Ultimo Scenario
Haukeland University Hospital
18-21 February 2017
Haukeland University Hospital
18-21 February 2017
The old Children’s Clinic at Haukeland University Hospital will be demolished during 2017 to make way for Bergen's new Children and Youth Hospital. In a collaboration with VISP, Kunstfrisk and Haukeland University Hospital have initiated an exhibition at the premises of the Children’s Clinic 18-21 February 2017. The exhibition is curated by Elias Björn, Gard Andreas Frantzsen and Jane Sverdrupsen. Coordinator of the exhibition is Daniela Ramos Arias.
"Ultimo Scenario" shows works by 15 artists who have been chosen specifically for their ability and interest in working with site-specific projects. The artists have been invited to shed light on aspects of the Children Clinic’s history and its role in society over the 66 years it has existed. The clinic provides in an artistic sense an interesting context that the artists have been encouraged to explore according to their own interests and practices.
In order to By emphasizing diversity in the selection process the curators have chosen artists that employ a wide range of methodologies and thematic approaches in their practices. Topics the artists explore span from the building's architectural history to personal experiences as next of kin at the clinic. Several artists have appropriated found materials on the premises that was deemed useless by the hospital as the clinic closed down, others again make use of sound and images connected to the site.
The exhibition provides a last opportunity to experience to the building that has had its lifespan in a period that coincides with what has been deemed as Norway's golden age, from the postwar period to the present day.
Participating artists: Daniela Ramos Arias, Karin Blomgren, Samuel Brzeski, Eleanor Clare, Anne Marthe Dyvi, Duncan Higgins, Rasmus Andreas Hungnes, Cecilia Jonsson, Gabriel Kvendseth, Anne Helen Mydland, Suvi Nieminen, Charlotte Piene, Corrina Thornton, Sveinung Rudjord Unneland & Borghild Rudjord Unneland
The history of the Children’s Clinic:
The Children’s Clinic was designed by architect Gustav Birck-Lundgren, and the functionalist building was completed in 1950. The clinic was a liberation gift from Sweden on the initiative of the ombudsman in the Swedish Trade Union LO, Nils Goude. In a short timespan, more than six million Swedish kroner was raised (equivalent in today's money to more than 100 million). In addition, there was 4.3 million Swedish kronor which was left over from "Svenska Norgehjälpen." A large proportion of the money went to build the clinic at Haukeland Hospital. Despite that the consensus was that there would be significant operating costs with a new children's hospital, the gift from Sweden was received with great enthusiasm in Bergen and Norway. The cornerstone was laid on 27 August 1947 and contained a lead casket with a type of parchment that explained the "Svenska Norgehjälpens Freedom Gift," a full set of drawings of the construction works, as well as a set of all Norwegian coins from 1947. Not only did the money come from Sweden but the Children’s Clinic was built by a Swedish entrepreneur with Swedish workers, and all materials except sand and all the furnishings were sent from Lysekil in Sweden to Bergen.
The Children’s Clinic was designed by architect Gustav Birck-Lundgren, and the functionalist building was completed in 1950. The clinic was a liberation gift from Sweden on the initiative of the ombudsman in the Swedish Trade Union LO, Nils Goude. In a short timespan, more than six million Swedish kroner was raised (equivalent in today's money to more than 100 million). In addition, there was 4.3 million Swedish kronor which was left over from "Svenska Norgehjälpen." A large proportion of the money went to build the clinic at Haukeland Hospital. Despite that the consensus was that there would be significant operating costs with a new children's hospital, the gift from Sweden was received with great enthusiasm in Bergen and Norway. The cornerstone was laid on 27 August 1947 and contained a lead casket with a type of parchment that explained the "Svenska Norgehjälpens Freedom Gift," a full set of drawings of the construction works, as well as a set of all Norwegian coins from 1947. Not only did the money come from Sweden but the Children’s Clinic was built by a Swedish entrepreneur with Swedish workers, and all materials except sand and all the furnishings were sent from Lysekil in Sweden to Bergen.
The Children’s Clinic was the oldest and second largest children's hospital in the country when it was recently shut down. It treated newborns and pediatric patients until the age of 15. The clinic had a vast area of expertise, and in addition to handling children with acute illness in the region, it has also had many children and adolescents with chronic and prolonged illness.
About the project «Kunsten å bli frisk»: (The Art of Recovery):
In collaboration Kunstfrisk, Haukeland University Hospital and the Children and Youth Clinic have established the project "The art of recovery." The project wants to support chronically ill children, by giving them the opportunity to show that they can and are more than their illness. The project will offer creative work as a supplement to ongoing treatment and promote research in the field. The results of the work, alongside with contributions by young and established artists, will form the basis of an annual art auction in the Grieg Hall. The first auction will be held on 14 April 2018. Revenues in the project will go to research in the field "Children and Youth." "Ultimo Scenario" will in addition to giving the old Children’s Clinic a worthwhile and different closure also be a Kick-Off for the project «Kunsten å bli frisk».
In collaboration Kunstfrisk, Haukeland University Hospital and the Children and Youth Clinic have established the project "The art of recovery." The project wants to support chronically ill children, by giving them the opportunity to show that they can and are more than their illness. The project will offer creative work as a supplement to ongoing treatment and promote research in the field. The results of the work, alongside with contributions by young and established artists, will form the basis of an annual art auction in the Grieg Hall. The first auction will be held on 14 April 2018. Revenues in the project will go to research in the field "Children and Youth." "Ultimo Scenario" will in addition to giving the old Children’s Clinic a worthwhile and different closure also be a Kick-Off for the project «Kunsten å bli frisk».
The exhibition was supported by Haukeland University Hospital, Faculty of Art, Music and Design - UiB, VISP, BEK (Bergen Center for Electronic Arts) and Lydgalleriet.
Essay on Colour, video installation (27 min looping)
Anne Marthe Dyvi
Anne Marthe Dyvi
Ord som kutter, skjærer, graver, skrur
site-specific installation
Anne Helen Mydland
site-specific installation
Anne Helen Mydland
Myke strukturer, installation with the curtains of Barneklinikken
Sveinung Rudjord Unneland & Borghild Rudjord Unneland
Sveinung Rudjord Unneland & Borghild Rudjord Unneland
Uten titel (mark), shape carved in wall
Karin Blomgren
Karin Blomgren
Murmur, site-specific sound installation in collaboration with Trond Lossius and BEK (Bergen senter for Elektronisk Kunst)
Daniela Ramos Arias
Daniela Ramos Arias
PURPLE POSTULATES, site-specific interactive installation
Gabriel Kvendseth
Gabriel Kvendseth
Logotype of LO (Norway)
Logotype of LO (Sweden)
Moment, wall installation with foiled steelbars
Suvi Nieminen
Suvi Nieminen
Haem, mixed media installation
Cecilia Jonsson
Cecilia Jonsson
Asclepeion, installation
Rasmus Andreas Hungnes
Rasmus Andreas Hungnes
I have never been concave, but I have been hollow, drawing and ink on paper
Expectant hearts beat, mine tremors with a new role, drawing and ink on paper
Corrina Thornton
Expectant hearts beat, mine tremors with a new role, drawing and ink on paper
Corrina Thornton
Three Rooms (blue), site-specific installation in three rooms
Samuel Brzeski
Samuel Brzeski
Tilbake står det tomme rom, 4-channel sound installation
Charlotte Piene
Charlotte Piene
My Horn is a Chalice, 4-channel sound installation
Eleanor Clare
Eleanor Clare
Where the eyes never see, installation with polyphonic, disputed and displaced narratives
Duncan Higgins
Duncan Higgins
