On Friday 20 March at 6 pm, the anniversary edition of Nordnorsken will open at the Nordnorsk kunstnersenter in Svolvær. The exhibition marks 80 years since its founding in 1946, and this year’s edition has received the highest number of submitted works in recent times.

“It is a great pleasure to present the rich diversity of artistic practices selected for this eightieth edition and to share them with audiences across Northern Norway,” says Luba Kuzovnikova, Director of Nordnorsk kunstnersenter.

Following the opening in Svolvær, the exhibition will continue on tour, with presentations at Senja Kunstforening, Terminal B / Pikene på Broen in Kirkenes, Alta Kunstforening, Rana Kunstforening, and Bodø Kunstforening.

“The exhibition offers a cross-section of artistic practices in the region, spanning generations. Through valuable collaboration with these partners across the north, Nordnorsken will reach audiences throughout the three northernmost counties,” Kuzovnikova adds.

For this anniversary edition, the exhibition received 287 applications, with the jury reviewing a total of 618 works. The final selection presents 25 artists represented by 34 works.

“This year’s exhibition presents a wide range of artistic expressions and practices from Northern Norway. In selecting the works, the jury has been particularly interested in how many of them explore connections between body and place, materials and systems, experience and infrastructure,” says Adriana Alves, curator at Nordnorsk kunstnersenter.

Together with Annika Borg (Norwegian Visual Artists), Simen Engen Larsen (Northern Norwegian Visual Artists) and Marianne Moe (Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts, Northern Norway), she served on the jury reviewing the anonymised submissions.

“Several works address time as something layered and shifting – from geological processes and landscapes to everyday memories and media flows. At the same time, materiality emerges strongly through the use of textiles, wood, stone, sound, video and digital image practices,” she concludes.

This year's artists:
Aleksander Johan Andreassen
& Cecilia Cissi Hultman
William A Frjals Bentsen
Marie Bentzon
Martin Bjørnersen
Mari Bø
& Solveig Holthe Bygdenes
& Frode Larsen
Line Solberg Dolmen
Hanne Grete Einarsen
Nina Ekman
Sissel Fredriksen
Stein Henningsen
Sylvia Henriksen
Geir Tore Holm
Darya Kudari
Gabriel Johann Kvendseth
Harald Lien
Åse Løvgren
Dan Mariner
Rita Marhaug
Åsne Kummeneje Mellem
Ina Otzko
Adam Sébire
Bjørn Tore Stavang
Espen Tversland
Kristin Tårnes
True Solvang Vevatne

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, Nordnorsken is one of the longest-running regional art exhibitions in Norway. For eight decades, the exhibition has served as an important platform for artists connected to Northern Norway and has contributed to highlighting the development of the region’s contemporary art scene.