Video portraits of artists

Linda Bournane Engelberth (b. 1977, Oslo) is a Norwegian-Algerian artist based in Oslo. She holds a advanced craft certificate in photography and a BA in History of Art. Her work focuses on identity through personal and subjective narratives, as well as rural communities which are in flux.

Bournane Engelberths most recent exhibitions include Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, DUMBO Art Festival, New York, Noplace, Oslo, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Bærum and Fotogalerie Wien. Her work was selected for the European Photo Exhibition Award 2014. She is represented by the VII Photo Agency, New York. Upcoming plans include solo exhibitions at Spriten Kunsthall in Skien and Box 24 in Algeria in 2022.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Nikhil Vettukattil (b. 1990, Bengaluru, India) is an artists and writer based in Oslo. His practice is based on representation and image production processes in the transformation of lived experience. Using a wide range of media such as sound, installation, performance, text, sculpture and video, his work often explores ways in which art and film depict everyday life and historical events.

Vettukattil has participated in exhibitions at venues such as Louise Dany, Oslo (2020), EKA gallery, Tallinn (2020), Kunstraum Kesselhaus, Bamberg (2020), and Le Bourgeois, London (2019), to name a few. In 2021 he will have a solo exhibition at the K4 gallery in Oslo. In the period of 2020-2021 he is an associated artist at the Black Box Theater in Oslo and member of the art collectives Carrie and Tenthaus. As a writer he has produced texts for Kunst Pluss, Fotogalleriet in Oslo, AQNB and a number of exhibitions.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Sisse Lee (b. 1987 Denmark) has a BA in ceramic design from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (2016) and a MA in medium- and material based art from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2018). At the chore of her practice lies an idea-based approach to the vessel as an object in various installational interpretations and contexts. She works with themes such as archaeology, categorization and sequence dating of ancient ceramics.

Since her studies she has exhibited in both Norway and abroad, venues include, among other places: Collect Art Fair, London (2021), RAM Galleri, Oslo (2020), Kunsthall Grenland, Porsgrunn (2020), Talente, München (2019), CHART Art Fair, Copenhagen (2019) and the annual exhibition of the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts, Fredrikstad (2018).

Press the CC button for subtitles

Karianne Stensland (b. 1969) holds a MFA from The Trondheim Academy of Fine Art and has studied acting at The Russian State Institute of Performing Arts in St. Petersburg. The driving force in her work is the investigation and reformulation of gender, power, and rank. Her work comprises text, drawing, music, and sculpture; often presented through video, performance, and installations.
She was a member of the Scandinavian art group High Heel Sisters (2002-05), and one of the initiators behind Marienborg project space and studio collective in Trondheim (2005-10).

In the past years she has had solo exhibitions at Kunstbanken, Hedmark (2020), RAM gallery, Oslo (2017), and Trøndelag senter for samtidskunst (2015). In 2022 Stensland is participating in the opening exhibition at the new National Museum of Norway in Oslo, and presenting a solo exhibition at Møre and Romsdal Kunstsenter. Stensland is also one of the selected artists in the studio program at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo (2020-22).

Press the CC button for subtitles

Christian Blandhoel (b. 1976) is an artist and musician based in Oslo. He holds a MFA from The Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2006). He has an interdisciplinary artistic practice that encompasses drawing, painting, fanzine making, (interactive) sculpture, collage, digital photography, sound, and instrument making.

Blandhoel has had solo exhibitions at, among other places, Skånes Konstförening, Malmö (2008) and The Young Artists’ Society/UKS, Oslo (2007). He has extensive activity as an performance artist and has recently had performances at The Intercultural Museum, Oslo (2019), Akershus Kunstsenter (2018) and Hvitsten Salong (2018). He is also a noise musician and has held concerts at Kafé Hærverk (2019), Deichman Library (2019), and Black Box Teater, Oslo (2018) to name a few. He organizes noise concerts and events under the name Polyføkt. In 2022 Blandhoel is participating in the opening exhibition at the new National Museum of Norway in Oslo.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Morten Jensen Vågen (b. 1987 Haugesund) received his MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2020. He works primarily with sculpture and video that interact with the cityscape. His practice is driven by an interest in urban environments, surveillance, prepper culture, and questioning societal norms.

He has held solo exhibitions such as Fit in Bug out at BOA, Oslo (2019), How to Make it at Studio 17, Stavanger (2018) and Loopholes at Haugesund Kunstforening (2016). He has also participated in group exhibitions among other places at the National Gallery Prague, Studio 17, Stavanger, Hulias, Oslo,Høstutstillingen, Stavanger Art Museum, and Deichman Library, Bjørvika, Oslo.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Hanne Friis (b. 1972) is educated in the fields of painting and sculpture at The Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (1992-96) but has since her studies moved increasingly into the direction of textile art and contemporary crafts. Friis both continues and challenges the tradition of textile art through her tactile, craft-based, sculptural and spatial works.

Recent exhibitions in Europe include «Nice to finally meet you» at Seinäjoki Kunsthalle in Finland (2020), «Phases», solo exhibition at Maria Wettergren Gallery, Paris (2019), «Tissage Tressage», Foundation Villa Datris, France (2018), and «Disclosing the Uncanny», KH Gallery, London (2017). Friis has made a series of larger private and public commissions and is represented in several collections. Her works have been purchased by, among other places, KODE, The National Museum of Norway, National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Trondheim, Northern Norway Art Museum, Tromsø, Haugar Art Museum, Tønsberg and The Storting.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Tore Magne Gundersen (b. 1957, Froland) was raised in Kristiansand, Norway and currently lives and works in Oslo. He works with drawing, painting, animation, sculpture and printmaking. In recent years he has worked extensively with textiles in the form of knitting and appliqué, often in monumental formats.

Gundersen is educated at the National College of Art and Design, the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo and Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul. His recent solo exhibitions include Go on Fear Not, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal (2021), Oppland Kunstsenter (2019), and Agder Kunstsenter (2019). His works are represented in the collections of the National Museum and the Arts Council Norway. 2020-22 he has a studio in the tower of the City Hall in Oslo.

Press the CC button for subtitles

Kaare Ruud (b. 1993) graduated with a MFA from Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2020. He works with themes such as time, nostalgia, durability, and language. By working abstractly with utility objects that have a nostalgic or personal value to the artist himself, deconstructing and transforming the objects he collects, he questions what appropriation of class identity means.

Ruud has participated in group exhibitions at STANDARD, Oslo (2021), Hulias, Oslo (2020), Vestlandsutstillingen (2020), After School Special at Landmark in Bergen Kunsthall (2017) and Høstutstillingen at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo (2017). His recent solo exhibitions include Feistmuggjen (2020) and Album/ Volum (2021) at The Norwegian Sculptors Society, Oslo, Løvens Hule, Oslo (2019), Low Standards (2020) and Galleri Fisk, Bergen (2017).

Press the CC button for subtitles

Karen Klim (b.1951 Copenhagen) is educated at The School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen and The National School of Glass in Orrefors, Sweden. In 1978 she established her own glass shop at Frysja in Oslo where she still works today. She utilizes glass as a material in her work that comprises tableaus and vases. Her work reflects the Nordic landscape and the sensations that are brought up by the weather, nature, and the changing seasons surrounding her.

She has held solo exhibitions at among other places Kunstnerforbundet (2020), Søgne gamle prestegård (2017), Galleri Blås & Knåda, Stockholm (2016), Kunstbanken, Hedmark Kunstsenter (2015) and Galleri Svalbard, Longyearbyen Svalbard (2014). She has also participated in a number of group exhibitions in Norway and abroad: Peder Balke-senteret, Kapp (2018), Soli Brug Galleri, Greåker (2014), The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo (2012), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden (2008), Ålesund Kunstforening (2007) and Sandefjord Kunstforening (2005). Her works have been presented at international art fairs such as Collect, London and SOFA, Chicago. Her works are represented in the collections of many institutions, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,

Press the CC button for subtitles

Damla Kilickiran (b. 1991, SE) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo in 2020, having previously studied at Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art and Creative Writing, Södertörns University, and the College of Printmaking in Stockholm. Drawing inspiration from narratives and cosmologies within spiritual traditions, her work meditates upon topics related to alternate states of being as a method for image production and knowledge. Often leading one’s thoughts to automatism, focusing on the thresholds of language within the introspective body and its relation to the world.

Her recent exhibitions include participation in Lofoten International Art Festival (2019) and the group presentations Steinalderdrømmer at Nordnorsk kunstnersenter, Svolvær (2018); THE SUN SETS AT 17:43 at Akademirommet, Oslo (2019); The Suitors, Momentum at F15, Moss (2019); and the solo shows Among Spirits of Mineral Pitch and Other Public Apparitions at The Young Artists’ Society/ UKS, Oslo (2021), On Sense and Glyphs at Destiny’s Atelier, Oslo (2020), and Purpur Glimpse at Small Projects, Tromsø (2017).

Press the CC button for subtitles

• Morten Jensen Vågen
• Damla Kilickiran
• Tore Magne Gundersen
• Karianne Stensland
• Nikhil Vettukattil
• Kaare Ruud
• Hanne Friis
• Karen Klim
• Linda Bournane Engelberth
• Sisse Lee
• Christian Blandhoel

For your information: Sille Storihle was also one of our selected artists but due to illness this film has unfortunately been canceled.

Production: Oslo Open
Interview: Johanne Nordby Wernø/St.Hans
Camera and sound: Aleksander Johan Andreassen
Edited by: Helene Eggen/Oslo Art Weekend
Graphic design: Parabol Studio
English subtitles: Jeffrey Lee McLean

With generous support by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.