Earth, Wind, Fire, Water

Nordic Contemporary Crafts
44th edition of Tendenser Biennial 
Galleri F 15, Jeløy, Moss, Norway

Hildur Bjarnadóttir (IS), Ebba Bohlin (SE), Fellesskapsprosjektet å Fortette Byen (Sápmi/NO), Alma Heikkilä (FI), Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen (NO/FI), Guðjón Ketilsson (IS), Kasper Kjeldgaard (DK), Stian Korntved Ruud (NO), Ivana Králíková (CZ/SE), Valentin Manz (DE/NO), Britta Marakatt-Labba (Sápmi/SE), Pekka Paikkari (FI), Louise Sidelmann (DK), Brynjar Sigurðarson & Veronika Sedlmair (IS/DE), Ida Wieth (DK), Hedvig Winge (NO) and Charlotta Östlund (SE/FI).

Curated by Randi Grov Berger (NO).

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water - Nordic Contemporary Crafts is the 44th edition of the exhibition series Tendenser (Tendencies) at Galleri F 15 in Moss, Norway. For nearly fifty years, Tendenser has been one of the leading platforms for contemporary craft in the Nordic region. First presented in 1971 as an annual exhibition highlighting Norwegian practitioners, Tendenser has since expanded to a biennial format, incorporating trends from across the Nordic countries.

This year’s exhibition brings together seventeen artists and artist groups from the Nordic countries who uses their craft, their tools, and their deep material knowledge to address pending environmental issues. Acknowledging the powerful interdependence between humankind and often overlooked materials and organisms, many of the presented artworks evoke the fragility and transiency of our earthly existence by way of components that alter, dry up, or decay throughout the exhibition period. Others reflect holistic ecological practices, implementing material collaborations to connect with the surrounding environment, with a piece of land, or with the material itself. The artists featured in Earth, Wind, Fire, Water each explore the potential of materials and the elements to co-author artistic works; to participate in and at times control the process and outcome. Encompassing biology, geology, and cosmology, their practices confront a longing for a deeper connection to the earth.

We live in a time marked by enormous changes in technology and science, while the environmental crisis has precipitated urgent discussions concerning our relationship to our immediate material world. Nordic contemporary crafts are taking an active part in this philosophical discourse, with a wide range of practices and a diversity of approaches and expressions. The exhibition offers different ways to think about, with, and through craft. Many of the craftspeople featured in the 44th edition of Tendenser identify with additional designations; designer, visual artist, art psychotherapist, photographer, storyteller, architect, gardener. They express their ideas through a multiplicity of forms; from embroidery to photography, from ceramics to video, from paintings to text, from sculptures in wood, stone, glass, and metal to installations created with a wide range of organic and synthetic materials.

The exhibition fills both floors and reception area, takes use of the F 15 Verksted with workshops you can participate in, and continues with outdoor pieces in Reierstranda, and on the building’s façade. Additionally we warmly welcome you to a 2-day craft theory seminar and publication launch on 2-3 June 2020 (NB! moved online due to the Covid-19 situation).

The exhibition is in collaboration with the Nordic Network of Crafts Associations, and has received support from the Nordic Cultural Fund and Nordic Culture Contact.