Springbrett 2025 - OPEN CALL for young curators

Curators aged 24-35 are invited to submit an exhibition proposal taking its starting point in works from the Christen Sveaas Art Foundation, together with works outside the collection from early-career artists. The successful curator will be selected by an international jury consisting of highly regarded art professionals. The exhibitions will form the basis for an exciting and dynamic education programme that aims to attract a young museum audience. The goal of Springbrett is to raise the profile of young curators, artists and art educators in the Norwegian art field. The project is supported by funding from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Springbrett 2025

Important information:

Exhibition venue: Nybruket Gallery (2nd floor), Kistefos

Research and planning period: March – May 2025

Exhibition Opening: June 2025

Proposals from both individual curators and curatorial collectives are welcome.

The exhibition must include works from the Christen Sveaas Art Foundation as well as works from outside the collection – the latter can also be new commissions. Works from outside the collection should be by young and/or early-career artists based in Norway.

The Corporeal and Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a term which has been widely used in discussions around feminism, racism and discrimination. It refers to how social categories such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexual orientation, age and disability intersects and affect people’s living conditions. Thinking intersectionally is to encompass these complexities – allowing nuances and contradictions to co-exist when it comes to questions around power structures and how people experience the world differently.

In 2025, the art at Kistefos will explore the body as a site for intersectional identities and conversations. In this context, the body becomes a metaphor for how the overlapping categories listed above affect how individuals are seen, felt and understood in the world. The artists which will be presented in 2025 explore these themes in different ways: The Twist galleries will show paintings of abstracted bodies which seem to be in constant flux, never fixed and refusing to be defined. By fragmenting and presenting the body in ambiguous forms, the artist visualizes the complexities and contradictions of an intersectional identity. In the sculpture park, Kistefos has commissioned a new work evoking associations to body parts and prothesis. The materiality of the sculpture points to the vulnerability of the body and touches on questions about both repairing, improving and changing the body, who has access to or wants to do this, and how such interventions intersect with other identity markers. In Nybruket Galleri’s first floor, an exhibition will present sculptures reminiscent of everyday objects and food, such as rotten fruit. Using recycled materials of varying value, the artist stages contradictions between the organic and the artificial, which opens up for explorations of themes such as decay, decadence and desire – particularly in the context of today’s consumer society.

The corporeal and intersectionality can be broadly interpreted, and touches on how bodies are constantly subjected to social and cultural pressures. This includes technology and machines, and how these entities use and affect the body and our life experience, as existing power dynamics are often incorporated in them. One can also think about how bodies interact with each other and their surroundings, and how this is visually represented in art. This could include Kistefos’ particular surroundings, consisting of old industrial buildings, brand new architecture, encompassing nature and, not least, the now absent bodies that made up the workforce in the old wood pulp factory.

Springbrett OPEN CALL invites young curators to think around and be inspired by these themes in their approach and development of an exhibition concept.

What we offer:

• Stipend: The curator will receive a stipend of NOK 75 000 for their work.
• Masterclass: Professional development through dedicated masterclass sessions.
• Skills development: Professional experience at an internationally recognised museum of contemporary art.
• Experience collection curating: Valuable experience of curating from an art collection of international caliber.
• Travel grant: Financial support for travelling expenses.
• Exhibition budget to cover: Transport, production, installation, printed materials and wall texts. The total budget will need to be agreed in dialogue with Kistefos.
• Production and technical assistance: Technical assistance to realise the project.
• New international networks.

Who can apply?

Springbrett OPEN CALL is open to curators based in Norway who are between 24 and 35 years old. We are looking for a young curator who is early in their career. You should have graduated (with at least a BA level degree, and preferably an MA level degree) and have some working experience from the art field (you may have worked in an art institution or executed one or more of your own curatorial projects). However, work experience is not a formal criteria to apply. We also welcome applicants with different paths into the arts, and who believe they will benefit from and be able to carry out an innovative exhibition project at Kistefos.

Christen Sveaas Art Foundation

Christen Sveaas Art Foundation was established by Christen Sveaas in October 2019. The goal of the foundation is to manage, protect, convey and lend artworks from the foundation’s collection to promote Norwegian and international art from the last 100 years. More than 850 artworks were donated to the foundation from Christen Sveaas’ private collection. Increasing access to the collection for a wider audience is an important goal for the foundation. To achieve this, the foundation collaborates closely with Norwegian and international institutions on temporary exhibitions, long-term loans and collection displays. Reproducing the works in exhibition catalogues and creating new text material are important parts of this work and help keep the works alive and relevant for new generations.

Access to Christen Sveaas’ Art Foundation can be found here: https://csk.art/.