The art project Fremtidens Levninger engaged with the haunted dimension in our lives. It was about the return of the psychological and political mechanism brought back to life with the pandemic. In the state of emergency of our time, there are a number of inherent stories that resonate with the previous epidemics. 60,000 people are buried in Sofienbergparken. They are remains from when the park was Oslo’s largest burial ground. Sofienberg’s burial ground was laid out in 1858, after the cholera epidemic in 1853, and functioned as a cemetery until 1931. Occasionally weather conditions and frost push remnants of bones from the ground.
In spring 2020, I invited 7 artists to enter into a dialogue with the remnants in the park. The use of text in visual art, fiction, poetry, and performative expressions, were important elements in the invited artists’ practices.
On the evening of 28th October, excerpts of and presentations of video, animation, readings, and performances were presented at Deichman Grünerløkka and Sofienbergparken.
Artists: Nora Adwan, Mekdes Shebeta, Beate Petersen, Laurie Lax, Samuel Brzeski, Ole Christian Ellestad, Linn Cecilie Ulvin, Kjersti Sundland
The website fremtidenslevninger.no was designed by Studio Boi, and exhibits the artist’s contribution to the project.
Photo: Dag Nordbrenden
Fremtidens Levninger was supported by KORO, The Fritt Ord Foundation, Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Bergen Kommune.