Lofoten International Art Festival LIAF
Lofoten International Art Festival – LIAF is the longest-running art biennial in Scandinavia, presenting works by local and international artists in a location-conscious context.
Lofoten International Art Festival – LIAF is organized by North Norwegian Art Centre in collaboration with LIAF Artistic Advisory Board.
To find out more about previous editions of LIAF go to Archive.
This year's festival, which is the 18th edition, is curated by Kjersti Solbakken (b. 1984). LIAF seeks to be an open, experimental and accessible meeting place for artists, contributors, collaborators and audiences. LIAF does not have a set venue but takes place at different locations in Lofoten each time it is held.
Kjersti Solbakken says the following about LIAF 2024:
"LIAFs experimental and inclusive approach to communicating art is rare, and it is a huge dream come true to be able to work with the collective meeting place that LIAF constitutes. I want to use LIAF as a platform to take a closer look at local stories, archives, collections, and conditions that can help uncover our recent history. I look forward to further getting to know artists, curators, writers, arts and cultural institutions, LIAF’s fantastic staff, artistic council and all existing and future partners."
For more information about the programme, artists, collaboration partners and supporters, see here.
How to travel here
LIAF 2024 will be held in Svolvær, Lofoten, Norway
Boat
Coastal Cruiser/Hurtigruten, see Hurtigruten for more info.
Express boat/High-speed boat, see here.
Train
You can take a train from Oslo to Bodø. But not any further, this is as far north as the Norwegian railway goes. From Bodø you continue by plane, boat. Narvik is accessible by train via Sweden. From Narvik there is an express bus to Lofoten (the Lofoten Express). Visit VY for more information.
Air
Svolvær Lufthavn Helle is the closest airport, approx. 5.6 km from Svolvær. Fly with Widerøe via Bodø Airport.
From Svolvær Airport to Svolvær city center take a taxi approx. 5 minutes by car or rent a car at the airport.
Fly with Widerøe to Leknes Airport via Bodø Airport, Oslo Airport or Tromsø Airport.
We recommend that you rent a car at Leknes Airport and drive to Svolvær, it takes approximately 1 hour.
To travel by bus, see Reis Nordland or call +47 910 09 600 for information on bus travel.
You can also fly with SAS, Norwegian, Widerøe, Flyr to Harstad/Narvik Evenes, which is approximately three hours by car from Svolvær.
Rent a car at Evenes Airport, see this website for more information.
Bus
See Reis Nordland or call +47 910 09 600 for information on bus journeys.
Nordland Taxi +47 07550 or use the Taxifix app.
Tourist information Visit Lofoten
Occasional Groundwork
Occasional Groundwork is an alliance of three European biennials EVA (Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art), GIBCA (Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Sweden), and LIAF (Lofoten International Art Festival, Norway) that are each concerned with re-proposing the model of the international art biennial. Seeking a rooted infrastructure for the production and dissemination of contemporary art, Occasional Groundwork serves as a peer group for thinking-through the existing and speculative frameworks of organisational practice.
Groundings
The first initiative of Occasional Groundwork is Groundings – a series of co-commissioned texts by writers, artists, curators, and academics, exploring themes of internationalism, sustainability, audience, and infrastructure within the context of the contemporary art biennial and the shift in conditions imposed by the ongoing pandemic.
History
Lofoten International Art Festival – LIAF is a biennial for contemporary art for Northern Norway, an important event in Norwegian art life and an international meeting place.
Lofoten International Art Festival has a history dating back to 1991. LIAF began as a festival with a regional and national focus, and gradually developed into the international biennial it is today. Since 2009, LIAF has been under the auspices of North Norwegian Art Centre. It has an artistic council with six members.
The festival has no fixed venue, but is created anew each time by infiltrating and exploring Lofoten’s local surroundings. LIAF has exhibited art in a park, a garage, a library, a shed, a bunker, a fishing hut, a private house, a shop, an old warehouse, etc. Developing and discovering new understandings and knowledge through art lie at the core of the festival.
Each festival is designed by curators with different backgrounds, ideas and practices, bringing together the known and the unknown in different ways. By insisting on an open and experimental approach, LIAF can on many levels be a place for exchange and engagement, revealing new things about our world and ourselves over and over again.
Lofoten International Art Festival has been curated by Tor Inge Kveum, Per Gunnar Tverbakk, Vibeke Sjøvoll, Gry Ulrichsen, Göran Christenson, Maaretta Jaukkuri, Taru Elfving, Richard Borgström, Helga-Marie Nordby, Thora Dolven Balke, Linn Pedersen, Anne Szefer Karlsen, Bassam El Baroni, Eva González-Sancho, Matt Packer, Arne Skaug Olsen, Heidi Ballet, Milena Høgsberg, Neal Cahoon, Hilde Methi, Torill Østby Haaland and Karolin Tampere, as well as Francesco Urbano Ragazzi.
To find out more about previous editions of LIAF go to Archive.
