Norwegian Orientation Week

It has been really cold and we’ve seen some snowflakes this week here in Dale:

the landscape around the Artists’ Centre is getting more and more beautiful by the day!

This week, I had some very long and interesting chats with fellow resident and curator Marianne, who has unfortunately now made her way back to Berlin via Oslo.. we’ll definitely keep talking on virtual interfaces on our respective thoughts and experiences.

Work on the Dreams’ Time Capsule project continues, and I have also started watching films and exploring portfolios of Norwegian artists, I have been thinking about what to do for our open day/small city festival here around mid February, and many other things.. Now I’m getting ready for a unexpected visit to Bergen, for which I’ll be leaving shortly. You’ll need to wait a little to read my report on this weekend’s openings, exhibitions and meetings on Monday!

This week, I also happened to turn 32, and decided to use my birthday and Marianne’s leave as a pretext for a very informal get together with all the other guests and nkd’s staff on Tuesday evening. As a chef, I love dinner parties, and spending a few hours on a proper cooking mandate with my rolling pin friend was very liberating! I went quite classic with some totally homemade lasagna and a berry cheesecake, which was much applauded by everyone. It was a really great and fun evening, and I’m thinking that we should try making it a regular weekly appointment… Which should also help collect material for a recipe book for the artists’ centre..

Something I found quite refreshing as it’s such a rare sight amongst colleagues: no art gossiping or too much talking about our respective practices. It’s wonderful to have wider-spanning conversations, which in these contexts are a little bit too rare in my experience.. but apparently this is the Norwegian way – perhaps a better strategy to try and maintain the working day that healthy little separate from leisurely time with peers.