Sparebankstiftelsen DNB Grant Exhibition 2025

Sparebankstiftelsen DNB Grant Exhibition 2025 
Oslo Kunstforening / Deichman Bjørvika 
06.11.25 – 11.01.26

Oslo Kunstforening is pleased to present this year’s artists in the Sparebankstiftelsen DNB Grant Exhibition 2025

• Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard & Zayne Armstrong
• PURPOSE CORE
• Rafiki

The exhibition has been held since 2008 and is considered one of the most important art prizes in Norway. A total of 78 artists have participated in the exhibition, and 21 have received the grant. For this year’s edition — the 18th in the series — we have partnered with Oslo’s main library, Deichman Bjørvika, which will also present works by the artists. This collaboration makes the art projects accessible to an even broader audience, with various activities taking place across both venues. The recipient of the grant, which has increased to NOK 300,000 this year, will be announced during the exhibition period.

The professional jury consists of chair Ana María Bresciani, curator at MUNCH; Pedro Gómez-Egaña, visual artist and professor at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts; Sandra Mujinga, visual artist and musician; Axel Wieder, director of the Berlin Biennale; and Elisabeth Byre, artistic director at Oslo Kunstforening.

Through an expanded approach to scenography, artist duo Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard & Zayne Armstrong use installation, sculpture, and film to explore themes related to contemporary models of labor.

Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard (b. 1991, Kristiansand) and Zayne Armstrong (b. 1986, Upland) live and work in Berlin and Kristiansand. Aasgaard holds a BA from the Malmö Art Academy, and Armstrong holds a BA from Central Saint Martins and studied at the Piet Zwart Institute. Their work has recently been shown at K4, Oslo (2025); the biennial FORT_01, Franzensfeste Fortress, Bolzano (2024); CCA Ujazdowski, Warsaw (2024); Buskerud Kunstsenter, Drammen (2024); NKR, Düsseldorf (2023); The Vigeland Museum, Oslo (2023); Agder Kunstsenter, Kristiansand (2023); Pogo Bar – KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2023); and Kunstnernes Hus Kino, Oslo (2023).

The artist duo PURPOSE CORE creates performative film manifestos based on guiding principles, quotes, and intentions, often presented as installations.

PURPOSE CORE consists of Ihra Lill Scharning (b. 1986, Tønsberg) and Katarina Skjønsberg (b. 1987, Tønsberg), both of whom live and work in Oslo. Scharning holds an MFA from the Malmö Art Academy and a teaching qualification from Oslo and Akershus University College, while Skjønsberg holds a BA in photography from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, an MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, and a teaching qualification from Oslo and Akershus University College. PURPOSE CORE recently participated in the Østlandsutstillingen (2024) and Høstutstillingen (2023), and held a solo exhibition at Prosjektrom Carl Berner, organized by Norsk Billedhoggerforening (2023). Earlier exhibitions include Kunstnernes Hus Kino, Oslo (2023); Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen (2014); and KHM Gallery, Malmö (2014).

Rafiki’s interdisciplinary practice moves between photography and beadwork, textiles and text, as well as the use of both old and new memory objects. By framing artistic production as a space for remembrance, healing, and cultural analysis, she explores pre-colonial forms of global connectivity and knowledge transmission.

Rafiki (b. 1989) is based in Oslo and works between Oslo and Cape Town. She holds a BA in International Development Studies from OsloMet and an MA in Social Communication from the University of Agder. She is the founder of the Oslo-based platform Rafiki Art Initiatives (RAI). Her work has recently been exhibited at, among others, Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen (2025); Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Bærum (2024); Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal (2024); and Buskerud Kunstsenter, Drammen (2024). Rafiki’s work is represented in the collections of Preus Museum, Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, and Kunst på Arbeidsplassen. She is one of Atelier Kunstnerforbundet’s selected artists for the 2024–2026 period.

The annual grant exhibition has been organized by Oslo Kunstforening since 2008, with support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. This year’s exhibition opens on 6 November at Oslo Kunstforening and Deichman Bjørvika.

Previous grant recipients include Eline Benjaminsen (2024), Linda Lamignan (2023), Kim Hankyul (2022), Anne Haugsgjerd (2021), Berivan Erdogan, Hanni Kamaly, and Kjetil Skøien (2020), Germain Ngoma (2019), Eirik Sæther (2018), Emilija Škarnulytė (2017), Tor Børresen (2016), Andrea Bakketun and Christian Tony Norum (2015), Ingrid Lønningdal (2014), Sandra Mujinga (2013), Marie Buskov (2012), Kaia Hugin (2011), Ann Cathrin November Høibo (2010), Ignas Krunglevičius (2009), and Ellisif Hals and Susanne Skeide (2008).