Source: Oslo municipality’s art collection
23.11.2022
Excerpt
The entire SAMMENomGATA project was announced with an open competition for a project on Schous plass. It was a signal to be open, and get many people involved. And it was a great submission, with many good participants in the competition.
This start was planned as a collaboration with Deichman Grünerløkka about Schou’s place as a place, and the situation with the connection to the library. There, a group called the Body Cartography Project won. They come from the dance field and have worked internationally for many years, and I think it was interesting to bring contemporary dance into such a temporary contemporary art situation. Precisely because I find that this field has been quite potent in relation to temporary art. Perhaps in a way that has been lacking a little in the visual arts. It went on for a couple of months and had a very large catchment area. They worked on location and worked directly with the public. The work “Togethering” consisted of planned performances, brought in external collaborators and held courses. There was very high activity over two months. Both inside the library and in the area outside. Performance and workshops over a period of five weeks. “Togethering” was also part of Oslo culture night.
“Radical togetherness” is a term Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad, who are the artistic directors of the Body Cartography Project, talk about and which I find interesting and which I have also related to quite a bit. Their focus was very concrete on place, on movement, on body, interaction, the mental space that arises. They put all this in the term radical togetherness; to be together, I think it takes up something similar to the challenges you face in temporary art and in the public eye.
Photo: Trond A. Isaksen
