Arise

by Christian Bermudez

 

 

ARISE is a site-specific piece that recalls a dike, a levee, a structure build to content floods or maybe a defense emplacement, a barricade, a check point.  

 

A pile of sandbags irrupts the landscape, a horizontal line above the ground lifted up to make a mark: a statement to contemporary situation in Oslo, where the relocalization of Munchs and Stenersen Museums, together with the Deichmanske Library and the National Museum in Vestbanen are urbanistic and political decisions that will gather Oslo’s main cultural institutions in a single neighborhood. 

 

ARISE attempts to create a debate about Oslo’s east side cultural landscape. After the defeat over Munchs Museum, is this part of town depleted of cultural institutions? Or was it just a loss over its single tourist attraction? At Oslo’s east there are ateliers and some lively neighborhoods with their own galleries, museums and botanical gardens, but still there is a lack of a hub for culture and arts in this part of town, and even for the whole Groruddalen valley.

 

ARISE proposes the raise of a cornerstone, a foundation stone for a future scenario. While at the same time it points out to the lack of economical resources and political will to create a solid and permanent structure (institution) in Oslo’s east, where almost two-thirds of Oslo’s inhabitants have their homes.

 

 

 

The Birdhouse project was commissioned by Association of Norwegian Sculptors and developed with the economical support of Arts Council Norway.