What´s on at Jugendstilsenteret and KUBE in 2024?

In 2024, Jugendstilsenteret and KUBE present a diverse program featuring contamporary art, a significant update to our permanent exhibition, a major exhibition showcasing Sigurd Winge’s mixed media images, his room decorations, and depictions of herring fishing along the Møre coast.

Changes to the permanent exhibition at The Art Nouveau Centre

Jugendstilsenteret, March 1

Curator: Tove Lande

Jugendstilsenteret's collection has increased considerably in recent years, thanks to purchases by the museum as well as generous donations. In order to make more of the treasures available to the public, we are expanding the permanent collection with more rooms, and reorganizing our permanent exhibition. At the same time, we want to highlight some of the untold stories, and with that expand the established presentation of Art Nouveau in Norway.

The exhibition shows works in a wide range of techniques and materials from textiles, silver and enamel to graphic design, ceramics, glass, and furniture. Several prominent Norwegian and European Art Nouveau artists are represented, such as Frida Hansen, Gerhard Munthe, Gustav Gaudernack, Torolf Prytz, Marius Hammer, Valentin A. Kielland, Theodor Kittelsen, Thorolf Holmboe, Olaf Gulbransson, Andreas Schneider, Andreas Ollestad, Torvald Bindesbøll, Peter Behrens, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Henry van de Velde and Archibald Knox.

Terese Longva og Roar Sletteland, Talk to me, 2022. Photo: Thor Brødreskift. © Terese Longva og Roar Sletteland/ BONO.

Tragedy of the Commons

KUBE, April 18 – September 15

Artists: Brynhild Grødeland Winther, Cecilia Jonsson, Geir Tore Holm, Istvan Virag, Jessica Williams, Kamil Kak, Magnhild Øen Nordahl, Máret Ánne Sara, New Mineral Collective (Emilija Škarnulytė and Tanya Busse), Outi Pieski, Patricia Carolina, Terese Longva, and Roar Sletteland.
Curator: Solfrid Otterholm
Exhibition Coordinator: Kenneth Alme, Jacqueline Meng

The daily news flow carries an ambiguous undertone: While there are reports of increasingly clever methods for extracting air, water, and land to promote development and prosperity, we are facing a global climate and environmental crisis. The theme engages a broad audience and is the subject of an ongoing debate. The group exhibition "Tragedy of the Commons"* contributes to this ongoing conversation, and the included artists touch on various questions related to resource management. The exhibition emphasizes the artists' unique ability to express themselves on such matters. In the encounter with the audience, the works have the potential to challenge established assumptions about the past, present, and future, and the boundaries between the individual and the collective, nature and culture.

*The concept of the tragedy of the commons, which has inspired the title of the exhibition, refers to situations where individuals and groups with access to a common resource seek to maximize their own gain at the expense of the community. Over the past fifty years, the concept has fostered a broad conversation between natural science, social science, and economics.

Vestlandsutstillingen 2024

KUBE, October 3 – November 3

Artists: Unni Marie Lien, Preben Solevåg, Darryn Lee, Nora Adwan, Terje Grimen, Solfrid Aksnes, Nina Eriksson, Lars Korff Lofthus, Helge Skodvin, Amund Gravdal, Eirik Brandal, Tor Jørgen van Eijk, Eirik Falckner, Turid Sværen, Endre Aalrust, Audar Kantun, Anja Tveiterås & Fredrik Alden Thorsen.
Curator: Bjørn Hatterud

Since 2007, Jugendstilsenteret and KUBE has hosted Vestlandsutstillingen. This year, the exhibition is curated by Bjørn Hatterud and will be displayed at KUBE from October 3rd to November 3rd.

Vestlandsutstillingen (The West Land Exhibition) is an annual exhibition featuring works by artists that holds a connection to Western Norway. The exhibition aims to showcase high-quality contemporary art that reflects the art scene in Western Norway as it unfolds in local, national, and international contexts, reaching out to the rest of the country.

Sigurd Winge, Fishing boats, 1968. Photo: Porsgrunn municipality art collection. © Sigurd Winge/ BONO.

The Man behind The Boat Frieze. Sigurd Winge (1909–1970) – Material works, Graphics, and Paintings

KUBE, November 21, 2024 – March 23, 2025

Artists: Sigurd Winge, Rolf Nesch, Olav Strømme
Curator: Magne Bruteig
Project Manager: Solfrid Otterholm
Exhibition Coordinator: Kenneth Alme, Jacqueline Meng

In 2023, Sigurd Winge’s thirty-meter-long artwork The Boat Frieze “came home” to Ålesund. To mark this occasion, we present a large exhibition of Winge's art at KUBE. Based on The Boat Frieze, the exhibition will highlight Winge’s material works, his monumental art, and his depictions of herring fishing along the Møre coast. Alongside Olav Strømme and Rolf Nesch, Winge was a pioneer in Norwegian art from the late 1930s, utilizing unconventional materials such as copper, stone, glass, and wood.

The Boat Frieze adorned the facade of Norway’s pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. It was a breakthrough for Winge’s monumental art, and after the war, he became the most significant artist in this genre, with major large-scale public and private commissions. These are local artworks that cannot be displayed in an exhibition, but Winge used graphics in the development of several of his monumental works. The interplay between the large and small formats will also be emphasized in the exhibition.