Iter Subterraneum

Bergen Kunsthall proudly presents the group exhibition Iter Subterraneum with works by Mira Adoumier, Cecilia Fiona, Robert Gabris, Ingela Ihrman, Wangechi Mutu, Nour Ouayda, Ovartaci, Naomi Rincón-Gallardo, Kaare Ruud and Anicka Yi.

The exhibition Iter Subterraneum draws inspiration from the Danish-Norwegian writer Ludvig Holberg’s novel Niels Klim's Underground Travels (1741), a work often cited as the Nordic region's first science fiction novel.

Through the story of a man who falls through a hole in Mount Fløyen in Bergen and discovers a planet governed by sentient trees, Enlightenment faith in science is blended with fantasy and satire. In Holberg’s novel, the trees possess both morality and reason, and today the story can be read as an early study of ecological and utopian thought—a world where growth, branching, and coexistence challenge humanity’s notion of superiority.

The exhibition title refers to Holberg’s original Latin title and points to a journey unfolding underground, through spaces often associated with the hidden and the unconscious. In Holberg’s writing, belief in the progress of knowledge coexists with a fundamental doubt about humanity's place in the natural order. The exhibition re-reads this legacy, in which the thinking trees become an image of other forms of sensing and reasoning, where the subterranean opens up space for thinking with nature, rather than about it.

The artists’ works centre on plant intelligence, speculative fiction, utopian thinking, and ecological reflection. Several artists approach these questions from perspectives that shift the gaze from the human to life forms and narratives that have been overlooked, forgotten, or hidden. As in Holberg’s novel, the exhibition also attends to the non-conforming—to bodies, desires, and existences that defy categorisation. The mythical and the vegetal merge as forms of life that transgress norms, growing sideways rather than upwards.

Through sculpture, film, collage, and performance, the ten participating artists imagine alliances among plants, fungi, insects, and human bodies—opening a space for utopian thinking as a movement rather than a destination. Iter Subterraneum reflects on the relationship among nature, knowledge, and imagination, inviting the audience to listen to what grows and moves outside the human centre.

As part of the exhibition, Iter Subterraneum also extends into an additional gallery space and the bookshop, through a collaboration with the University of Bergen Library. Here, a selection of the library’s historical editions of Ludvig Holberg’s Niels Klim's Underground Travels is displayed—from the original Latin edition Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum (1741) to later translations in Danish, Norwegian, and other languages.

This part of the exhibition brings together illustrations and graphic interpretations that have shaped Holberg’s subterranean universe over time. Among these are illustrations by Nicolai Abildgaard and Johan Friedrich Clemens, presented in collaboration with the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK).

Extending this historical perspective, the Danish-Norwegian animated film Journey to the Planet Nazar (1983), directed by Inni Karine Melbye, is shown alongside the Nazar series by the speculative fiction duo Bing & Bringsværd, which takes the planet Nazar as its starting point and continues Holberg’s underground journey in a modern, speculative narrative.

Events
Thematic Dinner: A gastronomic journey through the secret life of plants / Underland (2025) film screening: In collaboration with Bergen International Film Festival / Infinite Pollination by Cecilia Fiona performance: In collaboration with Borealis / Plattform Dr. Giovanni Aloi: Online / Talk & Screening with Qi Tan: In collaboration with Northing / Holberg and his Fantastic World talk: In collaboration with LitFest Bergen. (Litteraturhuset i Bergen, Østre Skostredet 5, 5017 Bergen) / Plattform Artist Talks: Mira Adoumier, Robert Gabris & Cecilia Fiona / Opening: Free.

With support from The Bergesen Foundation og H. Westfal-Larsen og Hustru Anna Westfal-Larsen's Almennyttige Fond. Historical presentation in collaboration with the University of Bergen Library. Thanks to: Bergen International Film Festival, Borealis — a festival for experimental music, LitfestBergen, SMK — National Gallery of Denmark, Northing, Victoria Miro, Uppsala konstmuseum, Esther Schipper, and Museum Ovartaci.