Crafting Public Spaces in Norway – A Short and Random Review

A collage of craft in public space by editors Ida Højgaard Thjømøe and Marianne Zamecznik

Kari M. Christensen, Kilden. Photo by Cathrine Wang / KORO.
Visual essay by

Ida Højgaard Thjømøe and Marianne Zamecznik

The editors behind The Vessel 8 Craft in Public Space, Ida Højgaard Thjømøe and Marianne Zamecznik, have made a selection of art in public space projects that deserve to be highlighted. The projects span from integrated artworks, brick walls and photography to custom Odontology uniforms. The collage will expand as new projects are added.

Kilden ('The Source') by Kari Margrethe Christensen (1982)
Kilden is an integrated art work by ceramicist Kari Margrethe Christensen, completed in 1982 after an open call for submission for the then recently completed Oslo Police Headquarters. The work consist of modelled and fired porcelain, oxide water, slate, marble gravel and water. The work was initially planned with carp fish in the water pool, but these were later removed. The work belongs to the art collection for state owned buildings, managed by KORO Public Art Norway.

Kari M. Christensen, 'Kilden'. Photo by Cathrine Wang / KORO.
Kari M. Christensen, Kilden. Photo by Cathrine Wang / KORO.
Detail of 'Kilden' by Kari Christensen, installation at Politihuset, the police station and district HQ in central Oslo, completed in 1982. Photo courtesy by KORO/Cathrine Wang
Kari M. Christensen, Kilden. Photo by Cathrine Wang / KORO.

Flyt ('Flow') by Liv Blåvarp and Tore Gimle (2023)
Flyt is an integrated art work by jewellery artist and woodworker Liv Blåvarp and woodworker and carpenter Tore Gimle, completed in 2023 after being commissioned by Brisingstubben barne- og avlastningsboliger (Brisingstubben children and respite home) in Ålesund municipality, Norway. The work measures nearly five metres in length and is made of spruce. Every other slat is turned upside down along a horizontal midline, creating the ornamental pattern.

Flyt ('Flow') by Liv Blåvarp and Tore Gimle (2023), photo by Monica Takvam.
Flyt ('Flow') by Liv Blåvarp and Tore Gimle (2023), photo by Monica Takvam.
Flyt ('Flow') by Liv Blåvarp and Tore Gimle (2023), photo by Monica Takvam.
Flyt ('Flow') by Liv Blåvarp and Tore Gimle (2023), photos by Monica Takvam.

Torbjørn Kvasbø (1994)
Ceramicist Torbjørn Kvasbø's integrated art work at Finsal sykehjem (Finsal nursing home) in Hamar, Norway, was completed in 1994. The wall is one large piece, seven metres tall and over five metres wide, constructed with massive brick forms, each modelled in crank clay, a coarse sculptural clay with a lot of chamotte and iron oxide, by the artist. Covering the bricks is a modelled grid pattern, and the entirety of the wall is brushed with a porcelain casting slip from Porsgrunn Porselen. The work was fired by Kvasbø in his anagama kiln, at 1300 degrees. The work was commissioned by Innlandet county council.

Detail, work by Torbjørn Kvasbø at Final sykehjem. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Detail, work by Torbjørn Kvasbø at Final sykehjem. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Detail, work by Torbjørn Kvasbø at Final sykehjem. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Torbjørn Kvasbø, installation at Finsal nursing home, photos courtesy of the artist

Carrying the face of ugliness, Ahmed Umar (2022)
Carrying the face of ugliness is a series of eight black-and-white photographs by artist Ahmed Umar, which addresses the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Sudan, where homosexuality is punishable by life imprisonment. In the portraits, Umar positions himself in front of the individuals he depicts, lending his face to protect theirs. The art work was showcased temporarily at Oslo Central Station, Ski Station, and Oslo Airport Station starting in October 2022, and was commissioned by Bane NOR Eiendom. Kulturbyrået Mesén curated and managed the project.

Carrying the face of ugliness, Ahmed Umar (2022), Kunstreisen 2022-23, photo courtesy of Mesén.
Carrying the face of ugliness, Ahmed Umar (2022), Kunstreisen 2022-23, photo courtesy of Mesén.
Carrying the face of ugliness, Ahmed Umar (2022), Kunstreisen 2022-23, photo courtesy of Mesén.
Carrying the face of ugliness, Ahmed Umar (2022), Kunstreisen 2022-23, photos courtesy of Mesén

Magnetic Fields, Tanja Sæter (2009)
Magnetic Fields is a work by glass artist Tanja Sæter commissioned by KORO Public Art Norway for the Norwegian embassy residence in Vienna. The work was completed in 2009 for the embassy residence's new modern extension and consists of blown, cut and fused glass strands. The artwork is inspired by magnetic currents in space and the Earth's magnetic field, protecting us from solar storms.

Magnetic Fields by Tanja Sæter. Photo by Gerald Zugmann / Photo courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Magnetic Fields by Tanja Sæter. Photo by Gerald Zugmann / Photo courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Magnetic Fields by Tanja Sæter. Photo by Gerald Zugmann / Photo courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Magnetic Fields by Tanja Sæter. Photo by Gerald Zugmann / Photos courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway

Clothing for the staff at the Odontological University Clinic, Ida Falck Øien (2012)
The Odontological University Clinic at the University of Bergen features several public art projects by artists Hanne Heuch, Anna Sigmond Gudmundsdottir, and Marte Johnslien. In addition to site-specific physical artworks, such as Johnslien's sculptures, art consultants Annette Kierulf and Karolin Tampere commissioned Ida Falck Øien to design and produce new uniforms for the clinic staff. Øien drew inspiration from visits to the old dentistry building, popular culture, the history of the dental profession, and her own childhood memories of dentist visits. The project was managed by KORO Public Art Norway for Statsbygg.

Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway
Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway

Ida Falck Øien. Photo by Thor Brødreskift, photos courtesy of KORO Public Art Norway

Pile O'Sápmi by Máret Ánne Sara (2016/2017)
Pile O' Sápmi is an artwork by Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara, initially consisting of over 100 reindeer skulls arranged in a pile, displayed in 2016 in Tana, Northern Norway. Pile O' Sápmi references the historical mass slaughter of bison in North America in the 19th century known as the buffalo genocide, which nearly drove the species to extinction and had a devastating effect on the Indigenous people reliant on the animal. The piece was created in response to a legal battle involving her brother, Jovsset Ánte Sara, a reindeer herder who was ordered by the Norwegian state to reduce his herd by half to 75 animals, to «prevent overgrazing». Jovsset Ánte resisted the order, arguing that such a reduction would make his herd unsustainable and economically unviable, and he took his case against the Norwegian state to court, where he won the state in both the district court and in the Hålogaland Court of Appeal, but lost when the Norwegian state appealed the case to the Norwegian Supreme Court.

Jovsset Ánte Sara has argued that the culling policy violated his rights under international law, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). His resistance drew attention to the broader Sámi movement for rights to their land and resources in Norway. After the loss in the Supreme Court, Jovsset Ánte Sara sent an individual complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee. In a statement dated 19 July 2024 the Supreme Court judgment was criticised by the Human Rights Committee, which concluded that ICCPR's article 27 had been violated.1

The artwork Pile O' Sápmi has been reimagined in several locations, including an installation in front of the Norwegian parliament, where 400 reindeer skulls were displayed in a suspended, hanging arrangement at the same time as Jovsset Ánte Sara’s case was deliberated in the Norwegian Supreme Court.

Photos by Tomi Guttorm, courtesy of Máret Ánne Sara.