LIAF 2011 took place only in Kabelvåg for the first time. Six kilometres west of Svolvær, it had earlier hosted projects and exhibitions under the festival banner, but the main festival location had always been Svolvær.

Both curators had local and regional connections. They also represented the new generation of young, self-organised artists. Through their title, Something in the Way, they suggested that the art and nature surrounding us can stand in the way of, or act as a filter for, our experience. Fourteen artists presented new works in eight exhibition locales – among them old, abandoned docks and factories that were given a new lease of life.

An important part of the festival was the so-called Lavvo symposium, a seminar organised across the opening weekend. The seminar became a far more central part of the festival than it had been in previous years; the curators presented it as equal in importance to the exhibitions. It included lectures, performances and concerts with invited visual artists, musicians and writers of prose and poetry in intimate, informal settings. The events were consonant with the curators’ ideal of direct, immediate communication.

Curators for LIAF 2011: Linn Pedersen and Thora Dolven Balke.

Link to LIAF 2011 website