Category: News

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

Post author By Anna Safemuse
Post date March 2, 2023

"Landless Tree" - EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

March 2, 2023

Photo credit: Camilla Norvoll

"Landless Tree" - migration, destruction and resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

In her first EP release, Ghawgha Taban sings about a “tree without a land”. About an eternally displaced body filled with memories of migration both as a direct personal experience and as a legacy of generations of “Afghan-Iranians” or “Afrans”. A strong debut from Ghawgha, a brave singer who, together with some of Norway’s leading musicians, Anja Lauvdal (keyboard), Morten Qvenild (keyboard etc.) and Paal Nilssen-Love (percussion), conveys frustration, anger and hope.

Photo credit: JLE/ Safemuse

In April 2022, Ghawgha was welcomed as a guest artist to Safe Music Haven Harstad, a city in the north of Norway dedicated to welcoming persecuted musical artists under the ICORN Cities of Refuge Network and Norsk PEN’s program in Norway, and in cooperation with Safemuse. Since her arrival she has worked on the development the repertoire for the EP “Landless Tree”, and more is to come. The recording is produced by the Safemuse label LIDIO with support from The Audio and Visual Fund (Fond for lyd og bilde) and the City of Harstad, and is a musical triptych that invites the listener to the experience of younger generations of “Afrans”, as a complex legacy of migrations, destruction and resilience.

Photo credit: JLE/ Safemuse

Ghawgha does not use the established term Afghans for the people of Afghanistan, but mixes both Afghanistan and Iran to refer to herself; “Afrans”. This clarifies a complicated, multi-layered recent history. Afghans originally refers to specific groups of Pashtuns, one of the largest ethnic groups in modern society in Afghanistan. But Ghawgha is Hazara, a large minority in both Afghanistan and Iran, who have been persecuted and subjected to genocide since 1880 by Afghanistan’s Pashtuns. King Abdur Rahman Khan (1880-1901) ordered several raids against Hazaras, which resulted in the extermination of a significant part of this population, through direct massacres and through the rape and enslavement of Hazara women. As a group, the Hazaras became the target of brutal political and societal racism that is still ongoing.

Photo credit: JLE/ Safemuse

“Away from home” is a traditional Hazara lullaby from Bamiyan, the site where the Taliban blew up the two giant Buddha statues in March 2001. Although it is often interpreted as an act of religious fundamentalism, the reasons behind this are much more intricate, and also clearly linked to the identity politics set in motion by Abdur Rahman Khan’s genocide and destruction of Hazara culture. The tune is a Hazara folk tune that reached Ghawgha through oral transmission, against all odds.

More information at LIDIO

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

About us Support us “Landless Tree” – EP debut by Ghawgha Taban Photo credit: Camilla Norvoll “Landless Tree” – migration, destruction and resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban In her first EP release, Ghawgha Taban sings about a “tree without a land”. About an eternally displaced body filled with memories of migration both as a

“Landless Tree” – EP debut by Ghawgha Taban Photo credit: Camilla Norvoll “Landless Tree” – migration, destruction and resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban In her first EP release, Ghawgha Taban sings about a “tree without a land”. About an eternally displaced body filled with memories of migration

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Fri Kunst News

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Post author By Anna Safemuse
Post date February 8, 2023

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FRI KUNST - under autoritære regimer: 3. mars

February 8, 2023

FRI KUNST – under autoritære regimer, fredag 3. mars 2023.

Safemuse inviterer til den årlige markeringen av Fri Kunst på Riksscenen – en feiring av kunstnernes unike posisjon til å beskrive, utforske og utfordre vår tidsånd, og til å belyse og avkle maktutøvelse som på ulike måter forhindrer eller nekter kunstnerne friheten til å skape og fremføre.

Vi markerer med en dagskonferanse som inkluderer sterke kunstneriske innlegg og bidrag, og der vi også slipper tre nye SAFE-kortfilmer med møter mellom ulike kunstnere med svært ulike forutsetninger til å kunne være kunstnere.

Tema er Fri kunst under autoritære regimer. På Riksscenen løfter vi frem historier og erfaringer fra sensurerte, forfulgte og truede kunstneres liv, for så å spørre:
– Hva kan vi gjøre?
– Hvilke strategier kan vi finne for internasjonal solidaritet og konkret handling?

Årets program vil veksle mellom ulike kunstneriske bidrag fra Safemuse’ residenskunstnere og faglige samtaler for så å avsluttes med en plateslipp-konsert med den afghanske hazara-sangeren Ghawgha Taban, fribymusiker i Harstad, i samspill med Anja Lauvdal og Marianna Sangita A Røe.

PROGRAM

12:00 – Velkomst: Ane Carmen Roggen, Riksscenen og Celina Jerman Bright-Taylor, Safemuse

12:05 – Åpningstale: Marianne Borgen, ordfører i Oslo

12:15 – Kunstnerisk appell: Jae Nyamburah, artist

12:25 – Dans: Carlos Catun/ «Gato» (Guatemala), tidligere residenskunstner hos Safemuse

12:30 – The State of Artistic Freedom: Sverre Pedersen, styreleder i Freemuse,

12:45 – Visning av .SAFE-kortfilm #2.2: Nikan Koshravi & Arash Ilkhani (Iran), Confess/ tidligere fribymusikere i Harstad i samtale med Anders Odden, artist

12:50 – Panelsamtale om levde erfaringer: Kunstnere deler fortellinger om livet under autoritære regimer, diskuterer verdien fri kunst og kunstneres rolle i samfunnet. Ghawgha Taban (Afghanistan), fribymusiker i Harstad, Sina Winter (Iran), tidligere residensmusiker hos Safemuse. Moderator er Sara Christophersen, PRIO. (Denne panelsamtalen foregår på engelsk)

13:45 – Pause

14:10 – Waves of Future: Presentasjon av Safemuse sine residensprogram.

14:20 – Visning av .SAFE-kortfilm #2.1 av Chong Wang (Kina), residenskunstner hos Safemuse i samtale med Ellen Horn, skuespiller, tidligere teatersjef og kulturminister

14:30 – Panelsamtale om kunstnerisk ytringsfrihet i autoritære regimer: Utfordringer og tiltak som kreves for å støtte kunstnere. Hvilke muligheter finnes det lokalt, nasjonal og globalt?

Celina Jerman Bright-Taylor, daglig leder, Safemuse, Eivor Evenrud, Leder for kultur- og utdanningsutvalget (Ap), Oslo kommune, Astrid Kvalbein, rektor ved Norges Musikkhøgskole, Sofie Marhaug, Rødts stortingsgruppe. Moderator: Laila Bokhari, statsviter og tidligere statssekretær.

15:20 – Kort oppsummering: Jan Lothe Eriksen, Safemuse. Visning av .SAFE-kortfilm #2.3: Ghawgha Taban i samtale med Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir, artist

15:30 – Pause

15:50 – Konsert: Ghawgha Taban – vokal (fribymusiker i Harstad), Anja Lauvdal – tangenter og Marianna Sangita A. Røe – perkusjon

16:30 – 17:30 – Vi samles med litt mat og drikke

Fri Kunst faller sammen med den internasjonale Music Freedom Day, som er en global markering og feiring av kunstnerisk frihet for musikere 3. mars hvert år, initiert av Freemuse i 2007 og med lokale feiringer av kunstnerisk frihet over hele verden.
Safemuse har markert Music Freedom Day årlig siden 2015 med konferanser og konserter – først i Harstad og i Oslo fra 2017. I 2023 markerer vi, i tillegg til 3. mars på Riksscenen, med nettbasert aksjon på sosiale medier.

Vi serverer lett mat og drikke, og det vil være sosial samling etter programmet er ferdig. Velkommen!

Tid: 3. mars kl. 11:30 – 17:30
Sted: Riksscenen, Oslo
Fri entre/påmelding: Påmelding Fri kunst 2023forms.office.com

En del av den internasjonale markeringen av Music Freedom Day

Med støtte fra Fritt Ord, Norsk kulturråd og Harstad kommune

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

Meet our new staff members

Post author By Anna Safemuse
Post date January 25, 2023

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Meet our new staff members

January 25, 2023

Edvard Valberg and Anna Talbot are Safemuse´s newest members. Edvard and Anna started working in January and will take part in Safemuses projects and activities until autumn 2023.

Edvard Valberg is the singer of the punk band Honningbarna. The band has received awards such as Spellemannprisen, Bendiksenprisen and P3Gull, and they have toured internationally for ten years. He holds a bachelor and master´s degree in musicology from the University in Oslo. His master thesis revolves around chaos as an artistic practice and explores the framework of establishing an artistic actionism based on the experiences from his own artistic practice and post-structuralist theory. Edvard will be working on developing workshops, talks, seminars and exhibitions, as well as putting the artists in residence in contact with local artist.

What does artistic freedom mean to you?

“The freedom to create is to me both a universal and local, at the same time determined and stumbling, struggle for us all to invent new – or bring back forgotten – ways of becoming human. By exploring imagery, sound, touch and movement art hits us like sensory epiphanies and shapes new ways of being. This makes art a life-affirming and unpredictable force and makes art dangerous in the eyes of authorities. Artists have been easy pickings for regimes through the ages, and they continue to be so; the freedom and safety of artists is diminishing. Although this suppression might stem from different power dynamics in different societies it has similar results: the world becomes more stale, hostile, boring and inhumane. I very much look forward to working alongside my colleagues at Safemuse to create spaces for artists to do what they have to do.”

Anna Talbot is a jewellery artist who lives and works in Oslo. She has a bachelor´s degree in art history and literature from the University of Bergen, a bachelor´s degree in jewellery, silversmithing and allied crafts from London Metropolitan University and a MFA in metal and jewellery from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. She has exhibited extensively both in Norway and internationally, with four solo exhibitions and she has been part of several group exhibitions and worked as a curator. She has also made several public art commissions for schools. Anna has received several grants and awards, in 2015 she was awarded a 10-year work grant and in 2017 she received The Scheibler Award for Crafts. She has worked as an artist in residence in London, as a teacher at Oslo National Academy of the Arts, with exhibitions at The National Library and has also been on the board of RAM Gallery and The Norwegian Association of Arts and Crafts. Anna will be working with communication, social media and general administration.

What does artistic freedom mean to you?

“Artistic freedom lies at the core of all artistic practice. To be free to create, express yourself and show your work without fear of censorship and persecution is fundamental to all artistic expression. Art should be a safe space to ask important questions and challenge norms, power structures and the establishment.

Art can be a way of building understanding, cooperation and acceptance of each other across borders, languages and societal structures and this is something that has to be protected.

As an artist who has exhibited all over the world and met people from all walks of life, I see the unique position of artists and the importance to protect their rights, freedom of expression and to be able to live freely without fear of persecution and censorship.

I look forward to working with the team at Safemuse and learning more about the different challenges and experiences artist from all over the world encounter.”

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

News Project Safe Residencies

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Post author By Akari
Post date January 6, 2023

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OPEN CALL: Whose voices are being heard? - Exchange program for artists from Poland and Norway 2023

January 6, 2023

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTIC RESIDENCY IN WROCLAW, POLAND 2023

We invite artists to apply for the residency exchange “Whose voices are being heard?” organised by the Wrocław Institute of Culture (Wrocław/PL), Hvitsten Salong (Hvitsten/NO) and Safemuse (Oslo/NO). The project benefits from funding received from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA funds. The artistic residency exchange between Poland and Norway aims to equalise opportunities and visibility for artists belonging to minorities, creating safe and inclusive spaces for artistic work. It focuses on integrating foreign and minority artists living in Poland and Norway into the mainstream of cultural and artistic life in these countries.

In 2023, six artists from Poland will have the opportunity to go on a month-long residency in Hvitsten and take part in the local art and music festival Hvitsten Salong 2023, and six artists from Norway will be invited to the Wrocław Institute of Culture (WIK) and participate in a closing exhibition in autumn 2023. In Hvitsten, Norway, there will also be one artist at risk chosen from outside the Schengen area who will stay for a longer period. All artists will be supported by curators, in the adaptation, research and creative process. The application deadline is February 6^th, 2023.

When will the residencies take place?

The residencies will take place from spring to autumn 2023, on dates agreed upon between the selected artists and the hosting organisations.

Who can apply?

The call is aimed at artists, focusing especially (but not exclusively) on female artists that are migrants or belong to minority groups, at different stages of their career:

→ representing various fields of contemporary art (mainly visual arts, but also performing arts and others)

→ living or residing in Norway, including foreign artists living in Norway

→ who are interested in themes related to migration, inclusion, majority-minority relations, engaged art, art made in public space, the role of the artist and art in society and social change.

→ who wants to go for a month-long residency in Wrocław, in 2023 and show their work at the residency closing exhibition in autumn 2023 in Wrocław. Detailed dates of the residency are agreed upon together with WIK.

How to submit the application?

To apply for the residency, please send by e-mail, in English;

→ a portfolio in .pdf format and a CV (max. 10 MB) in English;

→ answers to the questions (1,500-2,000 characters with spaces):

Why would you like to participate in the project?
What would you like to work on during your residency?
What topics move you most in your artistic work?

The application deadline is 6^th of February, 2023.

Please send your application by email to: hvitstensalong@gmail.com and post@safemuse.org with the following title: [YOUR NAME] – Whose voices are being heard?

About the residency program

Selected artists will receive an artistic fee and accommodation. They will work with a local curator and have the opportunity to create art in a safe environment and to learn about the cultural life in Poland and Wroclaw. In addition, the project “Whose voices are being heard?” offers an educational component for artists with the aim of professionalising their work. The selected artists will work in an international environment and have the chance to learn about the work of the host institution and the local community. The project is carried out in collaboration with the NGO Safemuse, which supports artists at risk.

Partners

The Wroclaw Institute of Culture (WIK) is a legacy organisation preparing and implementing for the Wrocław European Capital of Culture 2016. Today it continues to run activities focusing on creating and co-creating artistic, cultural and educational programs for different communities situated between the artistic-, cultural- and educational, focusing on co-creating and art animation for different communities. The AiR program supports mobility of artists from different fields to further develop their artistic praxis.

WIK wants to be a bridge between the institutional field of culture and active citizens, creators, artists and the non-governmental sector. We create opportunities for cooperation, test new formats of activities, identify and research trends and support innovative, non-commercial artistic and cultural initiatives.

We are an institution with a flexible and agile programming structure which can be easily adapted to the challenges posed by a dynamically changing world. In our program we focus on such areas as: competences, support and networking.

Hvitsten Salong is an art institution run by artists and professionals from the world of art and culture. With its experience in organising artistic events, including the annual Hvitsten Salong art and music festival, and its cross-sectoral approach, the institution contributes to the development and creation of innovative solutions for culture. It reaches a wide and diverse audience by exhibiting art in Hvitsten’s public spaces. The initiative also includes an educational program for children and youth.

Safemuse was founded on the initiative of several art organisations in Norway with the purpose of protecting artistic freedom, promote the role of the artist in society and creating an international solidarity initiative. Safemuse has been organising safe residencies for artists at risk from different countries since 2014. Safemuse is part of a network of Norwegian cultural institutions and organisations, as well as an international network working with artistic freedom of expression. Safemuse has so far organised a series of events on the freedom of artistic expression; Artistic Freedom Week / Music Freedom Day; and .SAFE – a film series portraying artist encounters and conversations about artistic freedoms. Safemuse is also the co-founder and fiscal sponsor of SH|FT – Safe Havens Freedom Talks who organise the Safe Havens Conference – a global networking conference on art, culture, human rights and artistic freedom, as well as a Freedom Talks series. Safemuse will coordinate the participation of the artist at risk staying for the six month-residency in Hvitsten.

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Post author By Akari
Post date December 14, 2022

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FREEMUSE AND SAFEMUSE WITH A JOINT PLEA TO NORWEGIAN AUTHORITIES

December 14, 2022

Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi: “Don’t cry if I die tomorrow”

The following statement was sent by Freemuse and Safemuse to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Culture, the Mayor of Oslo, the head of the Oslo City Council and the head of Oslo’s Cultural Council today:

On the 30th of October, the rapper Toomaj Salehi was arrested in Iran because of his regime-critical lyrics. His Kurdish colleague Saman Yasin has been in prison since the 2nd of and was sentenced to death in a bogus trial. Both artists are subjected to severe torture and maltreatment. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to withdraw the death penalty in the case against Yasin and to drop the charges against him and to drop the charges against Toomaj Salehi, who is also at the risk of facing the death penalty.

We call on the Norwegian government to do everything necessary to save the lives of Toomaj Salehi and Saman Yasin. They are accused of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “gross corruption” (ifsad fil-arz). These are charges that in the 21st century carry the death penalty in Iran.

As rappers, these artists work with words. Their lives are threatened because of their use of free speech. They are our colleagues. We encourage the Municipality of Oslo to make them honorary citizens of Oslo. Anyone who harms Toomaj Salehi and Saman Yasin is committing an unpardonable crime.

We want to do everything we can to prevent this. “Don’t cry if I die tomorrow because you were not by my side today,” Toomaj Salehi said shortly before his arrest. Toomaj and Saman: We are by your side!

Sverre Pedersen Hans Ole Rian
Chair of Freemuse Chair of Safemuse

Følgende henvendelse gikk fra Freemuse og Safemuse til utenriksministeren, kulturministeren, ordføreren, byrådslederen og kulturbyråden tidligere i dag:

30. oktober ble rapperenToomaj Salehi arrestert i Iran på grunn av hans regimekritiske tekster. Hans kurdiske kollega Saman Yasin har sittet i fengsel siden 2. oktober og ble dømt til døden i en farserettssak med falske anklager. Begge blir utsatt for alvorlig tortur og mishandling. Vi oppfordrer den islamske republikken Iran til å trekke tilbake dødsstraffen i saken mot Yasin og frafalle anklagene mot ham og til å frafalle anklagene mot Toomaj Salehi – også han risikerer dødsstraff.

Vi oppfordrer den norske regjeringen til å gjøre alt som trengs for å redde livene til Toomaj Salehi og Saman Yasin. De er anklaget for “fiendskap mot Gud” (moharebeh) og “grov korrupsjon” (ifsad fil-arz). Dette er anklager som i det 21. århundre århundre medfører dødsstraff i Iran.

Som rappere jobber de to med ord. Deres liv er truet på grunn av deres bruk av frie ord. De er våre kolleger. Vi oppfordrer Oslo kommune til å gjøre dem til æresborgere av Oslo. Alle som skader Toomaj Salehi og Saman Yasin begår en utilgivelig forbrytelse.

Vi ønsker å gjøre alt vi kan for å forhindre det. “Ikke gråt hvis jeg dør i morgen fordi du ikke var ved min side i dag,” sa Toomaj Salehi kort før arrestasjonen. Toomaj og Saman: Vi er ved din side

Sverre Pedersen Hans Ole Rian
Styreleder Freemuse Styreleder Safemuse

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

News Safe Residencies

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

Post author By Akari
Post date November 10, 2022

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MEET SAFEMUSE'S NEWEST ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: WANG CHONG -- Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

November 10, 2022

A long-awaited arrival

Wang Chong is Safemuse’s newest and long-awaited second artist in residence of 2022. Wang was initially supposed to arrive in May around the same time as the first resident, Belarusian artist Zhanna Gladko, however obtaining a visa turned out to be a lengthy and unpredictable process. Safemuse was therefore very pleased to finally welcome Wang to our Oslo residence program in September.

— Working at Safemuse involves a lot of frustration; frustration over visa difficulties; over not having the opportunity to welcome more artists who need the kind of respite Safemuse can offer; and thereby the frustration of having to choose between a large number of highly qualified artists who really need to get away from situations that are difficult for us to imagine.

But it is also rewarding. Very rewarding and inspiring. When the artists arrive, watch them unfold and get the opportunity to work. Opportunities they don’t have at all where they come from, says Safemuse’s former general manager (now senior adviser), Jan Lothe Eriksen.

China’s most internationally-commissioned theater director

Wang Chong was born in Beijing in 1982. He received his bachelor’s degree in law from Peking University before he decided to pursue a master’s degree in theater from University of Hawaii. In 2008, Wang founded the Beijing-based performance group Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental (www.theatrere.org).

Wang has translated and directed Chinese premieres of internationally-acclaimed texts, such as Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine, Peter Handke’s Self-accusation, Sarah Kane’s Crave, Nick Payne’s Constellations, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, and Woody Allen’s Central Park West.

Today Wang Chong is China’s most internationally-commissioned theater director and, so far, his works have been performed in 20 countries, including Norway at the Oslo International Ibsen Festival. Wang is happy to be in back in Ibsen’s homeland.

— Ibsen was part of our high school literature curriculum, and certainly essential to my theater education in the U.S. I started to work with the Oslo-based organization, Ibsen International, in 2012. Together with playwright Oda Fiskum, producer Inger Buresund, and dramaturg Hege Tørressen, we tried to bring most of Ibsen’s essence into one work, Ibsen in One Take, which was brought here in 2014 as part of the Ibsen Festival. I was commissioned by Ibsen International in the same year to direct Ghosts 2.0, an adaptation set in contemporary China. I hope that I can bring it too to Norway one day.

Wang Chong has an extensive and impressive artistic portfolio, and he is the recipient of numerous awards. Among his many productions, we find The Warfare of Landmine 2.0, which won the Festival/Tokyo Award; Lu Xun, which was noted as The Best Chinese Performance of the Year by The Beijing News; Teahouse 2.0, which won the One Drama Award; Waiting for Godot, a live online performance which has an audience of 290,000; and The Plague, a live online performance with artists working from six continents.

“Without the basic freedoms, I would not be able to learn, research, and experiment enough to come up with artistic concepts.”
— Wang Chong

Face masks, firewalls and basic freedoms

After two years of Covid restrictions and a lengthy six months of awaiting his temporary visa for Norway, Wang finally arrived in Oslo on the 17th of September.

— Being stuck in one country for two and a half years, as an international artist, it was stifling. I was hoping to once again dive into the world and see how people and artists in Norway and other countries are coping with life and arts. The most important thing, he notes, is that I got out of the zero-Covid zone, expecting to re-experience what life can be.

— Although I was here in 2014, it was more of a cultural shock moment this time around. On day one, when I stepped into the Central Station, I saw hundreds of men and women from all walks of life. They were standing, running, talking, laughing, and eating, all maskless and fearless. I stood there, speechless, trying to make sense. When I started to understand the situation, I couldn’t stop laughing. I took off my mask. I became a new being on my arrival.

Looking back at his first few weeks in Oslo, Wang says:

— I have regained Google freedom, YouTube freedom, Wikipedia freedom, and Netflix freedom. These things are not something to talk about or worry about in the Norwegian context, but I have to say these freedoms are forming a new foundation to my creativity. Right away I started to learn and create with artificial intelligence. The booming field looks so exciting, when there is no firewall blocking your vision. So many apps, websites, and open-source platforms are out there. Without the basic freedoms, I would not be able to learn, research, and experiment enough to come up with artistic concepts.

— The residency has been great so far. I have been focusing on an artificial intelligence (AI) generated short film and checked out performances, museums, and hiking trails of Oslo.

“I have regained Google freedom, YouTube freedom, Wikipedia freedom, and Netflix freedom. These things are not something to talk about or worry about in the Norwegian context, but I have to say these freedoms are forming a new foundation to my creativity.”
— Wang Chong”

Wang Chong’s artistic ambitions

Wang has large ambitions for the residency and his artistic plans include an AI-generated short film, a documentary film, and a new text for theater.

— I don’t want to spoil it by telling you how exactly the AI-generated short film would look like. What I can say is that I want to create an intriguing story about the future of humanity.

Wang’s ongoing documentary film project is titled A Director Sitting Still. It is about the life and death of Hu Bo, the young director of award-winning film An Elephant Sitting Still.

— In 2019 I started to ask, why did such a talented artist commit suicide at the age of 29? During the residency, I will focus on editing and post-production of the film. If you have not seen Hu Bo’s movie, I highly recommend it!

Wang is also working on his solo performance, Made in China 2.0. It will premiere in Boston before a world-tour. There is a possibility the piece will be shown in Oslo in 2023.

— Wang Chong is an artist who uses the newly acquired opportunities with great enthusiasm. And for us at Safemuse, the Norwegian art community and for the Norwegian public, it is a fantastic resource to have artists like this visit. We are very much looking forward to being able to present Wang on stage, and to get his look and his artistic approach to the themes he will present, says Jan Lothe Eriksen, before he continues: — At the same time, our guest artists are a reminder of what an incredible reality we live in here, compared to other countries and regions. Many thanks to Oslo municipality for making this program possible.

Safemuse’s residence coordinator, Jon Lundell, is also impressed by Chong’s artistic work and ambitions:

— Artistically, Chong stuck out from the vast number of applicants for our Oslo residence. I saw that his previous work and future plans are full of life, humor, creativity, experimentation and seriousness. He intelligently confronts difficult themes with a brave and open mind. This openness and interest of learning and meeting new obstacles professionally, is both inspiring and important in present and future collaborations. His interest in other people, their struggles and character also makes him humble and just a great guy to work with.

– –

For more information and artistic works, check out online articles on Wang Chong and his Youtube channel.

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

Administration News

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Post author By Akari
Post date October 31, 2022

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A NEW GENERAL MANAGER IN SAFEMUSE

October 31, 2022

We are pleased to announce that Celina Jerman Bright-Taylor is set to become the new general manager of Safemuse – Safe Havens for Artists.

Bright-Taylor has worked as an advisor in the organisation for the past two years and will take on her new role starting on Tuesday 1 November 2022. She succeeds Jan Lothe Eriksen, who founded the organisation in 2011. Eriksen is now stepping down in his role as general manager of Safemuse, but will however continue as a senior advisor.

A planned transition

– Fortunately, the Safemuse board has had plenty of time to prepare for this change of general manager. Finding a new boss who could build on the excellent work Jan Lothe Eriksen has put in has been particularly crucial. Jan was the one who established Safemuse, and has his dedication has been crucial in developing the organisation into what it is today, says the chairman of Safemuse, Hans Ole Rian.

The board is confident that Celina Jerman Bright-Taylor is the right person for the position.

– She has a very relevant education, and through her work at Safemuse has shown that she has all the qualities we are looking for in Jan’s successor.

– The important thing going forward is to secure funding, establish Safemuse as an even more important and relevant organisation in the area of freedom of expression, and work for more residencies for some of the far too many persecuted artists we receive reports about. We will also ensure that the artists who come here to Norway develop their artistry – preferably in collaboration with colleagues here in the country – and also follow up the artists who have been in residence here once they return to work in their respective home countries, says Rian.

Time to pass on the baton

– It doesn’t look like Safemuse will be redundant anytime soon. On the contrary and unfortunately. Both Freemuse’s documentation of the increasing number of gross violations of artistic freedom in its annual reports, State of Artistic Freedom, and also when we see all the censored, threatened and persecuted artists from around the globe who send strong applications for residency to Safemuse, then Safemuse had far more residency places to offer, says outgoing general manager, Jan Lothe Eriksen.

– Thanks to this year’s contribution from the municipality of Oslo, we have been able to establish our new residency program together with Nordic Black Theatre. Next year, we plan to expand the intiative through a new collaboration with Hvitsten Salong and partner Strefa Kultury Wrocław in Poland. This is motivating and important work, so we really hope that the Ministry of Culture and the government in this year’s budget process will contribute to the further development of our projets.

– After 12-13 years of building the organisation, it is now the time to pass on the baton to younger forces. I will continue to assist in a transition phase in a more withdrawn position. And with Bright-Taylor as the new general manager, together with the rest of Safemuse’s brilliant team, and with the support of motivated board members, Safemuse is in the very best of hands.

Safemuse’s incoming general manager, Celina Jerman Bright-Taylor, is excited to embark on her new role in the organisation:

– I am grateful for the trust from my current boss and from the board. I look forward to continuing to work with them and with the artists, members and partners to strengthen artistic freedom of expression, human rights and not least contribute to the creation of art in all forms.

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

Post author By Akari
Post date October 11, 2022

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Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

October 11, 2022

This letter was sent to CEO Harvey Mason Jr. on the 10th of October 2022.

“There will need to be a change of regime for him to get out…That he actually managed to be creative and to work with people outside of Iran through the internet and come out with an album of that kind of quality – I am totally impressed” Safemuse’s general manager, Jan Lothe Eriksen, said in an interview with Billboard.

Read the article here:

https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/grammy-voters-consider-dissident-iranian-composer-letter-1235153527/

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

Safe Residencies News Project

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

Post author By Akari
Post date October 8, 2022

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An artist´s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

By belarusian artist Zhanna Gladko

October 8, 2022

About the artist

Zhanna Gladko (1984) is a visual artist and a graduate of the Republican College of Arts in Minsk and the Department of Easel Graphics at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. She is currently one of Safemuse’s artists in residence based in Oslo. In this article, Gladko reflects on her experience and the process of creating an outdoor art installation for the festival Hvitsten Salong in august 2022.

Relentless flow of time

Working on the art installation Relentless Flow Of Time / 2022 for the art festival Hvitsten Salong has been an important and interesting experience for me. It was especially important to me because it was the first time that I exhibited my art in Norway. I was interested in the Norwegian history and local context, the topics that contemporary Norwegian artists work with and my encounters with Hvitsten Salong’s creative community and the participants with different stories and backgrounds.

This festival showed me that the art community in Norway is developing in a friendly and supportive atmosphere, welcoming people with different histories and cultural contexts. I was happy to meet many artists whose names was not already familiar with. I met those whose practice is close to me both in terms of artistic strategy and the themes that contemporary artists work with. I was pleased to get good feedback on my work from local artists and was pleasantly surprised at how hospitable they were.

Another important point for me is that this is the first work I have shown outside a gallery space. So for me this experience is still important as a step in the development of personal professional tools, which is important for an artist whose practice is mainly related to gallery and museum spaces.

I also felt comfortable working on the preparations for the festival whilst being in Hvitsten itself, with the warm and caring support of the Safemuse team. The fact that no one restricted my ideas, did not correct or censor me – neither in the process of reflection on the work, nor during the creation of the installation is of great importance to me and cannot be underestimated. For me, as a Belarusian artist, this is an important and valuable aspect, which I emphasise, because in Belarus, making such a work is simply impossible. To work in Belarus with any statement that touches on social or political issues can lead to imprisonment – it is a restrictive and limiting condition, which binds the artist’s hands and takes away his or her voice. That is why I am happy to have the chance to show my voice, to have the right to a personal manifesto, not to leave unnoticed and invisible those topics of concern in countries where crimes against humanity and crimes against artists are taking place right now.

It was important for me to show work that has a difficult conceptual side. It refers to events which are important for the current history, which on the one hand is important to fix, but on the other hand is also ephemeral and unstable – like everything that happens in the era of post-truth, digital oversaturation and devaluation of meanings. Therefore, it was conceptually important for my work in interaction with the natural environment – which always corrects and puts everything in its right place.

“To work in Belarus with any statement that touches on social or political issues can lead to imprisonment – it is a restrictive and limiting condition, which binds the artist’s hands and takes away his or her voice.”
– Zhanna Gladko

About my work in Hvitsten

The installation consists of a series of glass inscriptions made of ashes. The series is called Relentless Flow Of Time / 2022 and was created especially for Hvitsten Salong.

The inscriptions on the glasses are taken as fragments of expressions, headlines from the world’s press, which printed news about the war in Ukraine, about the revolutionary events in Belarus. I am interested in the phenomenon of information deformation in the post-truth era, when information flow is characterized by the layering, distortion and devaluation of meanings. My intention was that, with the passage of time and interaction with nature, the rain and humidity would partly deform, erase, disappear – everything that happens to memory and history over time in the social, political and any other context.

This series of works began with the creation of Force. Farce. False. / 2020 (https://gladko.org/FORCE-FARCE-FALSE). The slogan emerged during the 2020 pandemic when the President of Belarus refused to take any action to reduce the risk of coronavirus during the pandemic. Statistical figures on the sick were hidden and distorted in the media.

In 2020, I created a slogan on glass and displayed it on the balcony of my flat in Minsk, on one of the city’s main avenues. The inscription was made of a sticky transparent liquid and, over time, dust, dirt, and smog from the avenue accumulated on it. Later, during the revolutionary events in Belarus, the glass panel displayed on the balcony was passed by police cars as peaceful protests were held. Thus, the inscription was symbolically shaped by the dust, by the moods that were in the air in 2020 – hatred, fear, enthusiasm, protest.

The work in Hvitsten is the next stage in the series. And the ash material is important here as a reference to the military events in Ukraine, to recent events in Belarus – which are part of a complex history and struggle for independence.

A commentary by Anne Weyer Larsen:

Zhanna Gladko’s art work Relentless flow of time

Glass panels with inscriptions of ashes. The piece is based on a work she started at the onset of the pandemic – Force Farce False. It dealt with, among other things, the popular uprising against Lukaschenko in Belarus, and is now relevant in connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A simple chain of events that unfortunately develops into a greater and deeper darkness. The work is not intended to be decorative, illustrative or complex, but seeks to reflect the pain of the present. The work is a response to contemporary events with a relevant statement. At its core – a universal code that corresponds to any historical moment. The work is not intended as a political statement, but as a reflection on the changes taking place in the social structures, the breaking of the times in which we now find ourselves.

One of the layers is dedicated to the information war that is currently taking place. The artist is interested in post-truth, the layers of meaning that disappear, memories and forgetting, the conflict zones around different meanings, different discourses. The words become like a thundercloud that thickens, darkens because of the layers of meaning, and all the words. The words are taken from world news. With rain and wind, the words will be erased over time. This is also the passage of time in a longer perspective. We do not forget and remember the horror in the same way.

Anne Weyer Larsen works as an art mediator at Hvitsten Salong, Henie Onstad Art Center and has many years of experience working with a number of art institutions where she has partaken in various art projects and artist-driven events.

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

News

News Project Safe Residencies

“We are doing this to support independent voices”

Post author By Akari
Post date August 24, 2022

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– We are doing this to support independent voices

August 24, 2022

Artistic freedom of expression, solidarity and collaboration

In an increasingly polarised world, with tensions between nations, cultures, political parties and cultural norms, a growing group of artists are encountering obstacles in the execution of their work. Artists are in many cases regarded as activists, even when they themselves do not identify with, or promote a political view or a political movement. This is especially true for female artists, artists that are queer, come from minority or indigenous groups or artists that work in genres not deemed acceptable by society or by their government. One of Safemuse’s most important projects is, therefore, to create safe residencies for artists and to promote artistic freedom of expression, as well as artistic solidarity and collaboration.

At the closing event of the Safe Havens Conference in Oslo in December of 2021, Vice Mayor for Culture and Sports, Omar Samy Gamal, expressed the City of Oslo’s unwavering endorsement for Safemuse’s residency program:

– We are doing this to support independent voices, and because diversity in the arts is what keeps it vibrant and alive. And we are doing it because freedom of expression is under pressure in many parts of the world.”

“We are doing this to support independent voices, and because diversity in the arts is what keeps it vibrant and alive. And we are doing it because freedom of expression is under pressure in many parts of the world.”

– Omar Samy Gamal, Vice Mayor for Culture and Sports in Oslo

At the opening of the Artistic Freedom Week in March, the Norwegian Minister of Culture, Anette Trettebergstuen followed suit and emphasised that she – cannot think of anything more important than to promote the importance of artistic freedom and to define artists’ right to move and express themselves. It is simply a matter of democracy, the most fundamental thing we have to fight for.

Safemuse Artistic Safe Haven residency program

At the beginning of the year, Safemuse established a residency program in the Norwegian capital of Oslo for artists subjected censorship, threats, persecution, or/and that for various reason cannot work freely in the place they currently reside. The program offers residencies for artists within all artistic disciplines. The residencies have a duration of up to six-month and are focused on artistic development and cooperation. The Safemuse Artistic Safe Haven residency program in Oslo is funded by the City of Oslo and carried out in collaboration with Nordic Black Theatre.

– After years of uncertain, unpredictable and scarce funding for our residency projects, Safemuse finally has the possibility, through the support of the City of Oslo’s enthusiastic political and administrative leadership, to invite artists in need for a safe space and possibilities for artistic development. But unfortunately, we are only able to host some few artists out of the many thousands who are in danger and in serious need of safe residencies. Hence, we are looking forward to develop the program further and be able to invite more independent voices, says Jan Lothe Eriksen, general manager of Safemuse.

Safemuse is also working to expand the program in order to offer similar residency opportunities in other places in Norway.

– We have been working hard to set up a well-functioning residency program that caters to the individual needs and aspirations of the artists who are selected to partake in the program. The response from organisations, institutions and individuals has been overwhelmingly positive and many have expressed an interest to collaborate with- or contribute to the initiative in various ways, says Jon Lundell, Safemuse’s residence coordinator. He reveals that Safemuse, in collaboration with the artist-run organisation Hvitsten Salong, will start up yet another residence in the coastal town of Hvitsten in 2023.

Open call for applications

On August 1^st, Safemuse published an open call for applications for its upcoming residencies in 2023. The deadline is on September 1^st and Safemuse encourages its friends and supporters around the world to help spread the word about this opportunity to artists at risk and in need of a safe space to develop their art.

“Landless Tree” – migration, destruction & resilience, EP debut by Ghawgha Taban

FRI KUNST 2023 – under autoritære regimer

Meet our new staff members

Whose voices are being heard? Exchange program for foreign artists from Poland and Norway.

Freemuse and Safemuse with a joint plea to Norwegian authorities

Meet Safemuse’s newest artist in residence: Wang Chong – Ibsen, face masks and freedom to surf the Internet

A new general manager in Safemuse from 1st of November

Letter to the 65th Grammy edition: Conditions of Iranian artist Mehdi Rajabian

An artist’s reflection: Hvitsten Salong 2022

“We are doing this to support independent voices”