What an exciting week at Vea! 

Light and shadow

The gathering started on Tuesday, with a lot of plants that had to be taken away from the greenhouse, a really good treasure, that gave interesting possibilities. The stems, the leaves, the roots were so characteristic, and the works were built on different moods. The idea was to have these works for test out possible lighting in the exhibition room, and that started already this afternoon. The next day Kathrine Berg arrived and gave a lesson on many more possibilities. She also brought a lot of things to use for testing out. Everyone started to test and was guided by Kathrine in a good and professional way. Great possibilities opened, not only with the light, but also with the shadows.

Art of performance

After lunch Fernanda Branco arrrived. She has a PDH (post doctor) employment at KHIO (the art school of Oslo, Kunsthøyskolen i Oslo) in performance and came to give us an understanding of the art of performance. Since she is also educated as a gardener, she was the right person to give us thoughts about how to use plant materials integrated in the performance.

It all started with a kind of a group performance that she was leading us into, closely connected to the plant materials we had chosen. This way of getting to know the plant by feeling it with all our scenes was a good way for everybody, and different from what we are used to by mainly looking at the plant. The movement of our bodies were also closely connected to the understanding of the plant.

After this each one had to prepare for a performance the next day. An interesting experience for everybody, and a good conversation with Fernanda afterwards.

Art in Lillehammer

Thursday afternoon we all went to Lillehammer to see the exhibition on Oppland kunstnersenter www.kunstopp.no where Kai Bratbergsengen (my husband) had a separate exhibition. A poetic exhibition with drawings, sculptures, and poetry.

In the other parts of the gallery more than 100 artists from this area had a Christmas exhibition. A lot of inspiration to pick up.

Ment at Fåberg

From Lillehammer a short drive to Fåberg to Ment, www.ment.no  a local company that makes porcelain design. Sidsel Forr Hemma who is one of the two founders took us to see the production and told us about the ideas, their concept. A concept that was focused on the environmental and sustainability that is so needed today. Everything was made in a high-quality way to give it a long life and to not be a part of the “use and throw” mentality.

A week full of inspiration and a very good mood.

Thanks also to the kitchen that gave us very good food for lunch and dinner!

Text and photo: Runi Kristoffersen