Oslo Biennial has announced its home for the inaugural edition. Located in the historical centre of Oslo, the building will act as Oslo Biennial First Edition’s nerve-centre, housing a visitor centre and several of the Biennial’s public activities and administrative offices.
Oslo Biennial—the City’s first art Biennial in public space—is curated by Eva González-Sancho and Per Gunnar Eeg-Tverbakk. The Biennial will devote a large part of the building to 60 artist’s studios made available to Oslo-based artists on subsidized leases from the City of Oslo. Additionally, the Biennial will initiate its own, national and international visiting artists program. This reflects a key ambition of the Biennial: to embrace and foster art in-the-making within the context of Oslo’s existing art scene.
By establishing the building at Myntgata 2 as a welcoming and open site for artistic thinking and action, the Biennial will connect directly with the dynamics and concerns of the city’s vibrant artistic community. At this new home, the Biennial’s organisational program and the city’s art milieu will share the same address, creating the potential for interaction in both planned ways and through chance meetings.
As the vice mayor for Culture, Sport and Volunteering, Rina Mariann Hansen says: “Art in the city is more than the display of sculptures and artefacts. The presence of artists and related milieus, and the exchange of ideas and knowledge are essential elements that construct the specific cultural and intellectual identity of a city. The ideation that underpins art production—as stated by the concept of the Biennial’s First Edition—needs to occupy a free, open space. The city must therefore provide spaces and settings for artistic ideation and development, by providing a unique art environment in the heart of Oslo.”
Oslo Biennial First Edition invites you to the preview of the Biennial house at Myntgata 2 on June 22 from 6pm.
Oslo-based artists are invited to request details of the studios to be leased by the City, along with the terms and conditions.
The Oslo Biennial visiting artist program is part of the Biennial and will function by invitation.
Further information on Oslo Biennial First Edition, which is set to open in May 2019, will be made available in the coming months.
Oslo Biennial First Edition has been initiated and is owned by the City of Oslo.
For further enquiries: info [at] oslobiennial.no
