The Kistefos Museum closed for the winter season on November 17th after experiencing a great success this autumn due to the opening of The Twist, a new building dedicated to temporary exhibitions.
Kistefos Museum isn`t an ordinary museum: it includes one of the largest contemporary sculpture parks in Northern Europe whose sculptures are placed between and around industrial buildings that date back to the 19th century; two art galleries, one in the building that previously hosted the pulp mill and one in a brand new structure, The Twist. Not intrigued yet? Well, what if all of this was immersed in the unspoiled Norwegian nature only a couple of hours north from the capital city?
The sculpture park
The sculpture park opened in 1999 and while it was initially focused on Norwegian artists, it now shows a wide variety of international names. Among the many acknowledged artists that have produced the 46 statues, the internationally acclaimed Bjarne Melgaard deserves a mention. The sculpture exhibited in the park, Octopus, was part of the exhibition “More Priks than Kicks” presented at Astrup Fearnley museum in 1998. Made of different segments that seem to arise from underground, the bronze sculpture was originally placed on the museum floor. Now at Kistefos the sculpture has found its natural location by the river where the sea animal seems to rise smiling from the water.
Every year since 2005 the museum has introduced a site-specific sculpture thoughtfully made to dialogue with the unique environment of Kistefos. This year Yayoi Kusama`s Shine of Life was placed in the park in May after a long process that started in 2012. Inspired by the nature and history of Kistefos the renewed Japanese artist has created giant red and white dotted tentacles that grow from the water as “a hymn of humanity for superlative peace and hope for the future” (Yayoi Kusama). The work is located at the very entrance of the park and it is Yayoi Kusama`s biggest sculpture in Scandinavia.
The Twist
Walking by the Randelven river, further away from the industrial buildings, a spectacular white structure appears behind the artificial island that hosts Anish Kapoor`s “S-curve”. The Twist opened on September 18th 2019 and has soon become a must see for architects. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group BIG, The Twist stands out as a futuristic construction that evolves into an “impossible form”, into a twist. There is no need of any knowledge in architecture to understand the grandiosity of this structure which seems to define new lows of physics: the massive building is suspended on the river supported only by straight aluminium panels. In fact, The Twist was thought as a hybrid identity that satisfies several purposes: being a museum, a bridge and an inhabitable sculpture. Continuing the sculptural park, The Twist also marks its final point and creates a continuous circular path in the landscape focused around the Randelven.
The Twist hosts temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The inaugural exhibition has brought together painter and print maker Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) and artist Martin Creed (1968) who share the conviction that art can offer a space of introspection and an insight into human emotions. In the 15.000 square foot gallery works by the two artist are arranged side by side: Hodgkin`s paintings and prints hung on the wooden walls while Creed`s works take up the central space. Hodgkin, by scattering dots and lines of colour on wooden panels, sticks to the opinion that thoughts and feelings are intangible, Creed, instead, asks the public to give meaning and reflect upon their experience of everyday life. His inputs consist of daily objects organized in a specific order such as a series of nails hammered to the wall or a series of boxes in different sizes put one on the of the other. The combination of their artistic practice aims to explore how people interact with their emotions and how are they generated and shown in daily life.
Kistefosmuseum provides a round experience of history, art and nature. The many facets of this place have made it one of the must see for locals and tourists in the area. The old wood pulp factory has been converted into a museum that combines old and new, history and art, beauty and roughness. Art has transformed a working, rough place which was connected to the harshness of life, into a place of great opposites and fascinating contrasts.
Sources: https://www.kistefosmuseum.com/