FOLKEARKIVET | NERDLAND, TROLL OG FANEMARK

Kurant Visningsrom is pleased to present the first major presentation of Folkearkivet in Northern Norway.

Folkearkivet was founded in 2024 by artist Ole Petter Ribe, inspired by Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane's project Folk Archive from 2005. Similar to Deller and Kane, Ribe explores national identity through alternative creative expressions. In addition to documenting and communicating folk phenomena, Folkearkivet actively aims to preserve every-day culture in alternative ways.

"Nerdland, Troll and Fanemark" is a new collection of attractions and leisure art from Northern Norway, curated by visual artist Ole Petter Ribe. He has traveled through the region, meeting people with unique stories and creations.

The exhibition highlights regional creative expressions created outside of institutional practices – from activist performances to rural inventions. Among the works are the 9-meter-tall Santa Gollis in Lyngseidet, contributions from Sparkiaden, Even Bie Larsen's wooden “whistles””, and banners from defunct schools in Troms.

In connection with the exhibition, concert, film screening, banner workshop, and a restoration dugnad for Gollis will be held. Participants include Øistein Hanssen, Vladimir Pliassov, the ukulele choir UNN-q-lele, concervators Anna Buduson og Ingrid Sørgaard, filmmaker Carl Christian Lein Størmer og bannermaker Storm Drabitius.

Contributors: Chris Jakobsen, Eilert Nikolaisen, Erik Myrvoll og Renate Myrvoll, Even Bie-Larsen, Jan Hugo Eriksen, Kjell Mikal Bjørklid, Leif Rubach, Linn Karoliussen Hvassum, Ola Giæver, Olderbakken skole, Sjursnes skole, Somarøy skole, Stian Kallander, Vengsøya skole, Werner Kiil, Willy Strømmen, Ukrainsk Forening i Norge.

Participators: Amalie Holthen, Carlo Alfredo Morte III, Carl Christian Lein Strømer, Carl Erik Friedemann, Eline Benjaminsen, Girjegumpi, Henrik Sørlid, Jette Graaner, Magnus Skei Holmen, Marita Isobel Solberg, Niels Nielsen, Robert Julian Hvistendahl, Storm Drabitius og Trastad Samlinger.

Ole Petter Ribe thanks all the passionate individuals – amateurs and guerrilla artists, knitting guilds and supporters clubs, fan forums and cover bands, restless youth and eternal outsiders!

ABOUT OLE PETTER RIBE

Ole Petter Ribe (b. 1995) is an artist based in Oslo working with installation, sculpture, text, and archival practice. He graduated from the Art Academy at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and holds a bachelor’s degree in animation from the University College of Volda. Ribe runs Materialbanken Oslo, a platform for circulating recycled materials for creative projects, together with artists Amalie Holthen and Robert Julian Hvistendahl.

In 2024, he started Folkearkivet, a research project that collects and contextualizes contemporary folk art, explores fan culture, and recreates local creative inventions. Through his work, Ribe examines alternative narratives and the creative power of communities.