Keeping it Classy

Tonight Leonard, Callie, and I decided to attend the opening ceremony of an art exhibit at the Tromsø Kunstforening translated to Tromsø Art Association. The art was created by Svein Flygari Johansen whose work focuses on the socio-political tensions between culture, man, and nature. This particular project is called “Am I making up what really happened?”

Once inside, we were offered wine and joined a group of art enthusiasts. While waiting for the opening speech we walked around the first floor. I felt sophisticated wearing my heels with a wine glass in my hand admiring the oil paintings, trying to understand the inspiration for each work of art. Each piece in front of me was considered art. This got me thinking: what makes this painting on the wall unique, “valuable”, or important, especially in relation to other paintings or pieces of art? I’ll let you ponder about this question.

Finally, everyone was gathered at the bottom of the stairs as the director gave an opening speech and welcomed Svein and his collaborator Jonny Bradley. The speech sounded wonderful; however, I have no clue as to what was said since it was in Norwegian. At the end of the opening ceremony, I followed everyone upstairs to where the art was on display.

  

"Schizotopi" art piece made from fences

On display are a variety of pieces, but I will only highlight my favorite two. The first one is called “Schizotopi” which means “divided land” according to a woman I was talking with at the exhibit. As can be seen in the picture, the sculpture is made out of pieces of wooden and metal fences. These fences used to be reindeer fences and gates that used to stand tall in Finnmark. These fences represent the actual barriers, but are also symbolic of the tensions in establishing borders in Scandinavia. One particular group affected by the divisions were the Saami, said to be the indigenous people of Scandinavia. Saami living in the mountains herded their reindeer across wide areas, but with the introduction of boundaries and enforcement of particular laws, some were unable to continue the migratory routes with their reindeer which they had been following for centuries. This piece creates a visual representation of the political acts of the time.

"The Fish" art piece

My other favorite piece is called “The Fish.” In the room a plastic sheet is suspended from the ceiling and in the middle is an illuminated pool of water. On the floor you can see shadows of rippling water. At first I was a little disappointed with water in a sheet hanging from the ceiling. Yes, it looked cool, but I couldn’t see the “art” in it until a woman told us to stand still. Once everyone in the room had stood still for around 8 seconds, the shadow of a fish appeared on the floor. Once someone moved, the fish “swam” away. The fish was not real, it was only a projection from above, however; it was this aspect that made the piece very interesting.

The rest of the pieces were interesting, but I did not understand a few of them. Overall the classy night was a fantastic way to learn more about the Norwegian culture. I hope to take part in more events around Tromsø.