Alt Går Bra
Contemporary art collective duo
Strandamalerne
UPCOMING: STRANDMALERNE BOOK
Alt Går Bra will publish the first book dedicated to the Strandamalere, Strandamalerne, Norges mest populære malerier, with the
publishing house Museumsforlaget in December 2024. A 300 page volume edited by Alt Går Bra, the book sheds light on the Strandamalere
phenomenon and Alt Går Bra's journey of discovery. The publication features newly produced research by scholars, curators, and writers,
together with photographs and material from Alt Går Bra's Strandamalere Archive. Book contributors include University of Bergen Tonje Haugland
Sørensen and Hans Marius Hansteen, Sorbonne University Frédérique Toudoire-Surlapierre and Alessandra Ballotti, curators Geir Haraldseth
(Nasjonalmuseet the National Museum of Norway) and Frode Sandvik (KODE Bergen Art Museum), art critic Susanne Christensen (Kunstkritikk),
fiction writer Sandra Lillebø, Rutgers University Emeritus Professor Charles Russell (re-print of his article "Finding a Place for the
Self-Taught in the Art World(s)"), and an introduction and article by Alt Går Bra.
Please visit Museumsforlaget website for a
book preview and pre-orders.
Book launches in Bergen on December 11th 2024, 16:00-18:00 at KODE Museum and in Oslo on December 14th 2024, 16:00-18:00 at
Kunstnernes Hus.
STRANDAMALERE, RURAL AND SELF-TAUGHT PAINTERS FROM NORWAY
Worldwide, Norway is known for its landscapes; less familiar is the Norwegian people’s relationship to nature. Rather than focusing on museal depictions of the landscape, our project Strandamalerne, Self-taught Painters from Norway looks at visions from the margins. During the Postwar period until the 1970s, a dozen families of farmers in the rural site of Stranda in western Norway produced half a million paintings in two decades (1950-60s)--an unstudied phenomenon without ready-available sources. These self-declared artists gave a visual form to the nature that surrounded them. In their depictions, nature is home and inhabiting it is an act of balance: mountains, fjords, trees, little cabins, small fishing boats. Their iconic canvases decorated nearly every Norwegian home. We disassemble these paintings, overlooked by art and academic institutions, to investigate how those inside the landscape and outside the artworld depicted nature as home.
Since 2019, we have carried out research on the Strandamalere through oral history interviews, exhibitions, discursive events, performances, writing, and an embroidery contest, among others.
For our 2024 solo exhibition Kunst i dei tusen heimar: Strandamalerne at Sogn og Fjordane Art Museum in Førde, we produced over 50 new artworks for a space of nearly 500 sqm. on three floors of the museum. Artworks included two large installations, Mona Lisa 1952, a 4x6x2m free reconstruction of a Louvre Museum display for Mona Lisa, and Heng på, an installation of growing size, showing some 200 Strandamalere paintings lent by the public.
We have also produced performances in the public space, including Strandaparade, with 12 large faner (banners). Inspired by Augusto Boal's "Invisible Theater," we developed a series of performances through landscapes and cityscapes, and a Strandabroderi contest, inviting the public to embroider a Strandamalere motif--further information about Strandabroderi in Norwegian: www.altgarbra.org/broderi.
Co-organized with the Contemporary Aesthetics Research Group at the University of Bergen, a 3-day scholartistic seminar with professors and curators discussed Alt Går Bra's artistic practice with the Strandamalere Project as a case study.
EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS (SELECTED):
- Book launch Strandamalerne, Norges mest populære malerier, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, December 14th 2024
- Book launch Strandamalerne, Norges mest populære malerier, KODE Museum, Bergen, December 11th 2024
- Faneparade (parade with banners), Førdefestivalen, Førde, 2024
- Artists talk, Førdekonferansen, Førde, 2024
- Guided exhibition tour by the artists, Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum, Førde, July, 2024
- Faneparade (parade with banners), participation in the national holiday parade 17.mai, Bergen, May, 2024
- Seminar co-organized with the Contemporary Aesthetics Research Group at the University of Bergen, Bergen Assembly Offices, Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum, Bergen-Førde, 8-10th May, 2024
- Exhibition and events, Kunst i dei tusen heimar: Strandamalerne, Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum, Alt Går Bra Lokale, Førde, March-August, 2024
- Artists talk, University of Bergen's Fagkritisk dag, Department of Art History, 2024
- Performances in the public space in collaboration with DNT (National Hikers Association), Invisible Theater, Førde, 2024
- Performances in the public space, Invisible Theater, Bergen, 2023-4
- National embroidery contest, Strandabroderi Utfordring (www.altgarbra.org/broderi), 2023-4
- Exhibition and events, Kunst i de tusen hjem: Strandamalerne, Lindåstunet, Lindås, May-August, 2023
- Hosted talk, Jan Holsen, the Last Strandamaler, Alt Går Bra Lokale, Bergen, August, 2023
- Exhibition and events, Kunst i de tusen hjem: Strandamalerne, Alt Går Bra Lokale, Bergen, June-August, 2023
- Exhibition and events, Kunst i de tusen hjem, Alt Går Bra Lokale, Bergen, June-August, 2020
RADIO AND TELEVISION COVERAGE:
Alt Går Bra's Strandamalare Project was featured on the legendary national television program "Norge Rundt" in 2023 and 2024, as well as on the regional radio and television news on the national network NRK. The online television art channel KUNZT dedicated an episode to Alt Går Bra's exhibition at SFKM.
- Engja Sigurdsen, Silje. “Strandamalerne og bonden som på legendarisk vis hacket kunstverdenen.” KUNZT online-TV, episode 329, KUNZT, May 16, 2024.
watch (Norwegian)
- “Norge Rundt." Oddmund Haugen. National Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, April 19, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “Dagsrevyen/NRK Vestlandrevyen.” Jan Børge Leirvik. Vestland Region Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 21, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “Sogn og Fjordane i dag.” Solveig Svarstad, Raymond Lidal, Fredrik Johan Helland. Vestland Region Radio NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 21, 2024. (live radio and online)
listen (Norwegian)
- “Dagsrevyen/NRK Vestlandrevyen.” Jan Børge Leirvik. Vestland Region Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 20, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
DOCUMENTATION
Raw images from 2024 can be found on Flickr
Video works for this project can be viewed on Youtube:
SUPPORT:
The regional body Vestland Fylkeskommune funded research for this project with a three-year grant. The Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd supported this project with grants from both the Visual Arts and the Cultural Heritage programs in 2023. Two KORO Public Art Norway grants sponsored Invisible Theater performance, the Strandabroderi project, and the Strandaparade. The Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd, Fritt Ord Foundation, the regional body Vestland Fylkeskommune, the Bergen Municipality Bergen Kommune, and Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum provided support for the Strandamalere book.
Acanthus
In the Acanthus Project, we trace the diasporic movements of a plant deemed a weed. We explore the acanthus germinating in ornaments
and paintings—from Corinthian columns in Ancient Greece to Middle Eastern arabesques and Norwegian rosemaling—unfolding into the hybridity of
grotesques, where plants, animals, and humans intertwine and metamorphose into each other.
ACANTHUS ENTANGLEMENTS
Our upcoming solo exhibition Acanthus Entanglements at Kristiansand Kunsthall focuses on the acanthus in the form of grotesques.
The acanthus weed bends, folds, copulates, and morphs into phantasmagoric beings, part human, part animal, part thing. At once plant, scroll,
critter, machine, the acanthus arises as a holobiont, a versatile host for a multiplicity of species, turning its living, moving
forms into a testimony to kinship across earthly and wondrous beings. Echoing its ancient origins, Gilles Deleuze once asked what a weed
was doing in the Greek temples.
Out of the grottoes, dug out from the ancestral soil of antiquity, the acanthus weed crept onto walls in hallucinatory contortions, as
renaissance grotesques. Decentering and polymorphic, acanthus grotesques swirl along those edges that Jacques Derrida framed as parerga,
thriving in the folds of the margins.
With care, terrific resilience and in profound understanding of the mutual entanglement of all species, the acanthus engulfs our uncertainty
and apprehension for the future, emerging as a vehicle for transformative world-picturing. In our exhibition we critically explore grotesques
as entities unfolding with the more-than-human world, aiming to intervene with dominant discourses.
Sound piece Acanthus par Deleuze (2024) in collaboration with artifical intelligence, with the voice of Gilles Deleuze from his Lecture 5,
Painting and the Question of Concepts
MAPPING ACANTHUS
Instantiations of our Acanthus Project have taken the shape of exhibitions, city walks, talks, and our ongoing
online database, mapping acanthus ornaments on the facades of over 400 buildings in the city of Bergen. The Bergen City Archive Byarkiv has permanently
archived our database with its nearly 4,000 photographs documenting the ornaments in their architectural settings.
EXHIBITIONS:
- Solo exhibition, Acanthus Entanglements, Kristiansand Kunsthall, Kristiansand, January 25th - March 23rd 2025
- Solo exhibition, Acanthus, Alt Går Bra Lokale, Bergen, November-December 2020
OTHER INSTANTIATIONS (SELECTED):
- Online database www.akantus.no
- City walks through 2020, Bergen
- Talk, Piksel Festival, Bergen, November 20th, 2020
- Talk, Kunsthall 3.14, Bergen, March 7th, 2020
- Talk, Norwegian Institute in Rome, February 25th, 2020
- Video produced by Bergen City Council Akantus Ekspedisjon, 1 min., Norwegian, 2020 link to video
SUPPORT:
Project supported by the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd (Heritage and Visual Arts programs), Vestland County, Bergen City Council, Production Funds from Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond (BKH), and the City of Bergen 400-year Anniversary Fund.
Nobody lives everywhere
Our project Nobody lives everywhere; everybody lives somewhere focuses on the feral and researches new modes of attention, emerging amidst planetary crises and the digitalization of life.
As anthropologist Anna Tsing puts it, “The term “feral” forces attention to what was once hidden in the gap between “wild” and “domestic.”... Without the concept of the feral, it is too easy
to fall into a dichotomy that only includes the wild and the domestic.”
Our interest in this material departs from our own experiences with the feral in our daily interactions with feral pigeons in urban contexts
and with “wild” boars in the forest. Perceived as plagues in most environments, both species have been increasingly demonized, namely due to
their interactions with humans and their infrastructures.
Our theoretical framework for this project brings together recent works by Anna Tsing (Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene) and art historian Claire Bishop (Disordered Attention).
Paraphrasing Donna Haraway, Nobody lives everywhere; everybody lives somewhere aims to deepen our understanding of fragmented forms of attention
to both confront environmental issues and make art relevant to the contemporary moment.
We seek to engage scholars and the public to generate new insights into contemporary art’s evolving discourse,
with the ambition of contributing to the ongoing decolonization of both art and attention.
IMPLEMENTATION:
The project is produced by North Norwegian Art Centre in collaboration with the Academy of Arts at the University of Tromsø The Artic University.
The exhibition is curated by Adriana Alves from the North Norwegian Art Centre
and the seminar is organized in collaboration with Professor Hanne Hammer Stien from the University of Tromsø.
EXHIBITION AND EVENTS:
- Exhibition, Nobody lives everywhere; everybody lives somewhere, Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter, Svolvær, April 5th-May 25th, 2025
- Seminar, University of Tromsø, Date TBC, 2025
SUPPORT:
Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond
Den Norske Idealstaten
Alt Går Bra produced Den Norske Idealstaten through 2017-2022 across Norway. Thirty-one artworks resulting from this project are in the permanent collection of Nasjonalmuseet, the National Museum of Norway.
In conversation with communities, Den Norske Idealstaten produced collective reflections on our shared future. In collaboration with art centers and institutions, we engaged individuals and organizations at libraries, community centers, folkets hus, youth clubs, elderly cafes, unions, bars, factories, schools, gyms, universities, and so forth. Conversations took the shape of tête-à-tête exchanges, individual and group surveys, round table discussions, workshops, assemblies, and theatrical or performative actions.
Undoing the traditional principle of commissions, we produced material artwork rendering the ideas of the anonymous individuals and groups who participated in the conversations. We gave them form by deploying the communal formats and symbols of coats of arms and fane or banners.
We are currently working on the book, Den Norske Idealstaten, The Voice of a Collective, which recaptures some of the moments and processes of this project.
.
EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED):
For further information and documentation, see Final Report.
- Group exhibition, Jeg kaller det kunst, Nasjonalmuseet the National Museum of Norway, Oslo, June-September 2022
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Skiens Kunstforening, Skien, March-April, 2022
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Trondhjems Kunstforening, Trondheim, May-June, 2022
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Sandefjord Kunstforening, Sandefjord, August-September, 2021
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Alta Kunstforening, Alta, May-June, 2021
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Pikene på broen Terminal B, Kirkenes, August-September, 2018
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, LevArt, Levanger, June-July, 2018
- Solo exhibition, Den Norske Idealstaten, Kunsthall 3.14 co-produced by BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen, February, 2018
INSTANTIATIONS (SELECTED):
For further information and documentation, see Final Report.
- Artists talk, Oseana Kunst og Kultursenter, Os, September 2020
- Survey, Bergen Media City, Bergen, September 2020
- Survey, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, September 2020
- Survey, Lampemannen Bar, Bergen, September 2020
- Artists talk, Bergen International Literary Festival, Litteraturhuset, Bergen, February 2020
- Reading sessions, Ålvik School, Ålvik, January 2019
- Artists talk, Elderly Cafe Pensjonistforeningen, Ålvik, January 2019
- Survey, Steel Plant Elkem Bjølvefossen, Ålvik, January 2019
- Surveys touring public libraries in Kristiansand, Grimstad, Arendal, Kragerø, Porsgrunn, Skien, Tønsberg, Levanger, Bergen, September-December 2018
- Surveys, Sports Center Kirkenes Atletklubb, Kirkenes, September 2018
- Artists talk and survey, Elderly Cafe Frivillighetssentralen Eldrekafé, Kirkenes, August 2018
- School of Rhetoric and Reading Groups, High School Kirkenes VGS Skole and Pikene på broen’s Terminal B, Kirkenes, August 2018
- Assemblies, LevArt, Levanger, September 2018
- Artists talk, Youth Club Levanger Ungdomsklubb, Levanger Ungdomshus, Levanger, April 2018
- Survey, Farmers Market Marsimartnan, Levanger, March 2018
- Artists talk, JILC (Justices, Images, Langues, Cultures) Seminar, Institut des Hautes Etudes sur la Justice, Paris, March 2018
- Performances co-produced by BIT Teatergarasjen, Kunsthall 3.14, Bergen, February 2018
- Classes to develop assembly structures for Den Norske Idealstaten in Levanger at Paris La Villette Higher School of Architecture (ENSAPLV), January-May 2018, and Bergen School of Architecture (BAS), April 2018
- Artists talk, Kunsthuset Kabuso Art Center, Øystese, December 2017
- Publication presentation and group survey, In The Library Series, KMD Library (Department of Art, Design and Music, University of Bergen), Bergen, December 2017
- Paper presentation, Conférence Bien Juger: Du symbole aux actes, Institut des Études Avancées de Paris, Hôtel de Lauzun, Paris, November 2017
SUPPORT:
This project began with funding from KORO Public Art Norway. Funding was later granted by the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd (Visual Arts and Performing Arts programs). The library tour was funded by the Fritt Ord Foundation. Events in Bergen were funded by the Bergen City Council Open Doors Program. Work in the Vestland Region was funded by Vestland County. Financial support for the events in Levanger was provided by LevArt/PARK/Levanger City Council and for the performances at Kunsthall 3.14 by BIT Teatergarasjen.
Mimeograph
Ubiquitous throughout the 20th century, the mimeograph enabled countless poets, writers, and artists to print experimental works and publish radical literature—closely associated with political activism and clandestine publishing.
Since 2014, we have been reinventing mimeograph printing and publishing in the 21st century. We scrutinized mimeograph practices in our The Mimeograph, A Tool for Radical Art and Political Contestation, the first book devoted to this revolutionary printing technology. At an international conference we convened at the University of Westminster, we sketched out some of the core theoretical elements of mimeograph printing.
We use the mimeograph to make experimental prints and installations, and also run a mimeograph printing and publishing studio (see Writing and Publishing).
INSTANTIATIONS (SELECTED):
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KODE Bergen Art Museum purchases mimeograph installation Ytringsfrihet
, 2022
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Solo Exhibition, Alt Går Bra’s Mimeograph, Library of Nasjonalmuseet, the National Museum of Norway, Oslo, June-September 2022
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Solo Exhibition/Takeover, The Mimeograph, Voice to Speech, KODE Bergen Art Museum, Bergen, August 2021
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Talk and Exhibitor, Ent’revues Salon de la revue, Halle des Blancs Manteaux, Paris, 2019-2022
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Talk and Exhibitor, Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair), Frankfurt, October 2019
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Talk and Exhibitor, Miss Read Art Book Fair, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, May 2019
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Installation and talk, Le Grand Mètre, after Céjar, Friday Late, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, March 2019
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Convenor of International Conference, The Art of the Mimeograph, University of Westminster, London, February 7-8th 2019
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Oral History Walk, Gestetner Mimeograph Factory Headquarters’ site and surroundings, Tottenham, February 2019
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Workshop, Mimeograph and Activism for BAME LGBTQ+ Haringey Vanguard Project, Bruce Castle Museum, Tottenham, February 2019
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Solo Exhibition, The Art of the Mimeograph, Bruce Castle Museum, Tottenham, September 2018-February 2019
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Talk, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Tottenham, July 2018
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KORO Public Art Norway purchases Stencil (engraved stencil), 2017
BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS:
All the publications below were conceived, designed, handbound, printed on two-drum Gestetner mimeograph machines, and published by Alt Går Bra Publishing.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. T.R.D.I., A Selection of Poems by Ellisif Wessel. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2020.
Edition of 100, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 30 pages.
Poems by Finnmark poet and activist from the turn of the 19th century.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.4. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak Special Issue. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.3. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra and Magnus Michelsen, eds. Tout Va Bien. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2018.
Edition of 70, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 145 pages
Texts by guests of Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien lecture series.
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Alt Går Bra. Den Norske Idealstaten. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2018.
Edition of 15, hardcover, 15 x 10 cm., 12 pages
Den Norske Idealstaten’s drawings.
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Alt Går Bra. Den Norske Idealstaten. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2017.
Edition of 50, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 13 pages
Den Norske Idealstaten’s drawings.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. The Mimeograph, A Tool for Radical Art and Political Contestation. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 50, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 156 pages
First anthology dedicated to the mimeograph.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. A Moi le Plaire, a Toi le Faire. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 15, hardcover, handsewn, 21 x 29 cm., 94 pages
Texts and images revisit the performative work of Agnes Nedregård.
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Alt Går Bra. Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 30, hardcover, handsewn, 21 x 29 cm., 104 pages
Catalog for Alt Går Bra’s 2015 exhibition Victor Charlie, printed on US Army military forms.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.2. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2015.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.1. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2015.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
SUPPORT:
Project funded by Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, OCA Office of Contemporary Art Norway, Fritt Ord Foundation, Norwegian Visual Artists Fund (BKV), the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd (Visual Arts and Manuscript Development programs), the Bergen City Council Theory and Critique, Open Doors, and International programs.
Tout Va Bien
Since the inception of our collective in 2015, we have been convening the series of talks Tout Va Bien with international guests in Bergen to discuss art and politics. From 2015 until 2018, we held the events at Bergen Kunsthall. We have also regularly organized study groups in connection with the series.
In 2018, we published the book Tout Va Bien with articles by our guests to mark the third anniversary of the series.
In 2023, we will be launching a new online edition of the series.
EVENTS (SELECTED):
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Philosophers Frank Ruda and Agon Hamza, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, September 2017
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Vitaly Komar from artists duo Komar and Melamid, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, August 2017
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Philosopher Jacques Rancière, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, June 2017
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Curatorial duo Le Peuple Qui Manque and theater critique Julie Rongved Amundsen , Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, October 2016
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Philosopher Chantal Mouffe, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, July 2016
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Artist Thomas Hirschhorn, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, May 2016
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Art collective IRWIN/NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst), Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, December 2015
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Art collective Chto Delat, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, October 2015
SUPPORT:
Project funded by the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd (Visual Art program), Fritt Ord Foundation, and Bergen City Council.
Writing & Publishing
Much of our work fluctuates around our non-fictional writing in multiple formats, from thought maps to essays and experimental pieces.
Our need to print and publish our own texts led us to discover mimeograph printing and to establish the Alt Går Bra publishing house,
where we produce our own books and publications. We also write for journals, newspapers, and other outlets. Since 2021, we have been regular
contributors to the Norwegian quarterly journal for the visual arts, Billedkunst, where we have our own column "Art & Society."
We have been exhibitors and speakers at book fairs, including Miss Read in Berlin, Ent'revues Salon de la Revue in Paris, and Frankfurter
Buchmesse.
ARTICLES (SELECTED):
You can read most of the articles we write for Billedkunst on our Academia page
- Alt Går Bra. “Å kjøpe kunst som man kjøper spagetti.” Billedkunst, no. 1 (2024): 63-72.
- Alt Går Bra. “Verdens mest berømte maleri.” Billedkunst, no. 4 (2023): 73-84.
- Alt Går Bra. “Rykter, bobler og pressemeldinger: et formeksperiment.” Billedkunst, no. 3 (2023): 174-179.
- Alt Går Bra. “Vi ser ikke lenger naturen; vi ser bilder, om og om igjen.” Billedkunst, no. 2 (2023): 76-86. (printed and online)
read
- Alt Går Bra. “Kjære maleri, mikrofonen er din!” Billedkunst, no. 1 (2023): 53-62.
- Alt Går Bra. “Moralen av det hele.” Sølvåren Ibsen formidlingssenter, December 13, 2022. (online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “På denne dagen har vi tatt besittelse av hvert tredje skritt du tar.” Billedkunst, no. 4 (2022): 118-28.
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Alt Går Bra. “Jeg kaller det blomster.” Billedkunst, no. 3 (2022): 235-42.
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Alt Går Bra. “Å slett ikke ville følge gode råd.” Billedkunst, no. 2 (2022): 89-98.
Alt Går Bra. "Den norske idealstaten - et spørsmål om fremtidsvisjoner." Ny tid, June 1, 2022. (printed and online) read English: read
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Alt Går Bra. "Duens flukt." Morgenbladet, May 27, 2022. (printed and online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. "Irriterende våpenskjold og ordinære idealer." Subjekt, May 5, 2022. (online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “Fornuft, følelser og estetisk oppdragelse.” Billedkunst, no. 1 (2022): 75-82.
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Alt Går Bra. “La oss snakke om romantikk.” Billedkunst, no. 4 (2021): 140-48
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Alt Går Bra. “Kunsten som en ubestikkelig front for det menneskelige.” Billedkunst, no. 3 (2021): 249-255
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Alt Går Bra. “Kriminelle, genier og arbeid.” Billedkunst, no. 2 (2021): 125-131.
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Alt Går Bra (Agnes Nedregård). "Nå er far og sønn Nerdrum kommet til byen, så vi kan puste lettet ut." Bergens Tidende, April 25, 2021. (online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “Luftmotstand som oppdrift.” Billedkunst, no. 1 (2021): 125-131 (printed and online)
read
English: “Kant’s Dove.”read
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Alt Går Bra (Agnes Nedregård). "Å røre i Sylvis gryte." Bergens Tidende, March 3, 2021. (printed and online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “Vi kan forestille oss et samfunn uten kunst.” Billedkunst, no. 4 (2020): 52-7. English: “We Can Imagine a Society without Art.”
read
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Gilbert, Zanna and Alt Går Bra. “Regarder en arrière pour aller de l’avant.” Perspective, no. 2 (2019): 143-162.
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Alt Går Bra. “Le Grand Mètre - målebåndet som læremester.” Billedkunst, no. 3 (2019): 105-9.
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Alt Går Bra. “The Mimeograph, Technology, and Labor.”
First presented at The Art of the Mimeograph, a conference convened by Alt Går Bra at the University of Westminster, London 7-8/02/2019.
First published in Tout Va Bien, Alt Går Bra and Magnus Michelsen, eds. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2018.
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Alt Går Bra. "Hva er du redd for?" Bergens Tidende, December 12, 2018. (printed and online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “Hvis kommunen var drevet som en bedrift,” Innherred, September 11, 2018 (printed and online)
read
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Alt Går Bra. “Ytringsfrihet, teater og nett-troll.” Billedkunst, no. 2 (April 2018): 117-9.
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Alt Går Bra. “Hva er kunstens egenverdi?” Bergens Tidende, print and online versions, December 6, 2017.
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Alt Går Bra. “Den norske idealstaten.” Røyst, no. 8 (2017): 33-38.
BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS:
Alt Går Bra will publish the first book dedicated to the Strandamalere, Strandamalerne, Norges mest populære malerier, with the publishing house Museumsforlaget in December 2024. A 300 page volume edited by Alt Går Bra, the book sheds light on the Strandamalere phenomenon and Alt Går Bra's journey of discovery. The publication features newly produced research by scholars, curators, and writers, together with photographs and material from Alt Går Bra's Strandamalere Archive. Book contributors include University of Bergen Tonje Haugland Sørensen and Hans Marius Hansteen, Sorbonne University Frédérique Toudoire-Surlapierre and Alessandra Ballotti, curators Geir Haraldseth (Nasjonalmuseet the National Museum of Norway) and Frode Sandvik (KODE Bergen Art Museum), art critic Susanne Christensen (Kunstkritikk), fiction writer Sandra Lillebø, Rutgers University Emeritus Professor Charles Russell
(re-print of his article "Finding a Place for the Self-Taught in the Art World(s)"), and an introduction and article by Alt Går Bra.
Please visit Museumsforlaget website for a
book preview and pre-orders.
All the publications below were conceived, designed, handbound, printed on two-drum Gestetner mimeograph machines, and published by Alt Går Bra Publishing.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. T.R.D.I., A Selection of Poems by Ellisif Wessel. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2020.
Edition of 100, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 30 pages.
Poems by Finnmark poet and activist from the turn of the 19th century.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.4. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak Special Issue. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.3. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2019.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra and Magnus Michelsen, eds. Tout Va Bien. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2018.
Edition of 70, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 145 pages
Texts by guests of Alt Går Bra’s Tout Va Bien lecture series.
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Alt Går Bra. Den Norske Idealstaten. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2018.
Edition of 15, hardcover, 15 x 10 cm., 12 pages
Den Norske Idealstaten’s drawings.
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Alt Går Bra. Den Norske Idealstaten. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2017.
Edition of 50, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 13 pages
Den Norske Idealstaten’s drawings.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. The Mimeograph, A Tool for Radical Art and Political Contestation. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 50, softcover, stapled, 21 x 29 cm., 156 pages
First anthology dedicated to the mimeograph.
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Alt Går Bra, ed. A Moi le Plaire, a Toi le Faire. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 15, hardcover, handsewn, 21 x 29 cm., 94 pages
Texts and images revisit the performative work of Agnes Nedregård.
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Alt Går Bra. Victor Charlie Report: Post-exhibition Catalogue. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2016.
Edition of 30, hardcover, handsewn, 21 x 29 cm., 104 pages
Catalog for Alt Går Bra’s 2015 exhibition Victor Charlie, printed on US Army military forms.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.2. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2015.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
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Alt Går Bra. Trykksak N.1. Bergen: Alt Går Bra, 2015.
Edition of 100, softcover, unbound, 21 x 29 cm., 15 pages.
Experimental Sound & Video
Alt Går Bra creates experimental videos and sound pieces entangling the analog and the performative with artificial
intelligence and digital technologies.
OBJECT VIDEOS
In 2023, we envisioned a dispositif to produce videos performatively without post-production nor editing. These Object Videos result from
a combination of analog, performative, and digital procedures, exploring questions of technology.
Below, two of these video pieces from 2024, premiered at our Kunst i dei tusen heimar: Strandamalerne exhibition at Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum.
CARMINA FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE
In the sound project Carmina for the Anthropocene, we intertwine ecopoetry and myths with generative artificial intelligence through a
critical, decentering lens. By juxtaposing these elements, we attempt to dismantle archaic narratives of human mastery, reimagining voices in
speculative, post-technological fabulations.
Below, two test pieces from 2024:
ARTIFICIAL ASPEN
We are currently researching and planning a reenactment of the groundbreaking multimedia Aspen Magazine (1965-1971).
Exploring technological means from their time, Aspen invited artists and theorists to edit, design, and contribute to their issues, which incorporated
a range of media including vinyl records and Super-8mm films. We explore what an Aspen Magazine could be today, after half
a century of intense technological developments, including the recent burst of generative artificial intelligence. Our reenacment will keep true to its
model, producing the magazine as an actual object, combining analog with digital technologies. We aim to produce our Aspen reenactment in 2025.
Alt Går Bra Lokale
In September 2019, we moved into Alt Går Bra Lokale, which we officially opened in March 2020.
The space hosts our studio in Bergen, opening onto the street through large windows. At Alt Går Bra Lokale, we have a program of exhibitions, talks, and other events, including Kunst og Kaffe around waffles and coffee.
With the ambition of opening to the community, we conceived Alt Går Bra Lokale in conversation with urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, known for having coined the concept of “third place.”
Alt Går Bra Lokale is located in the scenic and residential neighborhood of Nordnes, stretching over a small peninsula off central Bergen. This is a 100 sq.m. space with an exhibition room in the front and a flexible area upstairs.
SUPPORT:
We have been running Alt Går Bra Lokale with partial financial support from the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd (Visual Arts program), Vestland County, and Bergen City Council.
Reviews/Press
Our work has been written about primarily in Norwegian newspapers and art publications, and featured on Norwegian national radio and television. An in-depth interview about our mimeograph practice has been published in Perspective, the French National Institute of Art History INHA—conducted by senior researcher Zanna Gilbert from the Getty Research Institute. The Norwegian Arts Council commissioned a sociological study about our dissemination practice engaging new and diverse audiences.
TEXTS/PRESS ABOUT ALT GÅR BRA’S SOLO WORK (SELECTED):
- Engja Sigurdsen, Silje. “Strandamalerne og bonden som på legendarisk vis hacket kunstverdenen.” KUNZT online-TV, episode 329, KUNZT, May 16, 2024.
watch (Norwegian)
- Berit Wiik, Gunn. “No skal Strandamåleria bli Strandabroderi.” Strilen, February 4, 2024. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- “Norge Rundt." Oddmund Haugen. National Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, April 19, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “Dagsrevyen/NRK Vestlandrevyen.” Jan Børge Leirvik. Vestland Region Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 21, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “Sogn og Fjordane i dag.” Solveig Svarstad, Raymond Lidal, Fredrik Johan Helland. Vestland Region Radio NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 21, 2024. (live radio and online)
listen (Norwegian)
- “Dagsrevyen/NRK Vestlandrevyen.” Jan Børge Leirvik. Vestland Region Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 20, 2024. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “God Morgon Hordaland/NRK P1 Distriktsprogram - Hordaland.” Silje Olsen/Tony Ågotnes. Vestland Region Radio NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, March 20, 2024. (live radio and online)
listen (Norwegian)
- Bruvik Sætre, Ivar. “Fekk inn 100 måleri frå vanlege folk. Torsdag opnar utstillinga.” Firda, March 14, 2024. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Olasdotter Sundgot, Oda. “Har du eit måleri som liknar på dette? Då vil museet stille det ut.” Firda, February 20, 2024. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Familien. “Morsom utfordring.” February 15, 2024.
- Berit Wiik, Gunn. “No skal Strandamåleria bli Strandabroderi.” Strilen, February 4, 2024. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Engesæter, Pål. “Måla 20.000 slike måleri i året – skal ha tent seg søkkrike.” Bergens Tidende, July 24, 2023. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Flatøy, Vegard. “Slik er strilebonden sin revansje.” Avisa Norhordland, July 24, 2023. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Flatøy, Vegard. “Uglesett og snakka ned: Men fenomenet strekte seg over heile landet.” Avisa Norhordland, July 24, 2023. (printed and online)
read (Norwegian)
- Berit Wiik, Gunn. “Lindåstunet blir kunstlaboratorium.” Strilen, April 19, 2023.
read (Norwegian)
- “Norge Rundt." Helene Vassbotten Lervik. National Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, June 9, 2023. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “NRK Nyhetsmorgen/NRK Nyheter." Ugo Fermariello. National Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, June 8, 2023. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “Dagsrevyen/NRK Vestlandrevyen.” Mariann Reikerås. Vestland Region Television NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, June 8, 2023. (live television and online)
watch (Norwegian)
- “NRK Nyhetsmorgen/NRK P2.” Ugo Fermariello/Silje Kathrine Bjarkøy. National Radio NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, June 8, 2023. (live radio and online)
listen (Norwegian)
- “God Morgon Hordaland/NRK P1 Distriktsprogram - Hordaland.” Lene Granli/Tom Arne Moe. Vestland Region Radio NRK Norwegian Public Broadcast, June 8, 2023. (live radio and online)
listen (Norwegian)
- Gallefoss, Ode Sofie. "De bruker kunst for å forstå samtiden. Men ikke for å gjøre den bedre." Subjekt, September 17, 2022. (online)
read
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Austvik, Cecilie. “Bergensk kunstnerduo stiller ut på Nasjonalmuseet.” Bergens Tidende, July 6, 2022. (printed and online)
read
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Grann, Annemona. “Etter å ha snakket med folk over hele landet, var det en ting de fleste savnet.” Adresseavisen, May 6, 2022. (printed and online)
read
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Greaker, Peik Elias. "Et vagt og ordinært prosjekt." Subjekt, May 2, 2022. (online)
read
Bjerkan, Eline. "Tar til våpen." Artscene Trondheim, May 3, 2022. (online) read
English translation “Taking up Arms.” read
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Sociological studies of Alt Går Bra’s dissemination strategies, commissioned the Norwegian Arts Council Norsk Kulturråd:
Dahle, Malin and Nordhagen, Inger. “Åpner dørene til kunsten- En analyse av Alt går bra sin formidlingsstrategi” (Norwegian, 2021)
read
Dahle, Malin and Nordhagen, Inger. “Kunst til folket - En analyse av Alt Går Bra sin formidlingsstrategi” (Norwegian, 2021)
read
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Fonneland, Synnøve. "Laget mye rabalder." Bergensavisen, July 13, 2021. (printed and online)
read
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Hegg, Peter-André. "Ytringsfrihetens begrensninger – utstilt." Subjekt, June 25, 2021. (online)
read
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Rivedal, Renate. "Snur opp ned på ideen om kunst." Bergens Tidende, June 19, 2021. (printed and online)
read
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Kvamme, Paal. “Ingeniørbragden som havnet på museum.” Teknisk Ukeblad, May 2, 2021. (printed and online) read
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Christensen, Susanne. “De venlige interventionister,” Kunstkritikk, July 20, 2020. (online) read
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Sørstrøm, Hilde. “Grensen er ikke hva den en gang var,” Kunstkritikk, March 03, 2020. (online) read
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Rivedal, Renate. "Alt går bra til slutt. Før det kan du nyte raus kunst for krevjande tider." Bergens Tidende, November 26, 2020. (printed and online) read
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Engesæter, Pål. "Stiller ut naboenes malerier" Bergens Tidende, July 13, 2020. (printed and online) read
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Bjerkan, Eline. “På hjemmebane,” Scenekunst, February 02, 2020. (online) read
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Gilbert, Zanna and Alt Går Bra. “Regarder en arrière pour aller de l’avant.” Perspective, no. 2 (2019): 143-162.
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Valvatne, Bård. "Leita etter framtidsvisjonar i Ålvik." Hordaland Folkeblad, February 1, 2019.
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Ueno, Hisami. “The Art of the Mimeograph.” Jagra, no. 10 (2019): 4-5.
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Movlud, Gunel. “Kunsten og ideal-samfunnet.” Innherred, September 29, 2018 (print and online)
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Sundland, Kjersti. “Folk i Sør-Varanger har et større perspektiv.” Sør-Varanger Avis, September 3, 2018 (print and online)
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Myrbråten, Charlotte. “Fritt Ord.” Norsk Shakespeare Tidsskrift, February, 2018.
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Nøttseter, Lisa. “Avantgarden i samtale med seg selv.” Scenekunst.no, January 2018.
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Rongved Amundsen, Julie. “Samtaler som bilder, en tekst om Alt går bra og Pier Paolo Pasolini” (unpublished), Oslo, 2018.
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Nilsson, Ørjan. “Jeg er positivt overasket over at det ikke kom så mye negativitet her.” Bergensavisen BA, November 23, 2017.
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Størkson, Cecilie. “Folkene bak bøkene.” Numer 111 (2017): 217-9.
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Komurki, John Z., Risomania–The New Spirit of Printing, Berlin: Niggli Verlag, 2017.
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Olcèse, Smaranda. “Performance at Palais de Tokyo.” Inferno, March 2, 2016. read
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Dickinson, Bob. “Alt Går Bra and Tout Va Bien.” KUNSTforum, December 17, 2015.
About
Alt Går Bra was founded by Agnes Nedregård and Branko Boero Imwinkelried in 2015. Run by the duo, Alt Går Bra is conceived as an art collective with an infrastructural practice--exploring ways of organizing and working with others while transgressing borders between artist-run and institutional, art production and dissemination, artistic practice and art theory.
With roots in the opposite poles of the earth, South America and Scandinavia, Alt Går Bra interweaves situated latitudes into long-term and process-based projects.
Alt Går Bra has presented its work at over 200 spaces, ranging from small venues and community spaces to large institutions, including the National Museum of Norway Nasjonalmuseet, KODE Bergen Art Museum, Bergen Kunsthall, the University of Westminster, Palais de Tokyo, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Alt Går Bra’s work is in the permanent collections of institutions including the National Museum of Norway Nasjonalmuseet, KODE Bergen Art Museum, Sogn og Fjordane Kunst Museum, KORO Public Art Norway, Trondheim Kommune, Tate Archives and Library, and John Flaxman Library School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Alt Går Bra has received support from funding bodies including the Norwegian Arts Council Kulturråd, KORO Public Art Norway, OCA Office of Contemporary Art Norway, Vestland County, Bergen City Council, Fritt Ord, Billedkunstnernes Hjelpefond, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Barents Secretariat, Arts Council England, UK National Heritage Fund, and Pro Helvetia.
The collective is based in Bergen and Paris. You can find us at our gallery and studio space Alt Går Bra Lokale in Bergen at Strandgaten 208 in the neighborhood of Nordnes. You can also make an appointment to visit our atelier in the second arrondissement of Paris.
Online, you can learn more about our work by visiting our Acanthus Project portal akantus.no, viewing photo and video documentation and research on Flickr, watching our videos on Youtube and Vimeo, and reading our texts in Academia.
You can get our updates and exchange with us on Instagram, Alt Går Bra Facebook, and Alt Går Bra Lokale Facebook.
E-mail: altgarbra (at) gmail (dot) com
- Website by Alt Går Bra -