Agenda: Collaboration, Community, unity

Matilde Balatti (IT/NO) is an art administrator and researcher based in Oslo, at Tenthaus, Oslo, she works as administrator and researcher. Matilde has a background in Art Hostory and a Masters in Cultural Managment from Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. She is intereset in experemential approaches to the administrative practice within the cultural field like Participatory budgeting and creative administrative strategies. Matilda has contributed to several international conferences where she has discussed these, and related topics, among others: Nordic Culture Policy Research Conference (2023), Connect/Cut Infrastructures and Collective Activity at the University of Copenhagen (2022), Arendalsuka (2022), and MUŻE.X - Shaping Museum Futures hosted and arranged by Malta University (2021). Matilde has also spearheaded local projects at schools and Senior Centers, as well as international projects in similar localities. In 2023 she coordinated the project "The Artist is Present - Contemporary Art Residencies in Schools» in collaboration with the Latvian Center of Contemporary Art.

Shahrzad Malekian (IR/NO) is a transdisciplinary artist who works with video, performance and sculpture/installation - often in combination. In their artistic practise, Shahrzad often uses the body as a tool
for exploration and as a medium to explore the body in a social, cultural and political stance, norms and structures.
Shahrzad employs strategies such as collaboration and participation to explore performativity and interaction in both art institutions and public spaces. Their work has been shown internationally in exhibitions and museums in Iran, Brazil, USA, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Portugal and London. Their video works have been selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2013), Gothenburg International Film Festival (2013), and Doclisboa(2019). Shahrzad holds a BFA in Sculpture from Tehran University of Art and an MFA in Art and Public Space from Oslo National Academy of Art, Norway.

Olea Julsrud-Steinkjer has a background as an Art Historian from the University of Oslo with a focus on feminism, activism and queer art within the Norwegian, and international contemporary art. Olea Julsrud-Steinkjer is a curator, art mediator, editor and lecturer. She har previously worked at the Astrup Fearnley Museet, Munch, Oslo Fotokunstskole and Høstutstillingen, and is currently working at Galleri Würth

The nation state and language are central concepts in Makda Embaies practice. The works are expressed through sound, text, film, and installations. What happens when th art practices and tries living through the question of what language consists of? How can we practice language and other expressions as specific instead of language as a property of the nation state? Makda has studied at Konstfack, Biskop Arnös författarskola and has taken the post-master Decolonizing Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm. In 2022 she received her master’s degree from the art academy at KHiO. Recent works include the public light and sound installation "Gravel scatters time" in Gothenburg, the sound installation "If joy was the door, what would be the room?" at the Malmö Art Museum in the Latvian Collection, "The Geography of Cups" in the project (Re)Learning the Archive at the Design Archive in Nybro and "Now that we've been together" which has been shown at e.g. Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo and during Oslo Contemporary Music Festival at Gamle Munch.

Marius Dahl (b. 1969) and Jan Christensen (b. 1977)

Jan Christensen is a Norwegian visual artist, born in Copenhagen in 1977 and resides in Oslo and Berlin. He has a background from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole/KHIO) from 1997 to 2000. Christensen has a broad and varied artistic practice with a long list of exhibitions, both with his own projects and various artistic collaborations. In addition, he has taken on roles as a curator and contributed with professional expertise in various contexts, such as lectures, debates, artistic councils, grant juries, and acquisition committees.

Marius Dahl is a Norwegian visual artist, born in Oslo in 1969 and resides in Drammen. After completing his education at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole/KHIO) from 1994 to 1999, he lived and worked in Istanbul, Turkey, for ten years. He has taken on roles as curator, lecturing, jury work, art consultant and board positions. He currently serves as the chairman of BONO and holds other positions in Norwegian art institutions and organizations.

In addition to their separate artistic practices, they have collaborated on a number of public projects and exhibitions since 2011. Their collaborative projects range from studio-based practices to industrial manufacturing and permanent site-specific installations. They have exhibited internationally and their works are found in several public collections in Norway and abroad.

Stacy Brafield (she/her) is an artist (b.1987) in Suffolk, raised in the Lakes District, UK and is based in Bergen, Norway. A graduate from MA Fine Arts at Bergen Academy of Art in 2014. Gathering is the overarching theme in her practice. From the physicality of making gathering spaces to the ephemeral nature of gathering people. Gathering is so important in today's world, a primal force that nurtures a sense of belonging and community, of togetherness and unity. Brafield´s practice bends the conventional notion of art production and places emphasis on the nurturing of culture and community. The departure point is the locality and challenging established norms. Researching human relations, forms of everyday interaction in society and the realities that often go unnoticed. Her work provides a space for the overlooked to be seen and responds to the environment in alternative schools, living sculptures and community installations. Brafield often works performatively with voice and text. Encouraging the audience through participation to reflect upon society, the interactions and processes through which the individual and the whole are shaping and being shaped.
Brafield is the co-founder of aerial, an artist-run space in Bergen. She has recently exhibited and hosted projects at Momemtum12 (Moss), Vestlandsutstillingen, Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen Assembly, Latitute28 (New Delhi), The Royal Standard (Liverpool) and Vulpes Vulpes (London). She was a member of The National Jury for Høstutstilling 2022-2023 and is currently a board member of UKS (Unge Kunstneres Samfund/Young Artists Society).