p. 4 Director’s Foreword p. 9 Statement of the Board p. 12 International Support p. 40 ISGIES p. 42 Visitors p. 54 International Residencies p. 62 Programme p. 65 p. Publications p. 69 Office for Contemporary Art Norway Annual Report 2015 Project: Staging Three. “Incidental Insurgents” p. 72 Project: Staging Two. “They Went Away to Stay” p. 76 Norway at the Venice Biennale p. 83 OCA in the Press p. 103 Key Figures 2015 p. 122 Organisation and the Board Office for Contemporary Art Norway 3 “Norway has always been a place in which the while reflecting upon the history of sound as a boundaries of the world have been questioned. force of repression, emancipation and excitation, Director’s Foreword As early as 1075, Bishop Adam of Bremen noted as well as contemporary concepts of consonance Norway’s position on the edge of the world thus: and dissonance, and the water, glass and light ‘Beyond Norway, which is the farthermost northern of Venice. Weaving together architectural and country, you will find no human habitation, nothing sculptural interventions in the space of the pavilion, but ocean, terrible to look upon and limitless, Norment developed a new composition for the glass encircling the whole world.’ Inevitably, a nation at armonica – a legendary 18th-century instrument the edge of the world is also one from which the that creates ethereal music from glass and water very frontiers of reason can be questioned. From – and a chorus of female voices, as well as the a historic perspective, it was along those northern resonances of the pavilion itself. The composition and arctic shores of Norway where received notions was based on the unresolved notes of the much were tested, and where humanity experimented with censored ‘devils´s tritone’ that corresponds to the how the world was to be defined. If, in the distant notes of the glass armonica. past, the unknown Norway provoked the world into reflecting upon how life could be, then once again The numerous performances that unfolded today, Norway as the northernmost country plays a from ‘Rapture’ during the inaugural days as well vital role in reconsidering the world and its urgent as in the months of June and October, was co- dilemmas. produced by OCA, nyMusikk and Ultima – Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, with the technical Changing patterns of climate in the North are advice of NOTAM. Such a partnership reflects one having dramatic effects on the monsoons of the of the most inspiring aspects of the cultural life of South. The frozen maritime routes in the Arctic are the Norwegian creative community, and draws on opening up to potentially becoming new circumpolar the spirit of collaboration between experimental highways, bridging the North with Asia. What were music and the visual arts in Norway today. In once considered predictable demographic canons September, we were extremely proud to present are being challenged by the powerful waves of a performance in Oslo, at OCA’s space, specially economic and political migration, and resulting developed with Ultima that brought together an in unprecedented social tensions. Just as the organic union of the voices represented in Venice, democratic model is imposing itself across the and unfolded as a sequence of discreet movements. world, so the breadth of social and individual control They included Norment’s new compositions with is reaching a historic peak. Within this shifting her trio (consisting of the artist playing the glass global ground, more than ever before, we are in armonica, Vegar Vårdal playing the Hardanger fiddle need of innovative thought with global relevance and Håvard Skaset playing the electric guitar); coming from the North, and Norway in particular. a sonic dialogue between the glass armonica, And although our current era of global turmoil, Sofia Jernberg’s versatile vocalisation and the where social, cultural, economic, political and choreographed ‘architectural utterance’ of the environmental shifts are casting fearful shadows vocal ensemble Oslo 14 (Norment had used their upon us, they also open up new potential for voices for the soundscape of the Nordic Pavilion), inspirational thought.” as well as segments of Norment and David Toop’s abstracted ‘performance lecture’ (which had been With these words, I introduced the opening of presented in Venice, and encompassed text, the the Nordic Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale voice and sound, in relation to vibration, the body in May 2015, of which, for the first time in history, and hysteria). Norway was sole commissioner. Indeed 2015 was a remarkable year for OCA. ‘Rapture’, a As part of Norway’s contribution to the Venice site-specific immersive, multisensory space by Biennial, Rapture, a three-part publication exploring American-born, Oslo-based Camille Norment was the broader contextual framework of artist Camille presented in Venice. The installation uncovered Norment’s investigations was launched. It reflects the hidden sonic potential of the Nordic Pavilion, upon the relationship between sound and the Director’s 4 2015 5 Foreword visual arts across time, as well as challenging the Anthropology and Gender Studies at Columbia Our sense of self and the exploration of our Bhavna Kakar (editor/publisher, TAKE on art) in hegemony of the visual in contemporary theory University, Elizabeth Povinelli. Povinelli has long increasingly connected world was also the consultation with several advisors, based on their and art practice. The first volume was launched in analysed ethical and normative claims about the focus point for New Museum’s ‘2015 Triennial: varied expertise and influence in shaping the future tandem with the opening of the Biennale in May governance of love, sociality and the body, moving, Surround Sound’. Artist Ane Graff’s participation of art writing and criticism as pedagogues, mentors 2015 and includes essays by David Toop, María del for instance, from indigenous communities in in the triennial, curated by Lauren Cornell and and prolific writers themselves. Speakers included, Pilar Blanco and Rob Stone reflecting on how sound Australia to progressive queer movements in the Ryan Trecartin, was supported through OCA’s amongst others, art critic and curator Geeta shapes our environment, our bodies and minds. United States. Through alternative models of social International Support. Kapur, artist and writer Pushpamala N., artist Vivan The second volume explores the dialogue between relations she boldly highlights modes of intimacy Sundaram, art critic and curator Sadanand Menon, sound and the visual arts, past, present and future, that transcend a reductive choice between freedom The 12th Havana Biennial ’Between the Idea and art critic and curator Girish Shahane, and artist, art through essays by Anne Hilde Neset, Greg Tate and constraint, while theorising intimate relations Experience’, broke with the idea of an autonomous historian and curator Gulammohammed Sheikh. and Sami Khatib. The third and last volume of as pivotal sites for different forms of life to co-exist. art space by spreading all over the city – making ‘Critical Writing Ensembles. The Baroda Chapter’ Rapture includes essays by Nabil Ahmed and Nida In her lecture at OCA the point of departure was the every urban space an art space. The curators constituted part of the ‘TAKE on Writing’ series and Ghouse. A reprint of Sara Teasdale’s poem There dispute that broke out in the 1960s between the two Jorge Fernandez Torres and Margarita Gonzalez supports the magazine’s investment in sustaining Will Come Soft Rains, penned in 1920 and a source French theorists Gilles Deleuze and Alain Badiou Lorente invited the artists Ignas Krunglevicius and critical writing practices in India. Highlights of the of inspiration for Norment and her performance with over the role of the philosopher and the procedures Marte Johnslien, the artist duo Sami Rintala and CWE will be brought to Oslo in 2018, and include Toop, is also featured. The publications also contain of truth, the nature of the event and the possibility of Dagur Eggertsson, as well as Transborder Café Norway-based writing peers. a series of discussions between Norment and revolutionary politics. (represented by Pikene på Broen Artistic Director myself and Antonio Cataldo, curators of the project, Andreas Hoffmann), who all received grants through The ‘TAKE on Writing’ series was envisioned to addressing the reasoning behind an artistic practice In September OCA was pleased to witness the OCA’s International Support. support TAKE on art Magazine’s investment in that seeks to demystify the influence of sound upon presentation of ‘What may result when a pure sustaining critical writing practices in India. The our collective consciousness. mathematician also happens to be an enthusiastic In December 2015, OCA announced the ‘Critical series seeks to connect art writers’ experience amateur photographer’ by Thale Elisabeth Sørlie Writing Ensembles’, to encourage a new and knowledge of regional and national writing Excavating the roots and exploring the socio- and Arne Langleite of the Norwegian Museum consideration of archival material and writing histories. While TAKE on art acknowledges the political, religious, environmental and financial of Science and Technology in Oslo, Norway. The histories by commissioning new writing, and valuable history of art criticism within the region, consequences of the uncertain conditions within project, centring on the Norwegian mathematician by subsequently debating and re-imagining it and gestures towards the future of such practices in which we currently exist has been part of OCA’s and physicist Carl Størmer (1874–1957), was part of collectively in the company of peers from diverse the country, these directions stem from the present. continuous programming in Oslo throughout 2015, the 14th Istanbul Biennial ‘SALTWATER: A Theory communities and generations who forged new The various sessions unravelled the different guises creating a red thread of activities through ‘Of Love, of Thought Forms’, curated by Carolyn Christov- working relationships in the process.