Winter Solstice 2016
When the day is at its shortest and the night its longest, it’s time to visit the Winter Solstice Night Exhibition. The 2016 edition was the 5th anniversary event taking place from dusk to dawn between the 17th to 18th of December in Oslo.
Winter Solstice is a one night exhibition and cultural event happening in Oslo. It was initiated by the artist Hanan Benammar and is realized together with Vandaler Forening’s team, enthusiasts from the experimental art scene and volunteers. Winter Solstice is a roaming event, every year taking place in a different location. The 2016 edition was held in an empty, industrial building, gathering more than 70 artists and several hundred visitors. According to Hanan Benammar there are only three rules for the event. First rule: it is free and open for everyone. Second rule: there is free food. Third rule: It has to last throughout the whole night until sunrise.
For the second year PNEK (Production Network for Electronic Art, Norway) gave the From Dusk till Dawn PNEK Art Prize - an award that is a collaboration between Vandaler Forening and PNEK, aiming to support and encourage experimental practices and artistic collaborations. This year the prize was given to two winners: WAAAHAWAD and Kirsty Kross.
www.vandalerforening.org
BLUE CHRISTMAS CAROL
KIRSTY KROSS
One of the biggest surprises of the Winter Solstice 2016 was Kirsty Kross’s performance Blue Christmas Carol. Kirsty performed in a tiny shower cubicle wearing a fish costume and high heels while showering and playing a flute. Read about the artist and her performances in an interview on pages 78-79.
www.kirstykross.com
Performance by Karoline Aamås, Mari Stoknes and Love Kjellssona
Mari Stoknes is a performance artist that combines the traditional discipline of hair hanging with dance and her aerial skills. Karoline Aamås is a Norwegian rope artist who also does hair-suspension. Love Kjellssona is a sound artist working with conceptual art, performance and visuals.
www.lovekjellsson.se
www.karolineaamaas.com
www.maristoknes.weebly.com
Press by Garry Williams
Garry Williams is an Oslo based artist, working with installation and performance art. At Winter Solstice 2016 Williams performed Press. This work is about the traditional task for household servants in the UK to iron newspapers - in order to seal the ink onto the pages and ensure the clean hands of the reader. During the performance the artist re-staged this tradition, carefully ironing the original newspapers published in the UK on the 12th of September, 2001.
Williams was also part of the Kunst Vardo performance program in 2017, where he performed Woo, offering his body as a performance site for the dancer Florencia Guerberof. He was leading her through an improvised route around the luxurious Barcode and Sørenga districts of Oslo.
www.garry-williams.com
Europ Europ
Europ Europ is an Oslo based experimental sound artist group that started as an improvisation project and has been active since 1996. The members of Europ Europ are Mr. Europ - vocals, noise, tape samples, Mr. Europ - organ, drum machine and Ms. Europ - harp. They play organic minimal electronics in a combination with organ and harp.
www.europeurop.com
Agnes Hvizdalek
“Agnes Hvizdalek is an improvisational musician originating from Vienna’s experimental music scene and has been based in Oslo since 2008. From an early age, she has dedicated her life to new music and her fascination with the human voice. She celebrates this in her abstract vocal music, for which she has received international acclaim. Always exploring new horizons, Hvizdalek has engaged in numerous cross-disciplinary collaborations merging voice and visual and performance art, dance, theatre, film, writing.”
www.agneshvizdalek.at
Alexander Rishaug
“Alexander Rishaug is an Oslo based sound artist, producer and musician. His sound is melodic, melancholic and often quiet. Rishaug explores tones and textures through the use of electronics, field recordings, toys or simply just playing around with an instrument. Rishaug combines the intimate knowledge of his musical equipment with the curiousness of an amateur.”
www.arishaug.com
WAAAHAWAD
(Nora Fiona Eriksen & Fredrik Falk)
One of the two winners of this years From Dusk till Dawn PNEK Art Prize was WAAAHAWAD - We Are All Alone Here And We Are Dead.
WAAAHAWAD is an experimental duo established in 2014, consisting of Oslo based sound artists Nora Fiona Eriksen and Fredrik Falk. At the Winter Solstice 2016 they performed Winter Wear vol2. For the performance the duo had invited visual artist Peter Horneland to contribute with live visuals.
/ Photos: Zane Cerpina, EE, 2017
