Since the first encounter with the distant land, Norway and Iceland stayed attuned. Tangled history and surroundings fostered the emergence of differences between the two nations. Unreachable fjords, hard weather and the frigid Norwegian Sea have contributed to a sense of geographical and cultural distance between them. Yet, the voices of the Norse sea travellers, pilgrims and those who were seeking a new life have been echoing for centuries in the towering mountains of Iceland. Their stories have been resonating in the flowing glacial waters, breathing life into nature and transforming myth into reality.
This anniversary exhibition will showcase a variety of talent that stems from the Icelandic and Norwegian coexistence and historical kinship. In the halls of Gamle Munch, you will see the artworks created by nine Icelandic, Norwegian and Sapmi women, whose lives have intertwined between the two distinct localities who continue old traditions through multi-media storytelling.
All photos above done by Freydis fotograf og Myriam Marti fotografi
Artists:
a rawlings
a rawlings is a mineral, plant, animal, person, place, or thing. Also known as Dr. Angela
Rawlings, they are a Canadian-Icelandic interdisciplinary artist-researcher whose primary focus revolves around exploring languages. Through the years artists have been taking their inspiration from the lands of Iceland and Norway while utilising sensorial poetries, vocal and contact improvisation, theatre of the rural, and conversations with landscapes. a rawlings have exhibited and worked in both countries, presenting their language-based exploratory works that seek and interrogate relationality between bodies.
Website: https://arawlings.is/
Berglind Rögnvaldsdottir
Berglind Rögnvaldsdottir is an Icelandic artist, who lived both in Iceland and Norway. She works mainly with photography, her art was described as a dreamlike feel, usually informed by the female gaze approach. Being born and raised in Iceland, Beglind has a very strong connection and deeply rooted respect for nature, working directly with Mother Nature as a way to confront gender and sexuality politics, it serves as a metaphor for the idea of what is natural. Her works are intended to challenge the internal patriarchy and the way people encounter visual representations of women.
Website: https://www.berglindrognvalds.com/
Catherine Finsrud
Cathrine Finsrud, a Norwegian artist, who has a Master's in material-based art from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Finsrud works within a number of media such as printmaking, metal, wood and site-specific outdoor works. Her works consist of a series of exploratory investigations of places, or more precisely, human relations with nature, systems and time. She processes, extracts, transfers and transcends to encounter various materials, preserving imprints and traces. Besides working mostly within the Norwegian locality, Catherine has explored the landscapes of Iceland, where she expanded on her methodology in a completely new environment.
Website: https://cathi.no/
Hildur Bjarnadottir
Hildur Bjarnadottir is an Icelandic artist, who has received a Ph.D. in fine arts at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway. In her work, she investigates issues of belonging, ecology, place and cohabitation with animals and plants on a small piece of land in the south of Iceland where she lives and works. The plants on the piece of land function as recording devices which take in information from the ecological and social systems. Hildur records this information by extracting the colour from the plants which she uses to dye wool and silk.
Kompani Barrogiera
Bárrogiera is a coastal sámi art collective run by Lisa Pedersen and Gøril Nilsen. Bárrogiera wants to showcase the resilience and resourcefulness of indigenous people and raise awareness around their relationship with nature and indigenous knowledge. Without such knowledge, conversation about Norwegian mythology and folklore is impossible, hence the presence of the duo. The artwork for the exhibition is created with the help of a Norwegian artist with an Icelandic education Mari Bø.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/barrogiera/
Málfriður Aðalsteinsdottir
Malfridur Adalsteinsdottir from Iceland, lives and works in Norway. Her work is
concerned with nature, cultural heritage and craft tradition. It often focuses on the harsh
nature of Iceland, northern Norway and Spitsbergen - the clear and bright light that
forms a pattern when shining on water, ice and snow, the beauty and stillness, but also
the grandness of nature and climate. She combines contemporary art with traditional
time-consuming craft traditions, demanding close ties between the product and the
maker and a reliance on natural resources.
Website: https://malfriduradalsteinsdottir.com/
Mari Bø
Mari Bø is an interdisciplinary artist working with sounds, textures and movements connected to the body. She has received her education both in Iceland and Norway. Mari is specifically interested in exploring nuances and facets existing within her own body, using her art as a tool to understand and challenge herself. In her work, she often explores concepts related to gender and sexuality, and how gendered norms and ‘codes of conduct’ can influence how we as a society perceive and control bodies.
Website: https://www.mari-bo.com/
Sigrun Hlin Sigurdadottir
Sigrun Hlin Sigurdadottir is an Icelandic artist with a master's degree from the Faculty of Contemporary Art in Norway. She works primarily with textiles, text and drawing, where she plays with the fine line between crafts and arts. Sigrún’s work is concerned with the human connection to images, symbols and the material world, in the past, present and future. Now for several consecutive years, she has been exhibiting and working in both Iceland and Norway.
Website: https://www.sigrunhlin.com/
Special thanks to the Graphic Designer: Asgeir Jonsson
This was part of the festival ISDAGER.