Earth, Wind, Fire, Water – Nordic Contemporary Crafts is the 44th edition of the exhibition series Tendenser at Galleri F15 in Moss, Norway. Doors will open on the 16th of June (there is no formal opening festivities), but you can pop the bubbly on the beautiful gallery grounds and you’ll have until the 4th of October to visit this exciting show with five Eyes as Big as Plates pieces, two of them especially commissioned for the exhibition!
Curated by Randi Grov Berger, Tendenser brings together seventeen artists and artist groups from the Nordic countries who uses their craft, their tools, and their deep material knowledge to address pending environmental issues. Acknowledging the powerful interdependence between humankind and often overlooked materials and organisms, many of the presented artworks evoke the fragility and transiency of our earthly existence by way of components that alter, dry up, or decay throughout the exhibition period. Others reflect holistic ecological practices, implementing material collaborations to connect with the surrounding environment, with a piece of land, or with the material itself. All the details can be found here.
For nearly fifty years, Tendenser has been one of the leading platforms for contemporary craft in the Nordic region. First presented in 1971 as an annual exhibition highlighting Norwegian practitioners, Tendenser has since expanded to a biennial format, incorporating trends from across the Nordic countries. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Nordic Network of Crafts Associations.
If you can’t make it to Norway in person, we feel you, we are on pause too, and grappling with the world events, but you’ll still have time to learn Norwegian and tune in to NRK Kulturstripa to hear an interview with Karoline talking about our mission on the island of Jeløya in the fall of 2019. The program will air tomorrow, the 10th of June at 2 pm Norwegian time/GMT+2 . If you are busy protesting on the streets – know that we are there with you! #BlackLivesMatter!
Excellent to know you are hunkered down somewhere, maybe peeking out a bit now, and making art. Best loving wishes to you both.
[I’m still curious if you read the poem about Eyes as Big as Plates in the book called Winter? Seems you are EVERYWHERE.]
Sarah