«Eg trudde me var saman om/i dette» (I thought we were in this together) was my contribution to the group exhibition Spor 2022, curated and arranged by Sunnfjord Kunstlag at Førdehuset in Førde, Norway, presenting young artists with a connection to the former Sogn and Fjordane County. The exhibiting artists were Maia Birkeland, Olve Aaberge Sande, Vilde Jensen Hjetland, Sol Hallset, Tone Wolff Kalstad, Magnhild Øen Nordahl, Kent Fonn Skåre, Ina Bache-Wiig, Arne Bakke, Tora Endestad Bjørkheim og Sara Kollstrøm Heilevang, and myself.

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The work was a site specific installation made up by a multitude of hoops made out of cotton and leather, all connected by knitted strands made from thin polyester sewing thread, where the installation both in color, shape, and installation echoed not only the room's architectural properties, but also the social philosophy behind the whole building that is Førdehuset.

Førdehuset was when built in the 1970s the largest community, and multipurpose culture house in Europe, with facilities ranging from theatre and weaving, to soccer fields, swimming pools, and library. These multipurpose houses were typical for the cultural development in Europe at the time, where culture was supposed to become a common good, something that everyone could easily access, and where the accessibility was one of its main goals. In the countryside of Norway, where distances are larger, and the population sparser, these houses became a place to gather, to meet, to let a child find there ways between bricks and steel to activities as varied as fotball and painting. «Eg trudde me var saman om/i dette» shows this interloping narrative, by its never-ending strands of history, where every singular piece is connected to each other and only together it can create this complex nexus of thought and visual impression. Visually it also resembles gymnastic rings, a necklace, and even a reproductive organ, these wide reaching ideas, thoughts, and wanderings are all placed within the work, as it is a way to shine a light on the multitude of ways one can explore life, and perhaps, it began in a building just like Førdehuset, when you quit fotball and read Maurice?

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In addition to the work I was also asked to present a short talk on the idea of cultural production in the periferi versus the city, and it became a talk on the ideas of these multipurpose houses, and the meaning it can have for a further developing, and opening up of children, youth, adults lives.

(The recording is only in Norwegian, recorded on an I-phone with the sound quality that gives)