OCA International — In Brief

Norwegian Artists and Curators Abroad
Selected International Venues

Biennials

Ida Ekblad has been invited to exhibit within 'Younger Than Jesus', the first edition of The Generational, the New Museum's new triennial of young artists. Organised by Lauren Cornell, Director of Rhizome and New Museum Adjunct Curator, Massimiliano Gioni, Director of Special Exhibitions, New Museum and Laura Hoptman, Kraus Family Senior Curator, New Museum, the exhibition will present the works of fifty artists from twenty-five countries who are born after 1976, among them, Tauba Auerbach, Cory Arcangel and Patricia Esquivias. Within the exhibition, Ekblad will present the work Untitled(M) (2008) and works from the series On Otherness (2008).'Younger Than Jesus' will take place at the New Museum, New York City, USA from 8 April to 14 June 2009. A press preview will be held on 7 April, from 10:00 to 12:30 pm.

Katerina Gregos has invited Lene Berg to exhibit within Contour 2009: 4th Biennial of Moving Image in Mechelen, Belgium. Under the title Hidden in Remembrance is the Silent Memory of Our Future, the biennial proposes a reconsideration of recent history, as it takes place twenty years after a key historical moment in European history. Contour 2009 takes place in various venues, emphasising the interaction between the location and the works of art on display. Within Contour 2009 Lene Berg will exhibit the project Stalin by Picasso (2008), which has as its point of departure an old dispute about Picasso's portrait of Stalin with a moustache and feminine features. Other artists exhibiting within Contour 2009 are Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Mira Sanders and Yael Bartana.

Rubén del Valle Lantarán, Director of the 10th Havana Biennial, has invited Victor Mutelekesha to exhibit within the biennial, which takes place in Havana, Cuba from 27 March to 30 April 2009 and is titled 'Integration and Resistance in the Global Age'. According to Lantarán, the biennial will focus 'on the complexity of a real and active integration to a global order, on one side, and on the capacity of resistance in the face of the homogenising farce that it presupposes, on the other'. Within 'Integration and Resistance in the Global Age', Mutelekesha will exhibit the installation Pangea, which nostalgically refers to the hypothetical landmass that existed when all continents were joined.

Samba Fall has been invited to exhibit within the 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece. Curated by Olabisi Silva, Gabriela Salgado and Syrago Tsiara and title 'Praxis', the biennial aims to investigate artistic practises as a privileged space for free expression of ideas and for an alternative view of the world and social environment. Within the biennial, Samba Fall will exhibit Africa Map, an installation built by local people of Thessaloniki which presents the ideas that non-Africans have about the continent.

Solo Exhibitions and Projects

Until 29 March Fort Worth Contemporary is holding a solo exhibition of Lars Laumann together with Margrét Blöndal. Curated by Gavin Morrison and titled 'Margrét Blöndal & Lars Laumann', the exhibition will present Laumann's films Morrissey Foretelling the Death of Diana, Berlinmuren and Swedish Book Store.

Liv Bugge is invited to hold a solo exhibition at We-Project in Brussels, Belgium from 20 May to 07 June 2009. Within the exhibition, curated by Gauthier Hubert, Curator We-Project and titled 'You make me want to die in the countryside', the artist will present the sculpture work The Inner Station and three video installations that reflects on the novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

Agustin Pérez Rubio, Chief Curator at MUSAC (Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain) has invited the artists' duo Elmgreen & Dragset for a solo exhibition entitled 'Trying to Remember What We Want to Forget' at MUSAC from 31 January to 3 May 2009. The exhibition will focus in the gap between the personal and the collective, the unbalanced of 'the private' versus the drama of 'the public' in the immediate world. The exhibition will be composed of ten installation art works in a display created specifically for MUSAC – six of them will be new productions and the previous works will be displayed in a new arrangement, according to the curatorial concept.

Group Exhibitions

Vibeke Tandberg has been invited to exhibit within 'Seleccíon de la 28a Bienal de São Paulo' at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago de Chile, Chile. Curated by Francisco Brugnoli Bailoni, Director Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago, the exhibition will present a selection of artworks and artists that participated in the 28th São Paulo Biennial. Vibeke Tandberg will exhibit the project Albert Camus, L'étranger, Roman, Gallimard 2003, Prémier dépôt légal:juin 1942. ISBN 2-07-021-200-3, in which the artist dissects an edition of the book L'étranger by Albert Camus in cutting out each of the 32 000 words comprising the text and subsequently alphabetizing each onto separate formations divided into individual framed works.

Kjell Bjørgeengen has been invited Paul Lagring, Artistic Director, Netwerk vzw, in Aalst, Belgium to exhibit within 'Fuzzy Electronics', taking place at Netwerk vzw from 14 February to 4 April 2009. The exhibition focuses on the importance of accidental change within the filed of 'new media'. For 'Fuzzy Electronics' the artist will produce a new series of video and audio works that incorporate a method of instability. Other artists exhibiting are Frederik De Wilde, Jerry Galle and Doris Kuwert.

Marthe Ramm Fortune has been commissioned to create a new performance work for 'Its All Yours Now', a one-day performance event curated by Sabina Basta and taking place 15 March at the SculptureCenter in New York City, USA. Ranging from a love letter to a song, the six pieces and performances presented use dialogue and travesty as forms of exploration of power, identity politics, and transmission. Other participating artists are Carey Ascenzo, Linda Weiss, Rachel Mason, Petit Mal, Nader Sadek and Kalup Linzy.

Kristina Bræin and Lina Viste-Grønli have been invited to exhibit within 'Les Formes Féminines' at Triangle France, Marseille, France. Curated by Dorothée Dupuis, director of Triangle France and taking place from 3 April to 9 May 2009, the exhibition takes as a starting point the idea of a crude and curious parallel between the history of sculpture and those of women in the twentieth century. For 'Les Formes Féminines', Bræin will produce a new site-specific installation. Other artist exhibiting are Jenny Holzer and Eva Berendes.

Jannicke Låker is currently holding an exhibition together with Julika Rudelius at The Dumbo Arts Center (DAC), New York City, USA. Curated by Ruba Katrib and titled 'Ecstatic truth', the exhibition examines how production and reception is constructed, the boundaries between fiction and truth as well as the differentiations between acting and non-acting. Within 'Ecstatic truth', Jannicke Låker presents Running Woman (2006), a film in which subjects are filmed or recorded participating in a certain activity in which they become completely absorbed. 'Ecstatic truth' is on view until 26 April.

From 16 to 25 April 2009 the 'Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid – Madrid 2009' is taking place in various venues throughout Madrid, Spain. Curated by Jean-Francois Rettig, the festival presents international artist working with film, video and multimedia, including the Norwegian artists Knut Åsdam, Helen Sommer, Anne Lan and Inger Lise Hansen.

Sissel Tolaas has been invited to exhibit within 'sk-interfaces', at Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg from 25 September to 10 January 2010. Curated by Jens Hauser, 'sk-interfaces' features works by artists reflecting on the way current technologies are changing our lives by progressively replacing natural interface in the skin. Within the exhibition, Sissel Tolaas will present the project Fear, in which she collects and displays the smell of different men who have nothing in common but the fear of body contact.

Kaja Haugen Leijon has been selected to partake in Videonale 12, a biennial festival for video art. Curated Georg Elbenby, Videonale 12 will take place from 26 March to 26 April 2009 at Kunstmuseum in Bonn, Germany. Within the festival, Kaja Haugen Leijon will exhibit Turning Trick (2008), a film inspired by Truffaut and film genres, such as western. Other participating artists are Charlotte Ginsborg, Reynold Reynolds and Pia Greschner.

Janine Magelssen has been invited to exhibit within 'Apparently Invisible – Spring Selections Show 2009', taking place at The Drawing Center, New York City, USA, from 20 February to 28 March 2009. The exhibition aims to promote emerging artists selected from the Viewing Program. Within 'Apparently Invisible', the artist will exhibit a 'wall construction' – an installation that bridges the disciplines of drawing and sculpture to investigates the poetic possibilities in the meeting of space and form. 'Apparently Invisible' is curated by Nina Katchadourian, Viewing Program Curator, The Drawing Center; Joanna Kleinberg, Assistant Curator, The Drawing Center and Rachel Liebowitz, Curatorial Assistant, The Drawing Center.

Curators Anna Martine Nilsen, Kalle Brolin and Graciela Taquinu, professor University of Buenos Aires have invited Sabina Jacobsson, Birgitte Sigmundstad, Astrid Johannessen and Lotte Konow Lund to participate in 'Paralelos y Meridianos' at the Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 'Paralelos y Meridianos' consist of two platforms – a screening of video works from Argentina, Sweden and Norway – and takes place from 20 to 25 July 2009.

Peter Zorn, EMAN Coordinator and Chairman of Werkleitz – Centre for Media Art in Halle (Saale), Germany has invited Helene Sommer to exhibit within '.move' at the European Media Art Network in Halle (Saale), Germany. The artist will exhibit the video installation The Memory of the People Narrates. A Tale of Stone and Wood and also present a talk. Helene Sommer's participation within the exhibition is linked to her residency at InterSpace in Sofia, Bulgaria.

From 14 to 30 April 2009, Serina Erfijorn, Kristoffer Myskja, Frode Halvorsen and Øystein Wyller Odden will be exhibiting within 'Northern Sound' – a show of sound art from Norway curated by Petr Svarovsky. 'Northern Sound' will take place at CIANT Gallery, Prague, the Czech Republic, as part of 'Enter 4', a festival that aims to bridge cultural production with science and new technology.

In September 2009, Jumana Manna will be presenting the project The Arab Men Go Public throughout the stress of Al-Bireh-Ramallah, Palestine. Developed in collaboration with International Academy of Art Palestine, Al-Bireh-Ramallah, Palestine, the project consists of the placement of photographs in billboards. These images present man in private moments in their home, challenging common perceptions of Arabic man.

Samba Fall has been invited to participate in the seminar 'Animation Breakdown – Study Day', taking place at Tate Modern, London, UK from 20 to 23 March 2009. 'Animation Breakdown – Study Day' is part of 'Animation Breakdown – Computer Baroque', a weekend programme that provides an opportunity for broader discussions about the relationship between the moving image, drawing, and the digital.

International Opportunities

*03–funding: The purpose of the 03–funds, as allocated by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to OCA, is to further develop cooperation and professional networking between OCA and the constituency of artists, independent cultural producers and organizations that are located in designated countries or associated with 03–countries. This includes but is not limited to professional research visits by cultural producers, artists and curators, short-term residencies for cultural producers and artists, and the development of seminars, conferences, art projects, workshops, etc. that focus on the further development of professional exchange and networking between and among countries, project development and pilot projects on an international scale.

24 March 2009