In MIMstudio (2015–2019). Additionally, he is one of the founders of elektron.art. Since 2019, Andrus Aaslaid has managed a venue for experimental (and other unknown) music called Cabaret Voltá. And yes, needless to say, he has helped two satellites make it into space.