Highlights for art lovers
Foto: David Engmo
1.000 events planned in Bodø and Nordland during the European Capital of Culture year. From Europe’s only land art biennale to Sami art, from giant cloudberries to the world’s top print award, here is a taste of what’s in store for art lovers planning to visit in 2024.
NŌUA: One of Bodø’s coolest galleries shows top contemporary photography with an extensive programme throughout 2024 including exhibition, film showing, talks and more.
Peder Balke - MOT NORD / FRA NORD - The Øiesvold Collection: The exhibition consists of two separate, yet thematically related exhibitions. Peder Balke (1804–1887) was the first Norwegian artist to depict Northern Norway, and he did so with a highly characteristic expression. The Øiesvold Collection provides a rare insight into the earliest printed documentation from the northern regions that we know of. (Bodøgaard, Bodø, Sat 4 May - 15 Sep)
The Queen Sonja Print Award 2024: Established by Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway in 2011 to generate interest and promote the development of contemporary printmaking, the award has since become the world’s most important prize for printmaking (Bodø, 5-6 June 2024). Artist Anselm Kiefer, recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, will be in Bodø to receive his award.
www.queensonjaprintaward.no/bodo-2024
Polarhav: 30 paintings by popular local artist Karl Erik Harr, inspired by past travels sailing in the Arctic Ocean - Bjørnøya, Svalbard and Greenland among others. (Opening 10 June 2024 at the Karl Erik Harr Museum in Kjerringøy).
www.harrmuseet.no (Norwegian only)
Bådåddjo Musea: Bodø City Museum will be transformed into a Sámi museum for the year. One of the exhibitions consists of 200 artefacts coming from all over Sápmi. The programme also includes Girjegumpi, Joar Nango’s nomadic architecture library; Sápmi Triennale; Queer Folk Dress; RUOKTOT: The Return of the Sámi Drums and more. Opens 19 June 2024.
Kjerringøy Land Art Biennale (KLAB): Europe's only land art biennale will take place in stunning Kjerringøy, an hour north of Bodø. Opening weekend: 6-7 July 2024.
Nordic Outsider Art: Outsider art artists are self-taught, and outsider art is often hidden; we rarely see it. This exhibition will feature works from well-known artists from Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden (13 July - 11 Aug 2024, Bodø Kunstforening)
Bodø Biennale: The only one of its kind in Nordland, Bodø Biennale is an arena for interdisciplinary collaborations and productions within the fields of visual art and dance, and an interesting meeting point for both the audience and the professional community. (2-8 Sep 2024, throughout the city)
Kunstkanten: A new sculpture trail winding its way through Bodø (Unveiling 14 Sep 2024).
Prosjekt 67: A travelling container art project aiming to foster collaboration in the Arctic regions and in the countries along the 67 parallel north. Street art, installations and more. www.prosjekt67.org (14-21 Sep 2024)
Throughout the year
Lyskraft (Power of Light): In this project visual artist Hege Gundersen lets the cloudberry, an important natural resource in the northern hemisphere, and its uncertain future be the source of inspiration for a group of sculptures that revolve around this question: What happens to this heavenly flavour bomb when climate zones change?
Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF): Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF) is a festival for contemporary art with a history spanning back to 1991. The 2024 edition of the festival opens on 20 Sep in Svolvær, and will consist of an extensive exhibition across a number of venues, lectures and readings, performance, concerts and artist talks. The biennale presents works by international and local artists in a site-aware context.
Anti-biennale: Art in Arctic Nature invites the public to experience a number of art projects out in nature, arranged to create new encounters, new meeting places, and strengthen local identity.
https://kunstiarktisknatur.no/ (Norwegian only)
Havets Veje-Áhpi: An outdoor media installation where Nordic, Sami and Greenlandic artists and musicians explore a common theme – the Arctic Ocean. Featuring a travelling container projecting big scale images to music after dark. Various dates and locations
Last, but not least, the Northern Norwegian Art Museum, NNKM, will at last open a branch in Bodø in 2024 - information of exhibition and full programme will be announced nearer the time. www.nnkm.no/en
And finally
Adelsteen Normann: Bodø's most famous son, Adelsteen Normann, was born just outside of today's Bodø in 1848. He made a lucrative career as an artist in Germany, where he worked for most of his life, painting huge coastal landscapes inspired by his homeland. It was Normann who introduced a young and yet unknown Edvard Munch to the world in 1892, inviting him to exhibit in Berlin that year - Munch's first ever exhibition outside Norway, and the one that launched his international career.
You can learn more about this story (and Adelsteen Normann) in this episode of the award-winning podcast The Lonely Palette www.thelonelypalette.com/episodes/2022/10/27/episode-61-normann-the-midnight-sun
The Adelsteen Normann Foundation, the largest collection of works by Adelsteen Normann in the world, will hold several open days throughout 2024. https://www.facebook.com/AdelsteenNormann/