Welcome to the Triennale Exhibition 2007
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts’ major annual show at the National Museum – Design (at the Museum of Applied Arts). The Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts and the Museum have a long history of productive collaboration and we hope that this will continue in the future. The jury is composed of Irene Nordli, Vidar Koksvik, Jorun Kraft Mo, Ann-Kathrin Samuelsen and myself, in addition to Jakob Robertsson from Sweden, and has had a demanding job. Works by circa 200 artists have been evaluated and 49 artists with 76 works have made it through the eye of the needle. This year’s jury wished to give precedence to works that touch the viewer and succeed in creating a dialogue between themselves and their surroundings.
In 2002, when the decision was made to discontinue the traditional annual show representing all mediums in favour of material-based triennials, the motive was a desire for greater depth and an improved overall view of what was happening within the various specialized fields. The question now is whether material-based exhibitions of this kind belong to the past. For the most part today’s artists do not identify with one material alone. They express themselves with great ease in several materials simultaneously.
A conspicuous trait of this year’s exhibition is that it is first and foremost an arena for young artists. This gives us an opportunity to get a glimpse at what the young practitioners of the profession are preoccupied with. The news this year is that the amount of the Craft Prize has been increased to Nok 100 000, thanks to Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond (Relief Fund for Visual Artists). The Craft Prize is a prestigious award and the generous new amount of the prize will hardly make it less attractive for talented craft artists.
Randi Gaustad
Senior Curator
The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design