Tuesday September 26 was a beautiful day. Sunny with a high of 17C. It is our last full day in Oslo as we head to Stockholm by train early on Wednesday September 27.
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| We passed "buddy" on the way |
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| First stop, Tim Wendelboe for some coffee beans |
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| Lovely 1899 building across from the coffee shop |
We headed to the tram stop. Allan just logs into the "Ruter" app- Oslo's transit app, and gets two senior tickets. We can transfer to other trams or buses during a sixty minute period. The app counts down the time from the purchase of the tickets. Oslo is so far ahead of us on transit.
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| Still 50 minutes to transfer if we want |
We got off at the same stop as the National Museum in Aker Brygge and started our way to the Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo's most high-profile contemporary art museum. The private museum, run by the Thomas Fearnley Foundation, was founded and opened to the public in 1993. In 2012, the museum moved to two new buildings designed by Renzo Piano. The building which takes up the tip of Tjyvholmen island cost 90-million euros and is a 7000 sq-metre building uniting two separate structures with a dramatic sail-like glass roof.
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| En route |
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The Landing, by Tore Bjorn Skjolsvik (b. 1939)
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| Fabulous apartment buildings |
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| Lots of boats |
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| Approaching the Museum from one side |
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| Another side view |
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| Great apartment building on the harbour |
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| View from the promenade (the back) |
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| View from the promenade (the front) |
We saw the exhibit entitled: Before Tomorrow, Astrup Fearnley Museet (Museum) 30 Years. The Museum is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023. To mark the occasion, the Museum is featuring over 100 works from the Collection displayed across the Museum's two buildings. Beginning in the 1960s, founder Hans Rasmus Astrup assembled a collection which emphasized artists and their bodies of work, rather than historical periods or stylistic trends. By the time of his passing in 2021, the Astrup Fearnley Collection contained more than 1500 works. Hans Rasmus Astrup generously bequeathed funds, as well as the entire Astrup Fearnley Collection, to the non-profit foundation that runs the museum.
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| Hanne Borchgrevink (b. 1951, Norway), Husdikt, 2007 |
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| Thomas Struth (b. 1954, Germany) Art Institute of Chicago 2, Chicago, 1990 |
(We were just at the Art Institute in early September and love this Gustave Caillebotte
Paris Rainy Day painting)
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| Kara Walker (b. 1969, USA), The Sovereign Citizens Sesquicentennial Civil War Celebration, 2013), showing an imaginary scene from the American Civil War. Cut paper silhouettes- here white against a black wall rather than black silhouettes against white, which she primarily employs). |
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Shilpa Gupta (b. 1976, India), There is No Explosives in This-Table II
Manchester International Airport, 2007 |
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| Jeff Koons (b. 1955, USA), Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Dr. J. Silver Series), 1985 |
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| Robert Gober (b. 1954, USA), Untitled, 1993-1994 |
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Raymond Pettibon (b. 1954, USA), No Title (these last years), 2004
(writing at the bottom says "these last years, I am much at sea") |
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| Ida Ekblad (b. 1980, Norway), Steel Mutant Smelted Girl, 2020 |
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| Eline Mugaas (b. 1969, Norway), Red bathroom, 2002, and Black Outline, 2017 |
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| Mona Hatoum (b.1952, Lebanon), Lili (stay) put, 1996. Mona presently lives and works in London. The title of this piece refers to the novel Gulliver's Travels where the protagonist is held captive in the country of Lilliput by a people one twelfth the size of ordinary humans. |
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| Torbjørn Rødland (b. 1970, Norway), Socks, Shoes and Tail, 2020 |
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| Elmgreen & Dragset (b. 1961, Denmark and 1969, Norway), Gay Marriage, 2010 |
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| Shirin Neshat (b. 1957, Iran- now lives and works in NYC), Fervor, 2000, a two channel video featuring a female protagonist on one screen and a male protagonist on the other, while a mullah preaches the importance of being pure and chaste to a segregated crowd. We have seen a number of her pieces recently- very powerful. |
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| Félix González-Torres (1959 (Cuba)- 1996 (Florida, USA), "Untitled" (Blue Placebo), 1991. |
The piece consists of 130 kg of candy wrapped in blue cellophane which the audience is invited to take and consume. The amount of candy corresponds to the combined weight of González- Torres and his partner who passed away due to AIDS.
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| Glen Ligon (b. 1960, USA), Double America, 2012 - Inspiration from Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. The bright and dark Americas portrayed by Ligon allude to a country still torn apart by racial division. |
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| Børre Sæthre (b. 1967, Norway), My Private Sky, 2001 |
It was a fabulous exhibit. What an amazing collection! Since the 1960s, the Foundation has amassed Norway's most significant collection of postwar American art including a large number of conceptual sculpture and photographic works. Newer acquisitions include many Norwegian and international artists.
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| Porsche Studio/Supreme Roastworks |
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| Lovely café |
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| Allan will have "one to go". |
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| Allan and a Supreme coffee |
We walked by City Hall again. We wanted to see a mural inside, but the building was closed for a private event.
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| Labourers outside of one entrance to City Hall |
We walked over to the Deichman Public Library. There was a display outside the Library with the Nominees and Three Finalists for the City of Oslo Architecture Award 2023. It is an award for new and outstanding architecture in Oslo. The award goes to innovative and high quality architecture or landscape design. There were 11 nominees including architecture from 2022 or landscape design from the previous five years. The award ceremony and winner will be announced on October 12. The three finalists are:
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| National Museum-- with connection to the classic, existing buildings in the area: the Town Hall and the Akershus Castle. |
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| Hasle tre is a demountable wooden office building with a shingle clad façade. |
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| Reopening of the Hovinbekken stream- to give the area a recreational area with a positive effect on the local climate and provide ecological diversity and strengthened flood protection. |
Our mission at the Deichman Library was to visit a tiny, wood-panelled room that is part of a remarkable installation,
Future Library by Scottish artist Katie Patterson on the top floor. Every year from 2014-2114, a manuscript from an author is commissioned, with the stipulation that none will be read until a century has passed from the project's 2014 inauguration.
1000 trees were specifically planted for the project in the Nordmarka forest at the project's inception. In 2114, 100 manuscripts will be printed in limited-edition anthologies using paper made from the trees. The project is managed by the Future Library Trust and supported by the City of Oslo. The 'Silent Room' where the manuscripts are kept is built using wood from the original trees felled to make way for the trees planted for the project. The manuscripts are stored inside locked glass drawers.The identity of each contributing author is announced yearly in October; they then submit their manuscripts to the collection the following spring at a public 'handover ceremony' in the forest where the trees are growing. Only the title is known. Margaret Atwood provided the inaugural manuscript (2014), submitted May 27, 2015, entitled Scribbler Moon.
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| Musicians at the library overlooking the harbour |
The Future Library Space on the top floor.
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| Entrance--- all wood. |
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| Video beside the Silent Room-- the City of Oslo signed a 100 years contract with the Future Library Trust |
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| Picture from video of a 'handover' ceremony in the woods |
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| Inside the Silent room-- manuscripts in glass drawers (no shoes allowed in the room) |
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| We were able to decipher that this is where Margaret Atwood's book is placed |
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| Exit from the small room- manuscripts will be placed in lighted glass drawers |
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| Such a cool Library- heading down to the main floor |
Our final crossing of the Akerselva River to our 'hood. The four statues on the corners of the Ankerbrua Bridge up-close.
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| The River below |
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| Walking by Territoriet, the wine bar we were at a few days ago |
We were full from our late lunch at Salmon, and just finished the left-over pasta for dinner. Time to pack.
We have really enjoyed Oslo. It is a very exciting and dynamic city with a population of just under 1.1 million in 2023. Oslo had embarked on a plan to refashion itself as a major cultural destination before the pandemic struck, but it is only in the last few years that the full impact of the initiative is being felt. There have been major museum openings (Munch and the new National Museum, as well the stunning Public Library). There are striking new neighbourhoods along the city's iconic fjord, united by a harbourside promenade with many new restaurants and bars. Allan and I really enjoyed the public transit system and the lack of cars and street noise even when there were lots of people around. Oslo is miles ahead of Toronto in terms of technology--- well on the way to becoming cashless, and spending money on improving infrastructure with a strong sense of design. Architecture and art both get an A+ in this city. The newer apartment buildings we saw today, with their view of the fjord and the walkability to the City Centre are extremely attractive. It is a highly liveable city. We strongly recommend a visit.
The next blog will be from Stockholm. Most likely on Thursday September 28, Allan's birthday!!
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