KUNSTKVARTERET LOFOTEN

February 9th, 2019

MØRKETIDA / darkness time - ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
curated by Kjetil Berge

The artist collective Kunstkvarteret in Lofoten marks ten years of operation

The exhibition title Mørketida/darkness time, is inspired by the drama of current affairs. Attention driven, constructed conflicts seem to get the bright lights. Polarizing melodramatic gestures and simplified finger pointing views of the world is the global norm. Mørketida(darkness time) is the popular expression for winter in the north of Norway. The time of year when the sun is elsewhere, the view dimmed and sleep might seem the best option. However, the intention is to make Mørketida/darkness time an optimistic exhibition with serious intent, to shed light on some of the complex systems that both connects and divides us. It is a selection of artistic expressions gathered, to cultivate a composite reflection on the local and planetary landscape.

Participating artists
Tove Kommedal, Per Kristian Nygård, Hilde Frantzen, Line Anda Dalmar, Victor Mutelekesha, Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde, Cato Løland, Hanne Lydia Opøien Figenschou, Tommy Olsson, Aleksandar Igrošanac w.Stevan Mikić., Sigfrid Hernes, Charlotte Rostad & Trygve Ohren, Lill-Anita Olsen, Tine Surel Lange, Rina Charlott Lindgren.

Participating artists in Nye ut–Trykk are Elisabet Alsos Strand, Åse Anda, Beate Bader, Janna Thöle-Juul, Jelena Savić, Anne Kristin Hagesæther, Hildur Bjørnsdottir, Lise Anita Stenberg, Pia Skogberg, Rita Marhaug. The exhibition Nye ut–Trykk is especially put together by Kjellaug Hatlen Lunde.

The event is supported by Vestvågøy Municipality and Meieriet Cultural Centre is co-hosting.

https://www.meierietkultursenter.no/

DAiRY Exhibition, Leknes

In May 2017, Vestvågøy municipality invited Kunstkvarteret Lofoten to make an opening exhibition for the celebration of the new Meieriet cultural center. Vebjørg Hagene Thoe curated the show, focusing on highlights from the Artist in Residence programme. She wanted to present the diversity of the resident artists- including five different countries.
Luca Forcucci from Switzerland/Italy made a performance with sound art and photo, and for the first time in history the public at an art show at Leknes sat for 20 minutes in the dark, listening to “Blending” - a composition of sounds from South Africa and Lofoten. Katerina Mistal from Sweden made a spectacular photo of 280 pupils from Leknes on the beach in January, when she was an artist in residence, and this large photo was exhibited. She also presented her new video “Forward” –a work about migration. Felipe Castelblanco from Colombia showed his film “Driftless”, which included scenes from his stay in Lofoten two years earlier. He works with refugees with projects world wide, and his last videos from “Borderless TV” in Cologne also displayed. Together with local refugees in Lofoten he worked with film-making during the DAiRY show.
Ellen Solberg from Norway participated with graphic prints and sculptures, also the “Blue Box” that is on the poster. Her concern for the refugees is obvious in her works, and she had workshops with the local children. They made beautiful small sculptures of friends. Kristin J. Romberg from Norway was at the residency in springtime the year before, and she had an extraordinary production of paintings. Her vibrant canvases underlined the significance of the wild nature. Our artist in residency at the time, the Danish performance artist Jesper Aabille, participated in the show with his “Let’s make pizza” project, showing the barrel pizza ovens that he had built with the local high school. 250 school pupils baked pizza with him the following days, demonstrating the ovens outside, also offering a taste to the public. The DAiRY show was a successful event that lasted longer than planned, and the new premises “The Freezer” was definitely the best showroom for art on the island.

“Let’s make pizza” - Jesper Aabille

Vest-Lofoten Videregående school had an art project organized by Kunstkvarteret Lofoten in collaboration with Nordland county, who helped finance two weeks of hectic production of pizza ovens and two big pizza baking events. First the Danish artist got a week together with the first grade at the technical/building department at the local high school. Sten Kolloen, the leader of the department, was very positive to our initiative, and the residency artists had a very busy period with the project. Under the guidance of Jesper Aabille and the teachers the 18 students made fabulous pizza ovens out of old oil barrels, cleaned and modified with Italian pizza stones.
The next step was researching what kind of pizzas to serve in Lofoten – using local ingredients also. The cooking /restaurant class with their boss Willy Ryan invited Jesper to work with them for a week, finding special local foods to use in the Lofoten pizza project, and teaching the kids to bake proper Italian pizza. At the end they all participated at two events – first at the DAiRY show at Leknes, where the new House of Culture was celebrated with this art show with artists from Kunstkvarteret Lofoten's residency programme. The second event was outdoors at the opening of The Stamsund International Theatre Festival, where 300 people gathered on the dock, accompanied by snowflakes and pizza making. It was a great success with 200 pizzas made and devoured during two hours. The pizza ovens belong to the high school, where they are used for special occasions.