Cultural cooperation between Spain and Norway
Jazz, LGBT cinema, contemporary theatre and self-portrait workshops in women’s prisons were just some of the 27 projects that were granted funds from the Cultural Diversity and Cultural Exchange Programme within the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2009-2014.
24.03.2015
Working alongside Norwegian partners has left many project promoters wanting more, and the embassy is already assisting in the search for potential project partners for the presentation of applications for, amongst others, the Creative Europe programme
The projects:
1) Contemporary Theatre Speaking
The Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting (Dramatikkens Hus) and the Spanish institution Draft. Inn developed this project, aimed at promoting the cultural exchange between contemporary Spanish and Norwegian theatre by the translation of contemporary theatre pieces from both countries.
From Norway, the works of Jon Fosse (I am the Wind) and Marit Tusvik (The Ice House) were both translated into Spanish and performed at the Teatro Español in Madrid. The two plays were also published as a book.
The exchange south-north consisted in the translation into Norwegian of the works ”Mery Monarch” and ”My Soul Elsewhere” by the Spanish playwrights Ana Fernández Valbuena and José Manuel Mora, followed by a performance at the Norwegian Centre for New Playwriting by renowned Norwegian actors such as Agnes Kittelsen and Morten Skartveit.
On their trip to Norway the playwrights Fernandez and Mora were accompanied by three Spanish journalists from the national newspapers ABC and El País and the national radio (Radio Nacional de España). They participated in the readings and gave an interview with Jon Fosse. This interview, along with a meeting between Fosse and his two Spanish colleagues, resulted in the documentary “Writing is like Praying”.
2) Social Equality through Film
The Oslo Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (Skeive Filmer) and the Spanish NGO The Triangle Foundation (Fundación Triángulo) have worked together on this co-operative project for the promotion of tolerance and elimination of prejudices. The two promoting organisations have supported directors and films which portraits lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual persons engaged in the cause of equal rights for LGBT people.
During the project, a selection on Norway’s best LGBT short films were subtitled into Spanish, and presented at the LesGaiCineMad film festival at the Cineteca (Madrid), the Valladolid International LGBT Film Festival and the University of Complutense in Madrid. The films selected highlighted themes such as the sexual identity of children and adolescents, and the question on how openly we can discuss sex and sexuality in our societies. They tell a story of tolerance, diversity and humour in the best way the short film format has to offer.
After the screenings, Spanish students, along with the rest of the audience, participated in a discussion with the filmmakers and the project organizers about the differences and similarities between Norway and Spain, and how to achieve an equal society for all.
In September 2014, the Norwegian audience got to experience a wide selection of Spanish LGBT short films at the Oslo Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, thanks to the Social Equality through Film project. The festivals in both Spain and Norway have received a lot of media attention and their messages have reached a much wider audience than normal. Some of the success of this project can be attributed to the partners desire to connect with other festivals around the world.
In February 2014, the partners visited de Berlinale, the most important event for LGBT festivals in Europe. Moreover, Norwegian and Spanish LGBT short films have now been presented in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia and Puerto Rico. Due to the project’s success, the Triangle Foundation and Oslo Gay & Lesbian Film Festival have decided to continue their collaboration at least until March 2015. The possibility of future collaboration between the Triangle Foundation, the Norwegian LGBT Association and the University of Oslo has also been discussed.
3) Encounter between North and South through Music
Music Norway and the Spanish cultural exhibition centre OFF de La Latina, with the support of the EEA Grants, developed a cultural exchange project for Spanish and Norwegian contemporary and jazz music, two countries of very different jazz traditions. While the Norwegian jazz scene is renowned for being experimental, the Spanish jazz performers have been more faithful to their musical traditions.
The project was headlined by the 1st Norwegian Contemporary Jazz Cycle organized in Madrid. The Jazz Cycle consisted in five jazz and flamenco-jazz concerts, and a workshop centred on jazz end cultural exchange. The concerts where accompanied by a roundtable discussion on how to promote Norwegian and Spanish music abroad. Participating in the debate were representatives from the Norwegian Jazz Forum, the Spanish Department of Cultural Policy and Industry and the Norwegian Embassy in Madrid.
Performing in the concerts were well-known Norwegian jazz musicians such as Nils Petter Molvaer, Arve Henriksen, Terje Isungset and Ola Kvernberg.
In addition to the promotion of Norwegian contemporary jazz through concerts, a jazz and cultural exchange was organised by a group of musicians representing Norwegian and Spanish jazz. They joined forces in an experimental concert staged by leaders in the genre Josemi Carmona, Ola Kvernberg, Pablo Martín Caminero, Steinar Raknes, Enriquito, Erik Nylander and Bandolero.
As a result of the creation of new artistic relations between Norway and Spain from this project, the Norwegian artist Hanne Tveter will launch her new album “Norske folketoner & Flamenco” with a concert at the Off de La Latina in March 2015. The Album is part of a new series of flamenco-jazz music.
4) The King of Icod: Arnold Haukeland exhibition in Tenerife
The Haukeland Collection, responsible for the conserving and promotion of the works of Norwegian sculptor Arnold Haukeland, and the cultural centre of Tenerife Espacio de las Artes cooperated on this project, aimed at promoting new Norwegian sculptors in Spain and organising an exhibition of the works of made by Haukeland during the years he lived on the island.
Arnold Haukeland is recognised as one of the most important sculptors in the history of Norwegian art, known primarily for his monumental sculptors that are present in many Norwegian cities. Between 1968 and 1975, Haukeland lived and worked in the small Tenerifian village of Icod de los Vinos, where he and his wife Randi converted an old farmhouse into an art studio. The house, named Casa Randi, still functions as a local art studio.
The years in Tenerife influenced Haukeland’s artistic expression. Some of his most important sculptors were designed on the island and later built and installed in public spaces in Norway. The exhibition highlighted how Spanish culture influenced Haukeland. The life and art of the Norwegian sculptor was extended by including the works of contemporary artists Mathias Faldbakken, Marius Ebgh, Ida Ekblad and Sverre Wyller in the exhibition, who have all been influenced by Haukeland’s work.
5) Her/Story. Women Behind the Camera.
The exploration of the feminine self-representation of women in the north and the south of Europe, and the perception of the female body in two geographically different European countries: Norway and Spain. This was the starting point of this Spanish-Norwegian art project, which also involved the participation of women in prisons.
The project was led by the Spanish artist Cristina Núñez, who after a troubled past has become a renowned photographer, famous for her pioneering way of capturing and transforming emotions into art. In the process, Núñez collaborated with two Norwegian project partners: the Norwegian artist Lotte Konow Lund, participating in the first part of the project, and the Oslo Photo Art School, participating in the second part.
The first encounter between Lotte Konow Lund and Núñez took place in Barcelona in November 2013. Here they filmed a six-hour conversation in which they spoke about their different conceptions of contemporary art. The recordings were later used by the two artists to edit their own 20-minute personal interpretation of the conversation. Despite the fruitful conversation between the two artists, it became clear that they represented two very different views on contemporary art and women’s place in European societies. While Núñez sees her art as self-therapy, Konow Lund wishes to separate her art from her personal life. Konow Lund therefore decided to leave the project. This disagreement reflects the contrast between the rational and the emotional, and perhaps also the differences between the two societies.
Oslo Photo Art School, representing a younger generation and a more experimental approach, were involved in the project after the exit of Konow Lund. Nine students participated in a self-portrait workshop at the school in Oslo by Cristina Núñez and her curator Carolina Lio. After the workshop, Lio gave the students an assignment: to produce a series of photographs about the feminine body and emotions.
Núñez, who has held self-portrait workshops in Spanish prisons since 2009, visited in July 2014 Bredtveit (Norway) and Brians 1 (Spain) women’s prisons where she arranged a workshop to help inmates transform their emotions into works of art, and to find their potential and boost their self-esteem. A journalist from the Norwegian newspaper magazine of A-magasinet by Aftenposten followed Núñez in the process. This resulted in the article “Feminine forbrytere. På innsiden av Bredtveit kvinnefengsel”. Article in Norwegian i A-magasinet
A selection of results from this project were exhibited at the H2O Gallery in Barcelona, at El Patio de Martín los Heros in Madrid and at the Oslo Photo Art School, and contributed to bringing up for discussion between geographically distant women the topics of both femininity and women’s role in society.
6) Other projects
In addition to the projects mentioned above, three other collaboration projects between partners from Spain, Iceland and Liechtenstein received funds from the EEA Grants Cultural Diversity and Cultural Exchange Programme. Funds were also granted to 19 artists for the purpose of participating in study trips and exchange programmes.