Stillscape is a public foundation in Norway, initiated by the architect and writer Kristin Margrethe Ellefsen in 2007, showing art and other activities that are intended to give the audience an experience of silence.

Silence is a source that can make us more attentive to beeing. Silence is not about the lack of noise or sound. It is a tool we can use to connect to our inner life and to our surroundings.  Our artistic performances and other activities invite you to get in touch with your own creativity.

We present literature, music, architecture, performing arts and visual arts. The events take place both in permanent and temporary spaces.

In 2010 our main activity will be THE FESTIVAL OF SILENCE

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THE FESTIVAL OF SILENCE

Friday 18th - Sunday 20th June 2010
- A meeting place for art

Festival theme 2010: "Waiting for wind"

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Through the experience of art, and in line with the profile of the foundation, the festival aims to re-establish the understanding of the interplay between nature, culture, politics and human interaction.

The global crisis we are currently experiencing demands collaboration between all parts of society and all global citizens. Culture needs to be reborn as the foundation of our life; a culture that protects nature, and where the economy serves our culture, rather than the other way around like it is today.

Moments of art:
Currently the festival consists of several 'moments of art', in the form of short concerts or performances. However, the name embodies an ambition of becoming an annual festival.
At the moment we are at a trial stage; 2009 - 2011 is a 3-year trial period where we develop the profile, network, structure and organisation.

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WHY ANOTHER FESTIVAL?

Culture and society

The ecological, social and financial crisis that the world is currently experiencing can also be seen as a cultural crisis. We have lost the understanding of culture as a pillar of life for every civilisation; a culture that integrates body, soul and spirit as equals. A healthy civilisation fulfils the basic needs of all citizens through responsible and mutual interaction - including its surroundings and nature - in recognition of the mutual dependency that we all exist in. Because society and government has failed to demonstrate this form of cultural understanding our economy has become a tool for its own benefit, rather than promoting the survival of the earth and our civilisation.

The function of art

Myths can carry universal truths and represent a form of insight that, throughout time, humans have sought in order to understand their lives. Mythical stories may offer answers to existential questions and comfort when life's challenges escalate into large transitions like crises, birth and death.

Like myths, the foundations of the nature of art can be found in the inexpressible, the incomprehensible and the intangible - deeply existential questions like 'Who are we?', 'Where do we come from?' and 'Where are we going?'.

Like myths, art may provide an initiation that helps us through life's painful rites of passage, from one state of mind to another.

A meeting through art

" Separately and together, the words, the images and the tones are alone with each and every one of us. We, when we create words, images and tones, and we when we are at the receiving end."
COMPOSER ARNE NORDHEIM

Images, words, tones and movements free themselves from their material and transfer to the receiver at the other end - the artist being the first receiver of his own work.

Three thoughts can be tied to the experience of an artwork: your thought, my thought and the artwork's own thinking - inexpressible and transgressive - which is neither yours nor mine. The idea is that there exists a thought process in the artwork itself which neither you nor I can control.

The multi-faceted language of a work of art relies on faithfulness to a vision. When an artist is honest to himself he will also be honest to the aspects of the artwork that are already in us, and have always been there, waiting. From his inner landscape the artist can bring out and present something lasting and universal.
Art may provide us with fragments of the intrinsically human community, along with the freedom to interpret its images through our own images, our distinctiveness.

Summed up: Like myths, great art may provide an initiation that helps us through life's painful rites of passage, from one state of mind to another.

In Norwegian, art is referred to as a work of spirit (“åndsverk”), and can as such be looked at as something which is able to get us in touch with our spirit.

 
Silence

As mentioned above, silence is a tool we may use to connect to our inner life and our surroundings. Silence is not necessarily about absence of noise or sound, but rather about presence and awareness of the moment. Silence can make us more aware of being a living, sensing, feeling and thinking body in this world; more aware of our own existence.

In other words: creating a space for silence may provide a path for the individual to come nearer their own existence, through shared experiences of art.
 

THE IDEA OF THE FESTIVAL

The festival of silence aims to become an arena where artists may meet, explore new forms of expression and inspire one another, there and then, to engage in mutual creativity through common improvisation, also including the audience.

The artists are invited to create a collective where, rather than trying to impress, each person inspires, lifts and supports one another, creating a unity that transcends the contributions of the individuals.

Generally, improvisation will be central. More important than promoting the individual will be the integration of each artist. The aesthetic form takes shape through the interaction of the location and the people present - artists and audience - who thus become involved.
No one owns the performances - everyone becomes a part of a bigger project.

Through the festival we wish to create a meeting place connecting different forms of art and expression. We feel this is something that happens too rarely on the cultural scene in Norway.

 

FORM: CABARET - improvisation and creative processes

The genre structure of the cabaret will provide a scenic framework for the event; every artist contributes with a part of something larger. No one does a whole concert or performance; everyone contributes with shorter sections of maximum 20-25 minutes. In this way the different forms of expression may influence each other and creative meetings take place.

Every hour (45 minutes + 15 min break) will have a theme and a headline, where different art forms and audience groups are put together. The artists will be present and contribute at different times.

A cabaret is a small, intimate theatre or cafe where food or drinks are being served, often at small tables, while at same time there is a variety of entertainment in the form of revue. The word cabaret is also used about the performance itself and about this type of entertainment in general. A cabaret is usually performed by different artists and consists of various numbers such as singing, poetry recitation, sketches, dance and music.

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabaret  (translated from Norwegian)

 

ARTISTS' FEES, ADMISSION FEES AND VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION

• During the trial period artists will waive their fee (there may be exceptions). Their payment will be in the form of meeting new art and new people. The festival provides the artists with an opportunity to try out new ideas and new forms of expression.
• Admission fees: The audience will pay according to what their heart dictates. There will be no fixed prices.
• The festival depends on work by volunteers as an investment in communal capital.

The greatest capital that the Festival of Silence possesses is the people and the meetings, where the experience of performing, hearing, seeing and sensing art is the most important.

About our fees

The artists taking part in our project will not receive fees. Exceptions may be made for larger projects like commissioned works and projects/workshops that have been commissioned/initiated specifically for the festival and that require a greater amount of preparation or accommodating work on site. Everyone participates with artistic performances creating a common experience of art.
No one (except larger projects mentioned above) will do a whole concert or performance. Everyone will contribute with shorter numbers of maximum 25 minutes. Payment will be in the form of social interaction and experiences of art. All artists need inspiration, and the aim is that the Festival of Silence may top up their creative energy.

We want this project - and future festival - to provide a space where artists may try out ideas that have not yet been finalised, or are in the middle of a process.

The Festival of Silence will offer a room where creative encounters occur through a creative process.

The audience will pay according to their heart and their ability. Our hope is that the audience will be trained to see money as a positive energy. Nevertheless, money should never become the driving force of this festival. Paying from the heart is something that invites a presence of the moment, similar to an experience of art - what is the price of what is on offer here?

Last year there were no set prices on food and beverages at Cafe Esviken (payment from the heart, put in the box on the kitchen worktop). Based on the response from the audience we had very good experiences of this as a part of the profile of the venue.

"What is the price of a poem that moves the heart, a lovely meal shared with others or the price of a space where you may meet silence? There are no unambiguous answers to this. Our prices for art performance and at the cafe will therefore be decided, unless otherwise stated, by each person according to their heart - or perhaps in dialogue if you are undecided. " (Quoted from Stillscapes Norwegian homepage).

This sort of practice is more common in Berlin. In the part of Berlin called Mitte, bordering Prenzlauer Berg, there are several venues operating by this principle. You pay a small entrance fee and then eat and drink whatever you like. When you leave you pay what you like. In Berlin this works well because everyone knows the system and pays, even though not everyone pays equally.
This is an untraditional practice. That does not mean that it is wrong.

- We believe that art breeds art.
- We offer artists a unique room.
- We wish to offer the audience a unique meeting place for experiences of art.

At the end of the trial period (2009 - 2011) we will sum up our experiences so far - including the fees and prices described above - before we decide on the next step.
 

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Esviken: site for the festival www.esviken.no

List of artists performing 2010: www.stillscape.no/kunstnere/cms/181

(Asker 15.03.2010)

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Translator: Therese Howell

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