This is "My Stavanger"
"'My Stavanger' will be a truly unique exhibition, unlike anything the museum has worked on before," says the project manager for the jubilee exhibition, curator Mette Tveit of the Stavanger Museum.
What makes the exhibition so special?
"Well, here we won't be telling the city's story year by year in the traditional sense. It won't be an exhibition that the audience has to read through with text. The goal is for visitors to get a sense of the different centuries and feel how it has been for ordinary people to live in the city at various times. Everyday people, we call them because they are the common folks, not the upper class or the most powerful being presented. They have always been a minority. Here, we want to tell the story of ordinary people," says Mette Tveit.
Travel in time
Eight different rooms have been set up on the third floor of the Stavanger Museum. Each room becomes an exhibition, with people, objects, and the spirit of each century. Between the rooms, the audience will "travel through time" from century to century.
"Each room, is created by a team where an artist works together with the museum's experts to tell the story. The combination of art and cultural history is one of the things that makes us confident that this exhibition is unique," Tveit explains.
The involved artists are:
Maiken Stene, , who works with the artistic expression in the very early part of our 900-year history. Stene works with textiles and paintings to create an illusion of nature and forest, as the city could hardly be called a city in the 1100-1200s.
John Raustein is the artist creating the framework around the 1300-1400s. His starting point is the belief of that time that silver had a protective power, both against diseases like the Black Death and evil forces. Raustein works with a silver-shimmering material, among other things.
Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen is the artist working with the story of the 1500-1600s in Stavanger. Wulff Andreassen is known for her detailed, often large drawings, and in the exhibition, she draws directly on the walls of the exhibition space.
Nils-Thomas Økland creates a richly stocked store where goods from the great world tempt, the time characterized by trade and economic upturn, but there was still an underlying darkness that Økland wants to convey from the 1700s.
Arne Nøst is the artist when we come to the 1800s. Never has population growth been greater than during this century. Many traveled from the rural areas to the city, from the city and further to America. Nøst will bring some of the objects to life through film projection.
Elin Reboli Melberg shows mass production, increased consumption and variety, technology, and choice in her installation in the exhibition room dedicated to the 1900s. Here, we approach our own time, and visitors will have memories of many of the objects shown both as part of the art installation and elsewhere in the exhibition.
Linda Lamignan takes us into the present. The 2000s are still a young century, marked by great seriousness. Here, a video work and installations of golden chains and 3D-printed objects will provide an opportunity for calm and reflection, both on the time we live in, the history behind us, and the future ahead.
"We are very proud and incredibly happy that these very talented artists work with us on the jubilee exhibition," says Mette Tveit. However, she emphasizes that "My Stavanger" is not an art exhibition. "It is an exhibition that can be experienced on several levels, where we hope everyone will be triggered in their own way. Some will be curious to know more about what happened; they will be able to find more knowledge using QR codes and a catalog. Others will be touched by the history of ordinary people; some may be struck by the objects from the museum's collection, while some will experience the artworks as the strongest when they move through the rooms."
Nils Henrik Asheim is a composer but is also known as the organist at Stavanger Concert Hall and as the initiator of the cultural center Tou Scene. Nils Henrik has created music for large outdoor performances, including the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the Norwegian Opera, and much more. With a background in classical music, he is keen on incorporating influences from various genres.
Nils Henrik has composed the music for "My Stavanger." The music is intended to create a unique atmosphere in each room and, at the same time, serve as a common thread throughout the entire exhibition, much like the soundtrack to a film. The sound landscape includes elements such as sounds from nature and from the society of bygone eras, sounds from objects displayed in the exhibition, and the voices of people from both past and present. Additionally, we hear a string instrument evolving from a medieval harp to an electric guitar. To achieve a dynamic sound in all the rooms, over a hundred speakers have been installed in walls and ceilings, each with its distinct sound. This installation is entirely unique and specially designed for "My Stavanger." Towards the end of the exhibition, you can also participate in shaping some of the sound yourself.
Thomas Bendiksen is a lighting designer and has a particularly important task in creating the illusion of time travel from one century to the next.
Benjamin Hickethier is the graphic designer for the exhibition "My Stavanger."
Reidun Seiffert works specifically on communication and teaching materials aimed at the middle school level. The goal is for all middle school students in Stavanger to visit "My Stavanger" in connection with the 900th anniversary of Stavanger in 2025.
A large team of employees from Museum Stavanger is involved in this major exhibition project.
In addition to project manager Mette Tveit, Kristoffer Hatteland Endresen, Kari Meek, Tove Galta, Hege Stormark, Kate Newland, Anja Wendelborg Fremo, Michael Heng, Anne Tove Austbø, Ingrid Tjemsland, Ingrid Bull-Njaa, Åse Smith Løvås, Thea Rønning Bersagel, and Erik Hennum-Bersagel, all employees of Museum Stavanger, have developed the exhibition.
These have made the exhibition possible:
Stavanger 2025
Kulturdirektoratet