Ocean Stories: KODE Museum, Bergen, Norway

In conjunction with One Ocean Week in Bergen, the University of Bergen and Kode invites you to an exhibition featuring art from the Pacific Ocean, Fiji and Greenland.

 

 

Greenland and Fiji are very distant parts of the world, but the people who live there are connected through their proximity to nature, their rich narrative culture, the dependence on natural resources, and the pressure from increasing tourism. 

At the same time, both places are strongly affected by climate change: ice is melting, and the sea is rising. In Greenland, new land is laid bare while the sea creeps into the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean.

One side of the exhibition will be dedicated to artists from Fiji, the other side will be dedicated to artists from Greenland. 

The interaction between these two very different geographical locations will be elaborated in artworks, lectures and tours. Researchers and artists from the University of Bergen: the Art Academy (KMD), the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences who work with climate and sea level.

How do the communities along the coast of Greenland and on the low-lying Pacific islands face these changes? 

In the exhibition "Ocean Stories", artists from Greenland and Fiji tell the stories. The interaction between these two very different geographical locations is explored through artwork, lectures and conversations. 

What are the challenges and what are the opportunities in the face of climate change, now and in the future? 

The exhibition is part of the project "Climate Narratives" which is led by the University of Bergen, where research in the fields of art, social science and natural science engages in dialogue with site-specific indigenous knowledge, across cultures and generations.

The art exhibition will set the framework for the planned future exhibitions in Greenland and Fiji.

Artists: 

Irami Buli, Atueta Rabuka, John Vitolio, Nancy Sharma, Ulamila Buiravonu Bulamaibau, Anare Somumu, Susie Elliot, Johanna Beasley, Ben Fong, Nemani Nabalarua, Tomasi Domomate, Paula Ligairua, Josaia McNamara, Jeke Lagi, Skade Henriksen, Eamon O’Kane, Kristian Fly, Karl Petersen, Naja Rosing-Asvid, Julie Edel Hardenberg, Simon Kristoffersen, Aka Hoegh, Lisa Kreutzmann

With scientists and anthropologists: 

Kerim H. Nisancioglu, Edvard Hviding, Mathew Stiller Reeve, Natalya Gomez, Kristin Richter, Ragnhild Freng Dale, Siri Veland, Camilla S. Andresen, Lars H. Smedsrud, Fiamma Straneo, Andreas Born, Øystein Varpe, Torkel Gissel Nielsen.

Curators:

Larry Thomas is director of the Oceania Centre at University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva Fiji. He is a renowned playwright, filmmaker, and curator.

Andreas Hoffmann is a curator, writer, researcher, lecturer, currently director for Ilulissani Katersugaasiviit/ / Ilulissat Art Museum, Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland and artistic director and chief curator of Arctic Culture Lab.

Eamon O’Kane is an artist and professor of visual art at KMD, UiB he is Co- Principal Investigator on the NFR, Climate Narratives project.