Different forms and expressions of art in public rooms and places will create a metropolitan pulse and help Bjørvika in shaping its own urban identity.
Claire Doherty has composed a curator vision of art specially designed for the commons. The vision will constitute a framework for choices of places, artists and expressions. Claire Doherty is presently director and senior research fellow in fine art at Situations at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol (www.situations.org.uk).
Bjørvika Utvikling acts as coordinator, initiator and supporter for the whole area and for every stakeholder in Bjørvika that has a true devotion to art. That is why we have established an organization that will serve as a permanent exposition for program-based art and temporary art forms available to different places and partners in Bjørvika. Oslo S Utvikling (OSU) has already given this organization its own showroom in OperaKvarteret. Per Gunnar Eeg-Tverbakk together with Will Bradley form the professional project management.
Åse Løvgren and Karolin Tampere are selected as curators for the pilot project “Common Lands”. They collaborate with three smaller art companies carefully handpicked and invited to develop new concepts for art in Bjørvika. The project started up in May in 2009 and concluded its work during spring 2010. See also (www.commonlands.net).