Pride Art named Olsok Artist of the Year at Stiklestad National Cultural Center. OPEN CALL for an exhibition about queer faith and spirituality, deadline 10/4.
Pride Art joins established artists such as Håkon Bleken, Franz Widerberg, Inger Sitter, Magne Furuholmen and Finn Graff when they are now announced as this year's Olsok artist. Olsokdagene at Stiklestad is an annual festival that kicks off July 26 - August 31, where the Game of Saint Olav is the highlight. The festival also offers music experiences and art, and on the occasion of Skeivt kulturår, this year's festival will be more skewed than normal. The theme for this year's Olsok Days is FREE and that is precisely why the festival has brought in the art and activist collective Pride Art as festival artists.
An important reason for the choice of theme is Skeivt kulturår, ie the large, national celebration that in 2022 it will be 50 years since the decriminalization of homosexuality in Norway. - We at SNK are concerned with contributing to the Gay Culture Year creating positive change for gay people in Norway, and are incredibly happy that Pride Art agreed to become this year's olso artist. Together, we will develop a magnificent exhibition that makes even more people feel at home at Stiklestad, says Maria Veie Sandvik, SNK's project manager for the Olsok exhibition 2022.
Do not go to Oslo to "get out of the closet"
- I am concerned that the districts should also be a good place to grow up for queers, that you do not have to go to Oslo to be able to "get out of the closet". The museums have traditionally given most space to stories about well-adult heterosexual men with power, and at Stiklestad it is extra important to deal with this. In order for the museums to be meeting places "where stories meet", I will work to make queer stories visible, Maria Veie continues
Skewed spirituality
- It is a great honor to receive this assignment, says Pride Art leader Frederick Lucius Nathanael. Religious, spiritual and existential themes in queer art have traditionally been associated with rebellion and criticism of institutionalized religion. Persecution, oppression and hatred, both historically and today, have largely been organized and nurtured by religious actors. But in recent years, we at Pride Art have seen a marked shift in that queer artists increasingly express positive expressions of the spirituality and faith in their art. People who break with norms for gender and sexuality, like everyone else, need personal spirituality and community of faith for comfort and meaning, even though we have often lacked access and been rejected by religious communities, Frederick adds.
Call for artists
The Olsok exhibition 2022 will be a group exhibition and the process of filling the project with artistic content is well underway. - The unique and successful thing in our way of ensuring real diversity is to challenge traditional criteria for what is good and bad art. Art becomes skewed when it tries to create an open, exploratory space that plays with, protests against, challenges and opens up the read and adopted. We are excited about what comes out now that our open call has been sent out across Pride Arts and SNK's network !, says Nathanael in Pride Art. Members of Pride Art can apply to exhibit with a deadline of April 10 via this link: https://www.deltager.no/event/OLSOKUTSTILLINGEN2022
Great media interest
The media is already showing a great deal of interest in the exhibition and we look forward to more articles in the future about the exhibition and participating artists. Follow the news on our website and in our social media to stay up to date.
Here is the leader of today's morning broadcast on NRK (rewind to 01:55:00): https://tv.nrk.no/…/nyhet…/202203/NNFA05032122/avspiller
