For the past two years, the artists have traveled around Hardanger studying the collections of Ingebrigt Vik and Johan Havaas, read up on reports and literature and patiently examined plants and landscapes, science and folklore. The iconic and political nature of the landscape in Hardanger was present early in Norway’s nation building, and the idea of who we are and how we manage our heritage has not been fully discussed. What do we see where we travel, and what stories do we create from what we see?

The title is taken from Renæssance (Renaissance), a short story Norwegian author Hans E. Kinck pub-lished in 1899. In this story, Kinck depicts the sensuous visual impressions through the eyes of a young artist who, awake to legends and natural mysticism, takes in the light that falls over the marsh and the sound of the stream’s unstoppable journey. Driven by strong ambitions, the artist transforms his experience of nature into a classic and recognised form. In Kinck, the classical view is characterised by an attitude in which man rules over nature, which sharply contrasts with a view where nature has its own life and value. The artist gains a reputation through his works, but along the way loses his fine-tuned sense of nature, and with that, himself. The view of man as ruler is hard currency in the management of nature. The societal consequences of not extracting as much of the resources as possible are deemed a great loss. Still, this is a dilemma that worries more and more people.

In the video works by Ingrid Book & Carina Hedén, nature is thoroughly mapped, but remains enigmatic, even a little scary. A report from a Geological Survey of Norway on pollution in soil samples led the artists to unexpected places in Odda and Tyssedal. In one work we can follow the water’s journey through pipes and watercourses; in the video Øya (the Island), darkness slowly falls over an islet in the fjord. A wondering eye finds different creatures and archetypes hidden between trees and moss in the forest. Much is about seeing connections and possible links between views of culture and nature. Into the complex installation, which is based on Kinck’s short story Renæssance (Renaissance), they have invited a selection of sculptures by the late Ingebrigt Vik that draw on the classical heritage and a Norse legend.