Happy New Year from Bergen Kunsthall

Dear friends of Bergen Kunsthall,

As the year comes to a close, the team at Bergen Kunsthall would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the artists, performers, colleagues, collaborators, funders, visitors, members, and friends who have engaged with our programme throughout the year. Thank you for being part of the thriving community that is Bergen Kunsthall – your continued support truly means the world to us.

2025 has been an exciting year for Bergen Kunsthall. At its heart was the Festival exhibition “Moon Bag” by Tori Wrånes, which transformed our galleries into an immersive and imaginative space, inviting audiences into a world where sound, sculpture, and performance unfolded in unexpected ways.

The year also saw the fifth edition of Bergen Assembly, the citywide triennial, with Bergen Kunsthall as one of its main venues. “across, with, nearby” brought together artists, writers, activists, and communities through exhibitions, performances, and public events. We are grateful for this longstanding collaboration, which continues to enrich Bergen Kunsthall’s programme and bring art closer to the city’s community.

Throughout the year, we additionally presented exhibitions such as the group exhibition “Everything Is So Alive!”, featuring works by artists Dora Budor, Tianzhuo Chen, Nikita Gale, Ventura Profana, Tracey Rose and Tejal Shah; a solo presentation by Rindon Johnson and the KMD MA student exhibition, offering diverse perspectives on contemporary art. Complementing these exhibitions, our extensive live programme included the immersive Ocean Cage performance in collaboration with Borealis, the Frieze New Writers Initiative, and a vibrant series of concerts and club nights at Landmark. The spring also saw the return of the Bergen Art Book Fair, a joyful celebration of creativity in books, art, and design.

Our bookshop offers, in addition to our own publications and editions, a broad range of artists’ books, monographs and cultural theory from international publishers. In 2025, the publication Deterrence and Reassurance was formally launched in collaboration with Mondo Books as an extension of Toril Johannessen’s 2024 Festival Exhibition of the same title.

Our Live Studio programme welcomed numerous artists, providing them with a space to work in while connecting them with the local arts ecosystem. Since its launch in 2022, the Live Studio has hosted 36 residencies. The open call for Bergen Kunsthall’s three thematic one-month artist residencies in 2026 is now open. Artists are invited to submit proposals by January 18.

As part of Bergen Kunsthall’s longstanding focus on creating meaningful art experiences for young audiences, 2025 featured an extensive and engaging learning program. Highlights included “Mylder,” featuring the artist Anniken Hessen; the workshop “to grow a tail” by alphie hubbard; and the “Unge Kunstkjennere” (Young Art Connoisseurs) program, resulting in a text published by the online journal Periskop.

Overall, 2025 was a period of institutional consolidation and growth, marked by deepened relationships with both existing and new collaborators. The organisation further strengthened its operations by onboarding new staff, including Jade Barget as Live Programme Curator.

In the past year, our beloved building celebrated its 90th anniversary, and we are delighted to brighten the dark season, literally, with a modernisation of architect Ole Landmark’s building through a new lighting system in the exhibition halls. This long-awaited upgrade will provide greater artistic flexibility and is also a significant energy-saving measure. The renovation has been made possible thanks to support from Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, Arts Council Norway and Bergen Municipality.

With gratitude and excitement for what lies ahead, we look forward to welcoming you in the new year—especially at the opening of the exhibition “Iter Subterraneum” on January 16. The exhibition features works by Mira Adoumier, Cecilia Fiona, Robert Gabris, Ingela Ihrman, Wangechi Mutu, Nour Ouayda, Ovartaci, Naomi Rincón-Gallardo, Kaare Ruud, and Anicka Yi, as well as a selection of historical editions of Ludvig Holberg’s novel Niels Klim’s Underground Travels (1741), presented in collaboration with the University of Bergen Library. The exhibition is accompanied by a rich programme of events developed in collaboration with a range of partners, including Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF), LitFestBergen, and Borealis, among others. On behalf of everyone at Bergen Kunsthall, we wish you a happy and inspiring New Year!

Warmly,
Kjersti Solbakken
Director, Bergen Kunsthall