18.00 - Welcome by Kunstnernes Hus

18.05 - Film screening:

Muségata 2 (2022, Kristin Tårnes, 30 min)
The film takes us on a journey through walls and time in a historic building: Muségata 2 in Tromsø. Originally built for the Tromsø museum in 1894, today it is the home of Tromsø kunstforening as well as art studios in the attic. Like a ghost, we move though the building's many rooms, glimpsing into its history through people and fragments of their conversations, but also from the building itself and all that resides in it.

Kunstmuseet (2021, Astrup & Bordorff, 37 min)
Through their film Kunstmuseet the artist duo Astrup & Bordorff went behind the scenes at the National Gallery of Denmark and created a melancholic portrayal of Denmark's art museum in 2021. The work is based on old letters, historical documents in the museum's archives, audience surveys, branding strategies, and, last but not least, conversations with the employees. The result is what the artists themselves call a film cabaret, where anecdotes, artistic considerations and cultural policy expressions are mixed together in a humorous musical narrative with a critical edge.

Clip from Birgitte Sigmundstad's upcoming film about the Norwegian National Museum.
Sigmundstad on the film: "In the fall of 2016, I began following the construction of the new National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo. I had two different motivations for making the film. One, I was particularly interested in museum's collection. How does a national museum build its collection, and which parts will be on view in the new building? Secondly I was interested in the larger questions and politics behind the merging of three institutions into one. What kind of thought process is behind the merger, who will the museum be for and what will it include? Cinematographer Line Lyngstadaas and I followed the activities on the construction site, the planning and preparing for six years, until the opening in the fall of 2022."

Approx. 19.20 - A conversation with Kristin Tårnes, Birgitte Sigmundstad and the Artistic Director at Kunstnernes Hus, Sarah Lookofsky.

19.50 - Program ends.

The program is curated by Kunstnernes Hus Kino and supported by the North Norwegian Film Institute and Fond for lyd og bilde in collaboration with Filmbyrået Jack, distributor of Muségata 2.

Kristin Tårnes (b. 1985) is a visual artist based in Tromsø. Tårnes has a Master's in visual art from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art. She primarily works with site-specific projects and narrative films, with Muségata 2 being her film project so far. Her works have been shown at places like the North Norwegian Art Centre, RAM galleri, Kunsthall Stavanger, Havremagasinet (SE), Tromsø kunstforening and the The National Museum (NO).

Kirsten Astrup (b. 1983) and Maria Bordorff (b. 1988) are known for their critical and humorous film cabarets, which take a hard look at the privatization of the Danish welfare state. They recently had a solo exhibition at the The National Gallery of Denmark, and their works have been exhibited at Arken Museum of Modern Art, Holstebro Kunstmuseum and the Munch Museum.

Birgitte Sigmundstad (b. 1969) is an Oslo based visual artist, with a degree from Surrey Institute of Art & Design in England. Sigmundstad's films are essayistic and often explore art, art history or historical events. Another reoccurring theme in Sigmundstad's work is how art is used ideologically and as a part of nation building, such as in her film Kunst og ukunst (2020). Sigmundstad's filmography also includes works such as Et godt motiv (2012), Brevet til Kulturministeren and Hva vi snakker om når vi snakker om krigen (2021).

Sarah Lookofsky (f. 1978) is the new Artistic Director of Kunstnernes Hus. She has previous worked at the larger museums such as Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.