Eight Degrees / Contemporary Art on the Forest

Featuring photography, film, sculpture, drawing, textiles, sound and installations, including new commissions, the group show Eight Degrees opens on 15 March at Bildmuseet's Art Friday with Littfest – Umeå International Literature Festival.

Press preview Wednesday 13 March at 10 am (RSVP). Curator Sofia Johansson presents Eight Degrees / Contemporary Art on the Forest in conversation with artist Elia Nurvista and architect Toms Kokins. On the same occasion, we will also present Elias Crespin / Chronomorphosis (press release)

Matti Aikio, Malin Arnell & Åsa Elzén, Gerd Aurell & Micael Norberg, Toms Kokins, Norrakollektivet (Anja Örn, Fanny Carinasdotter, Tomas Örn), Elia Nurvista, Uriel Orlow, Edith Marie Pasquier, Jörgen Stenberg and Lena Ylipää.

The Eight Degrees exhibition brings together contemporary art exploring our complex relationships with the forest, ranging from the concept of a living existence with intrinsic value and a right to life, to the idea of the forest as a resource for human needs and use. What is a forest? And what pressing questions about it are relevant here and now? 

Artists, artist groups, an architect, and a storyteller invite us to reflect on the forest, observed and depicted from various perspectives and with diverse experiences. Their artworks are characterised by personal perspectives and provoke questions about tradition and future, forestry practices, land conflicts, biological diversity and the forest as a sacred space.  Each artwork in the exhibition offers a perspective from which to view the forest, reflecting the artists’ knowledge, insights, experiences and commitment.

Sweden is a richly forested country, and almost everyone has a relationship with the forest, perhaps because it is rarely far away. From this perspective, there is a great deal of familiarity in the exhibition. In particular, simply being in the forest is something many people can relate to: Walking around the next bend, sitting still and listening, and taking in the visual impressions, smells and sounds. Looking at tracks and wondering what wildlife has been there when we weren’t looking. The sense of presence and focus. But also thinking, feeling, having opinions and talking about the forest.  

Eight Degrees / Contemporary Art on the Forest is curated and produced by Bildmuseet. It runs from 15 March 2024 until 12 January 2025. The exhibition title references Jörgen Stenberg’s eponymous poem.

With support from The Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Press preview 13 March, 10 am
Curator Sofia Johansson presents the Eight Degrees exhibition in dialogue with artist Elia Nurvista and architect Toms Kokins. On the same occasion, we will present Elias Crespin / Chronomorphosis through a conversation between the artist and curator Brita Täljedal.

Opening 15 March, 7 pm
The exhibition opens as part of the rich program during Bildmuseet’s Art Friday with Littfest, which runs from 5 pm to 1 am. At 7 pm, Deputy Museum Director Anders Jansson inaugurates the exhibition in conversation with the participating artists. Poetry reading and joik by Jörgen Stenberg at 9 pm.

Press requests and images
Please send press requests to press.bildmuseet@umu.se, or call press officer Helena Vejbrink at +46(0)90 7869073. To download press images, please visit www.bildmuseet.umu.se/en/pressimages