Happy Holidays!

Oslo Kunstforening looks back on an eventful and active year!

We have made use of the entire building, and the rooms on the ground floor in particular have opened up new possibilities. Here, we have invited a wide range of artists and collaborators, established an art bookshop, and presented a varied programme of talks, launches, film screenings, and workshops.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone we have collaborated with throughout the year – in particular the artists we have had the pleasure of working with. Warm thanks also go to our members, our audience, schools, and our supporters: Oslo kommune, Kulturdepartementet and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

We look forward to seeing you in 2026, when we will mark the 190th anniversary of our founding – as Norway’s first institution for contemporary art. The anniversary will be celebrated with a major archival exhibition, performances, art and cultural history lectures, conversations, and much more.

Oslo Kunstforening will be closed from 20 December to 4 January and wishes everyone a happy holiday season and all the best for the New Year!

Elisabeth Byre
Artistic and Executive Director

Below, you can read about a selection of the activities we have had this year.

We are proud to have presented two major solo exhibitions this year. Both were very well received by audiences and the press, and works were acquired by several leading collections.

In March, we opened the comprehensive exhibition Ingenting bra skjer plutselig by Ole John Aandal. It presented photographs from across his entire career – from the series Palestina (1989) to the new installation Oslo arkiv 2011–2021(2024). In connection with the exhibition, we also published a book on the artist’s practice with the publisher Multipress.

In August, we opened the exhibition The Sign of Four by Marius Engh. Following a period of study in Athens, Engh explored the relationship between sculpture and landscape, taking the pedestal and the origins of the bust in the so-called herm as his point of departure – an abstract sculptural form associated with the god Hermes.

It has become a tradition for us to present the graduation exhibition of the bachelor students at the Academy of Fine Art in Oslo. This year, a highly engaged group of newly graduated artists filled the entire building – also activating the outdoor spaces and presenting concerts and performances.

We also collaborated with Velferdsetaten and Oslo kommune on this year’s Kaleidoskop, where participants with lived experience of substance use or mental health challenges presented their works. Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe opened the exhibition, which included 60 participants and more than 100 works.

The year concludes with the long-running Sparebankstiftelsen DNB Grant Exhibition, which we have organised since 2008. In total, 83 artists have participated and 21 have received grants. This year’s artists are Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard & Zayne Armstrong, PURPOSE CORE, and Rafiki. For this exhibition, we have entered into a collaboration with Deichman Bjørvika, which also presents works by the artists. The exhibition runs until 11 January 2026.

With support from Oslo kommune and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, we have established an ongoing programme titled Tidsrommet. Talks, performances, concerts, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and a bookshop now fill these historic premises on our first floor – running in parallel with our exhibition programme on the second floor. In the bookshop, visitors can also purchase works by artists such as Ole John Aandal, Marte Aas, Anna Daniell, Marianne Heier, Elisabeth Haarr, Marianne Hurum, and Rafiki.

The popular conversation series Kunst og litteratur, led by visual artist and writer Lotte Konow Lund, has this year featured guests who have illuminated the art field from different perspectives:

• Elise Storsveen on her fascination with art books and their uses
• Mariken Lauvstad on her book Kampen om kunsten
• Tommy Olsson on art and criticism

All conversations are documented and will be published as a podcasts.

Throughout the year, we have continued the project Formidling for barn og unge – en kunst? with support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. Workshops based on our exhibitions provide opportunities for dialogue, creative exploration, and artistic reflection. Participants have included youth and upper secondary schools, as well as children and youth groups from Røde Kors.

In addition, we have collaborated with UKS and seven artists through the national network DKS-LAB – a platform for developing and testing art projects for the Den kulturelle skolesekken programme.

Vi er stolte av våre mange samarbeid med institusjoner og initiativer. I år har vi blant annet samarbeidet med:

• Kode om boklansering og samtale knyttet til Lotte Konow Lunds utstilling Det hun sa
• Trondheim kunstmuseum og Torpedo Press om lanseringen av Alina Mottas bok Water is a Time Machine
• Ultimafestivalen om workshop og utstilling; Sustainable Composing
• Tekstlab om performance og samtale i forbindelse med talentprogrammet Inkubator
• Verdensrommet om lansering og samtale
• Kunsthallene i Norge om fagdag rundt kunstinstitusjonenes rolle og villkår
• Deichman Bjørvika om Sparebankstiftelsen DNB stipendutstilling 2025

Photo:
1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11,13, 18, 19, 20, 21: Kristine Jakobsen
2, 5, 8, 9: Henrik Follesø Egeland
7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17: Sakib Saboor