And the fjord below continues its course towards the ocean, joining all waters of the world

Ingrid Book & Carina Hedén / Per Christian Brown / Hege Nyborg / Helene Sommer / Thorbjørn Sørensen

And the fjord below continues its course towards the ocean, joining all waters of the world

For the past two years, the artists have traveled around Hardanger studying the collections of Ingebrigt Vik and Johan Havaas, read up on reports and literature and patiently examined plants and land-scapes, science and folklore. The iconic and political nature of the landscape in Hardanger was pre-sent early in Norway’s nation building, and the idea of who we are and how we manage our heritage has not been fully discussed. What do we see where we travel, and what stories do we create from what we see?

The title is taken from Renæssance (Renaissance), a short story Norwegian author Hans E. Kinck published in 1899.

Curator: Sissel Lillebostad

The project is supported by: Kulturrådet Fond for lyd og bilde Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond Regionale prosjektmidler for visuell kunst Norsk fotografisk fond 

Photo: Helene Sommer, Postkort fra Hardanger #3, 2021, collage

>>>A DIGITAL IMPRESSION OF THE EXHIBITION

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The Artist: 

Ingrid Book & Carina Hedén have collaborated since 1987. They work in the intersection between urban and rural landscapes, place and non-place, a revaluation of cultural knowledge and regional identity. Urban agriculture, produced landscapes, our short cultural memory are part of their topics — in photo, video and installations. Selected exhibitions are Midlertidige Utopier (Temporary Utopias), The Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo 2003, The Field, Biennial of São Paulo 2004, Geschichten für leere Schaufenster Salzburger Kunstverein 2007, Militære landskap Bergen Kunsthall 2008, The Moderna Exhibition 2010, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Nikolais natt Henie Onstad Art Center 2016, Perspectives on Ecology and Modernity, Botanisches Museum, Berlin 2019.

Per Christian Brown works with analogue photography, film, video and installations. His productions revolve around issues of identity, nature, biology, synaesthesia and relevant social and political questions. In recent years, he has worked with photo and video projects connected to our understanding of the four basic elements, and the underlying poetic attributes of each element. His latest exhibitions include From the Balcony, Stavanger Art Museum, 2020, the Art fair Wiedererwachen at Station Berlin 2020, The Last Party QB gallery, Oslo 2020, Chimera, Kunstraum Bethanien, Berlin 2019, For all Flesh it is like Grass, Kongsvinger Fortress, 2019, Wonders of the Volcano, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo 2018.

Hege Nyborg works with painting, drawing and text, often combined in series and installations revolving around an analysis of natural phenomena and ecosystems, the memory of landscapes and psychogeography. Her recent project consists of text drawings registering rare and endangered plant species, taken from various sites and based on nature wanderings and climatic, topographic and historical events. Selected exhibitions includes The Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, The National Museum of Norway, Kunsthalle Helsinki and the National Museum of Women in the Arts D.C.

Helene Sommer’s practice involves video, installation, text and collage. In her work, she deals with an extensive selection of archival material in combination with her own imagery, questioning the mechanisms of history and storytelling. By exploring the numerous levels of interpretation and classification, she looks at the relationship between official history and subjective memory within areas such as history and science. She has shown her works at venues such as Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo Kunstforening, Stenersen Museum, The Vigeland Museum, Tromsø Kunstforening and Kunstnerforbundet.

Thorbjørn Sørensen is known as an artist who approaches painting in various manners. Photo-realistic landscapes and portraits, stripe paintings created using airbrush, watercolours depicting earth mounds, twigs, and dead birds, are some of the motifs he has been working with. His work is represented in numerous collections, among them, the National Museum of Norway, The Astrup Fearnley Museum, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arts Council Norway and the collections of Equinor and Nordea.

Thorbjørn Sørensen, Furu, 2021 watercolour

Book & Hedén, Verk (mann) #10(13), 2020 archival pigment print

Per Christian Brown, Der Wurzelmensch 5, 2021, silver gelatin print

Hege Nyborg, Our brief eternity. 2021. Colour pencil on paper and digital print