Alt Går Bra: SOLRENNINGEN

The artist group Alt Går Bra´s project will from Bergen to Vardø follow in the footsteps of a Vardø citizen who gained national attention at the beginning of the 20th century, and became a spokesman for Finnmark’s population in the Norwegian Parliament, namely Adam Egede-Nissen. He lived a unique life, full of travels, political activism and love of culture, and was more than a champion of both social justice and freedom of expression. The first thing he founded upon his arrival in Vardø was the holding association “Solrenningen”, which eventually also included political information work. Alt Går Bra will take a closer look at this association’s intentions, goals and influences on the community in Vardø. In 2021, the artist group wants to stage “Solrenningen” in Vardø. With it, they will explore what this association can teach us today and how such initiatives can be actualized and help to strengthen society, art and culture. In Vardø, AGB will engage a wide audience and start with questions such as: How can theater and music be mixed with rhetoric, and public debate? How can the arts and humanities be experienced today? What can they offer that is different and irreplaceable?

Alt Går Bra pursues affirmative aesthetic forms, elaborated through philosophical and historical inquiries. Its exhibitions, discursive events, and publications portray Classicism and Romanticism as deep structuring principles, well beyond the realm of aesthetics. Reviving the scorned skill of the hand, Alt Går Bra explores today’s artistic potential of the figurative and the beautiful. An unusual intensity leads Alt Går Bra to hectic levels of production that break through the barriers between contemporary art and the general public with complex content. Founded in 2015, Alt Går Bra is based in Bergen, Paris, and London. Its work has been presented at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Palais de Tokyo, University of Westminster, KODE, and Bergen Kunsthall.

Vardø (Northern Sami; Várggát, Kven: Vuorea, Finnish: Vuoreija)
Vardø is the easternmost town of Norway. It has a population of approximately 2000 people and is the only town in Finnmark where you can experience a continuous pre-war architecture originating from before the Second World War. It is the region´s oldest fishing village and was known as the Pomeranian capital, as it was a centre for trade with Russia in the 19th century. In more recent times Vardø is home for the Steilneset memorial, the Nordic championship of snowball throwing (part of the Yukigassen). In Vardø, Kystopprøret (the coastal uprising) has also originated – a movement that strongly criticizes how the the common marine resources have been privatized and brought out of the region.

Background
Over the past two years, the North Norwegian Art Center has commissioned and presented a series of art projects in Mo i Rana. Alongside the new art projects NNKS has actualized art´s presence in the town of Mo through several public presentations and meetings. The launch of the NNKS activities in Vardø is a successor to this context-specific long-term project. Between 2020 and 2022, NNKS will continue the long-term commitment at a selected location in Northern Norway, this time Vardø in the county of Finnmark.