Diala Brisley

Diala Brisly is a Syrian artist whose artistic practice spans a variety of media, including animation, painting, conceptual art, illustration, comic books and murals. Social justice and freedom are reoccurring themes in her work which often highlights the educational situation of Syrian children, and refugees in general. Stemming from her own experiences, recent work explores themes of well-being and psychological issues, such as post trauma.

Image 1: It’s a baby girl, Lifejacket series

Image 2: Leave us

Image 3: Integration, Survival mode series

Yamile Calderón

Yamile Calderón is an artist born in Colombia who now lives in Oslo. She studied photography at Bergen National Academy of Arts. She was awarded The Art Photography Prize by The Norwegian Association for Fine Art Photographers for her work Accidentally I got a GoPro. She is currently exhibiting Oslo Stories at Carl Berner Project room. She has recently published her second photo book, Narcos & Homes which documents property of Colombian drug traffickers that has been confiscated by the government.

Calderon's work is inspired by her childhood memories and explores interrelationships between experience, memory, and social and cultural context. By approaching the documentary genre from a subjective perspective, she uses visual and narrative strategies to explore interpretations of reality.

Calderón has participated in various collective exhibitions and has presented her work internationally in Pingyao, Hong Kong, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Kiel and New York. In Oslo her work has been presented at Oslo Kunstforerning, Kunstnernes Hus, Galleri BOA, Noplace, Fotogalleriet, and Galleri Brandstrup.

Tania Cañas

Tania Cañas is an artist-researcher based on unceded Kulin Territory. Her practice looks at the relationship between ‘art making’ and ‘community making’ in the context of community- led methodologies at the intersection of performance, decoloniality, borders and displacement.

Her socially engaged practice creates dynamic community-led creative platforms as sites of collaboration, modalities of resistance as well as ways to rethink processes and re-cast institutions. Tania's unique practice develops creative processes that foreground voices as authors of their collective experience, actively reshaping the conditions of creative possibility within communities-rather than treating communities as sources of data for academic commentary.

She is the artistic director at Arts Gen, a community arts and health organisation, and leads the Performance and Community Engagement as well as the Social Practice courses at the Victoria College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. She received her PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2021.

Image 1: ‘ten things to consider’, 2016.

Image 2 & 3: “Unwelcome Mats”, 2015.

Jad El Khoury

Jad is an architect and visual artist. He holds an MA in architecture from the Lebanese University and a MFA in art and public space from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. His work has been shown internationally and he has received awards including the Institute of Public Art Award and the Arte Laguna Prize for Urban Art and Land art.

Jad writes, ”After studying architecture in Beirut, I have worked with traces of war in Lebanon, where I grew up. I am part of the first post civil war (1975-1990) generation. To me, transforming accidental monuments of bitterness in the city into choreographed installations dancing with the wind was a necessity. It is my method to poetically rebel against religious sectarianism and suffering.

My practice intertwines reality with fiction, facts with uncertainty, architecture with art, memory with forgetfulness. From illustrating repetitive meditative patterns with ink on paper, to temporary installations with architectural materials on contemporary ruins, the methods, research and mediums I work with are constantly being metamorphosed depending on the contexts and situations I encounter.”

Iman Jabrah

Iman Jabrah is a Palestinian American multidisciplinary artist currently located in Cincinnati, OH. She is a recipient of the full scholarship from China Scholarship Council, currently pursuing masters in Fine Art at China Academy of Art with a previous BFA in New Media Art from Northern Kentucky University. In early 2022, Jabrah received the Artswave’s Truth and Reconciliation grant to sponsor Amid exhibition during her curator-in-residence at Wave Pool gallery; Amid exhibition showcases artworks at the Cincinnati Art Museum by ten Palestinian women and queer artists from the West Bank and diaspora. Her latest exhibition was part of Women of Crypto Art in collaboration with DoinGud for the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Most recently, Jabrah is set to exhibit with the Professional Artistic Research (PAR-) Projects at Studeō PAR-, in July 2022 at Cincinnati, OH. Many of Iman’s initiative projects aim toward community; to build collaborative cultures and to continue to increase exposure to displaced Palestinian artists through shared exhibitions, residencies, and collective projects.

Image 1: Protest. Sculpture, 2022.

Image 2: drop. Sculpture, 2022.

Image 3: Woman. Sculpture Photography, 2021.

Image 4: Make America Great Again. Sculpture, photography & digital art, 2021.

Nastassja Nefjodov

Nastassja Nefjodov is a German-Russian lens-based artist living in the Netherlands. She graduated (with honor) from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2021. Currently she is a participant in FOTODOK's Talent Development Program: Lighthouse and  the Graduate Mentoring Scheme 2021 from Redeye: The Photography Network. Nefjodov is also an active member of the online educational community and platform Work Show Grow School.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at festival Encontros da Imagem in Braga, Portugal (2021), Neue Schule für Fotografie Gallery in Berlin, Germany (2020) and  Rotterdam Photo, The Netherlands (2019). Her book My grandfathers, the war and I won the EI Photobook Award 2020 and her book Into the blue was shortlisted for EI Photobook Award 2021. She has contributed to publications including Mini Albums East Central (2021), United, Work Show Grow Publication (2021) and home is... of Julia Borissova (2020).

Her practice stems from her family stories which relate to ruptures in European history. She focus on the emotional impact, rather than factual, theoretical, or political aspects. Through her art, she wants to invite people to rethink history from a personal perspective of what it does to a person, to families. Not only in the present but across generations, as a second, often neglected layer of war stories.

The entry point of her projects is often the family archive, her and her family members memories which she then reflects on in combination with her own imagery and words. Another central element of her exploration is the immersion into the places of the past using the camera both to find traces of the stories and documenting emotions and reflections of the now.

The results of her projects often turn into three dimensional objects/installations allowing the viewer to experience the multilayered stories by stepping into, immerse themselves within Nefjodov’s world and therewith feel encouraged to connect to and to tell their own stories.

Image 1: From the book „Meine Großväter der Krieg und ich“ 2020

Image 2: Book: „Meine Großväter der Krieg und ich“ Foto by @the_bookphotographer

Image 3: Untitled, from the work „Ins Blaue hinein“, 2021

Daria Pugachova

Daria Pugachova is an artist, performer and art-activist based in Kyiv, Ukraine. She studied architecture at Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture. From 2013–2019 she played drums in the female trio Panivalkova. After musicians split up Daria dived into a field of contemporary art. 

In her projects, Daria uses participatory practices to unite a community and integrate art into daily life. She works with performance, video and artivism. Her artistic approach lies in the presence of the artist and direct interaction with the audience in public space. Her work explores history of place to awaken memories with the community, and to visualize its possible future. “By performing in public places, I connect with all kinds of people” says Daria, “Some of them may never attend exhibitions. So art should step out of galleries and become a part of everyday life, thereby changing it”.

Daria received the Golden Aesop Grand Prix at Gabrovo Biennial of Contemporary Art for the work ’Stones’ and the project Dasha+Zhanar. In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Daria left Kyiv and to continue her artistic practice in Europe.

Khalid Shatta

Khalid Shatta’s work is inspired by modernist painting, but also by the art of ancient civilizations and by the culture of his birthplace, Sudan.

Shatta says: “I’m inspired by painters such as Hussein Gamaan, Kerry James Marshall, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul Klee and photographers like Malick Sidibé, Seydou Keïta and Gordon Parks. Ancient Sudanese history is another significant inspiration. Being of Nuba descent, I believe in trying to uncover the cultural heritage we lost under Islamic conquest and European colonialism.

I am currently exploring a theme I call the migration of the soul – the sensation of being out of place. We live in a time where many people feel a disconnection from their own bodies and existence. I make use of ancient Kemetic and Cushitic symbols from the historical kingdoms of the Nile valley civilisations. I believe that everything is connected through our shared history, even in this chaotic state of migration.”

Yanina Zaichanka

Yanina Zaichanka is a Belarusian artist, currently studying for a BFA at the Oslo National Academy of Arts. Prior to moving to Oslo, she had been actively involved in the contemporary art scene in Minsk. In 2018-2019, she studied Contemporary Art and Drama at the European College of Liberal Arts, Belarus. Her work has been shown at two solo exhibitions – Freedom (of Speech) from the Unbearable at Pradmova Festival of Intellectual Literature in 2020, and Being a Woman at ECLAB in 2019. She has contributed to group shows, including CIAHLITSY - an exhibition of “queer art” - and Halasy - an exhibition of art de-stigmatizing people with mental health conditions.

Image 1: The Inhuman Face of War, 2022

Image 2: Still Counting, 2021-

Image 3: My Family’s Paths, 2020-

Image 4: Illustration for Paval Lubetsky’s essay Leviathan-2020: When They Are Eager to Make Sacrifice, But Are Sacrificing Others For Some Reason, 2020

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Gary Zhexi Zhang

Gary Zhexi Zhang is an artist and writer, whose films and essays are interested in private and political narratives of the digital. He studied at Glasgow School of Art and University of Cambridge, and is a staff contributor to Frieze Magazine. Recent exhibitions include Tenderflix ‘Futures' at ICA, London and Would you like help? at EMBASSY Gallery, Edinburgh.

Video: Gary Zhexi Zhang, lacoste1, 2015

Johanna Zanon

Johanna Zanon (b. 1988, FR) is a curator, researcher, and art concierge currently based in Oslo. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Oslo (2017), a graduate diploma from École Nationale des Chartes in Paris (2012), and an MA in Art History from École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris (2011).

Her research interests include among others fashion production, labor, and consumption. She has published a range of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters (Manchester University Press, Dress, Apparence(s), and LHA). In 2019, she co-organized the fashion labour conference at OsloMet. In 2019, she curated a film cycle on the depiction of the French fashion industry from the early twentieth century. As an art concierge at Clarion Hotel Oslo, she has curated the After 'After Munch' programme (2019-2020).

Her latest curatorial project entitled As Handsome As the Chance Encounter will be on display at RAM Galleri in Oslo in February-March 2020. During the residency at Praksis, she would like to explore the link between fashion production and fashion consumption in late capitalist society.

Image 1: 'The "Sleeping Beauties" of Haute Couture: Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, and Madeleine Vionnet,' PhD diss., University of Oslo, 2017. Image: Gustave Doré's sixth engraving for Charles Perrault, La Belle au Bois Dormant / Gallica, Public Domain, BNF.

Image 2: Screenshot of the 'Labor in the Creative Industries: The Case of Fashion' conference website, co-organized by Johanna Zanon, at OsloMet on June 11-12, 2019 / Johanna Zanon.

Image 3: Screenshot of the 'Brodeuses' film, screened at Cinemateket i Oslo as part of 'Siste skrik fra Paris: Fransk mote på film,' curated by Johanna Zanon / Cinemateket i Oslo.

Image 4: After 'After Munch', curated by Johanna Zanon for Clarion Hotel Oslo / Clarion Hotel Oslo.

Monika Zak

Monika Żak (b.1989) is a self-taught photographer and scientist with a special interest in visual perception. She graduated in 2015 from University in Oslo with a Master of Philosophy in Cognitive Neuroscience.

In her latest research, she explored the origins of human colour vision, attempting to investigate whether seeing colours in faces may affect emotion recognition. Through her interdisciplinary work Żak delves into the substance of perception, searching for possible explanations of what determines how we see and what we actually perceive.

Ola Wlusek

Ola Wlusek is an independent curator based in Canada and Poland. She earned an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She also studied Art History and Cultural Anthropology at McMaster University. For the past ten years, she worked in curatorial and educational departments at public art institutions in Canada and abroad. From 2011 to 2015, Wlusek was the curator of contemporary art at the Ottawa Art Gallery (Ontario, Canada) where she organized multidisciplinary projects that explored the contesting social, cultural and community histories.

She’s interested in transnational frameworks for the interpretation of art through exhibition-making that is accessible to an audience from culturally diverse backgrounds. Her research focuses on new curatorial strategies and museological methodologies for exploring non-Western, indigenous, and comparative approaches to global modernities. While working collaboratively, she considers exhibitions as experiential, flexible and accessible spaces for cultural production and exchange. Prior to joining PRAKSIS, she will be attending the Curatorial School: Curating the New, at the University of Malta, and conducting research in Krakow.

Mari Amman

Mari Amman (b. 1984, Dixon Illinois, USA) is an artist working with allegory. Foundational training in dance, vocals, and piano developed into multidisciplinary work in images, installations, and performance.

In her practice, Amman applies in depth research to contemporary issues relating beauty and the sacred with technocratic and geopolitical times. Her work is collected and exhibited in the US, Latin American, EU, and Asia. She is an EIT Expert Culture Reviewer.

Find out more at:
mariamman.net
lelapin.substack.com

Maria Wang Kvalheim

Maria Wang Kvalheim (NO) works within the field of acoustic scenography. She holds a BA from the Norwegian theater academy. Her work seeks to draw out the sound/acoustic potential of architectural space. She is interested in the relationship between movement and space, and how sensorial work can affect the movement of an audience.

Maria works with Dresden based theater network, fachbetrieb rita grechen. During 2020 she has initiated a online writing circle where ownership of material is shared, and texts are "recylcled" other group members. This project began as a workshop alongside fachbetrieb rita grechen's former work Piece of silence.

Asya Volodina

Asya Volodina is a writer, games designer and artist based in Moscow. Using the medium of larp (live action role play) she challenges the audience to become a part, participant and co-author for her artworks.

Asya sees larps as an experience of a transgressive glissade to unusual reality register. It ives a possibility to talk about post humanity and trans humanity (“1597 seconds”, “Justice Against The Grain”, “Deus Ex Machina”, “Wir. Malevich”, “Escritoires”), time (“Low Season”, “Happy Birthday, Alice!”, “Evening in the Museum”), structure of communities and societies (“The Cost of Living”, “Deus Ex Machina”) in the language of personal experience and fictional situations.

Asya’s larps have been presented in Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow), Khodynka Gallery (Moscow), Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm), Bard Graduate Center (New York), Kampnagel Theatre (Hamburg), Live Action Theatre (Moscow). She also collaborated with V-A-C foundation and works with Arseny Zhilyaev.

Image 1: “Justice Against The Grain” by Asya Volodina in collaboration with Sarah Culman, Yury Kviatkovsky, V-A-C foundation, Moscow, 2019

Image 2: “Escritoires” by Asya Volodina, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2020

Image 3: “Happy Birthday, Alice!” by Asya Volodina, Live Action Theatre, Moscow, 2020

Geraldine Vanspauwen

Geraldine Vanspauwen recently graduated in art history and philosophy at the universities of Brussels, Oslo and Ghent. She has written on the topics of visualising sound, political philosophy, religion, poetry and language and is currently curating poetic cahiers and evenings as part of the open collective and underground publishing house BRAAK. Together, they believe in the power and use of the written and spoken word, and aim to create a contemporary platform for poetry and thought.

Her current research interests include the poetics of noise and sound as both materiality and magic, interconnecting nature, society and the sacred. She is writing and working on music around Brussels.

Gustavo Valdivia

For almost a decade anthropologist Gustavo Valdivia (PE) has been ethnographically exploring the worlds that are emerging in the high Andes of Peru as the Anthropocene unfolds. His work is principally based in the Quelccaya, the largest tropical glacier on the planet, and articulates an eclectic body of theory, methods, and practices to provide an ethnographically grounded account of those significative moments in which Nature challenges human comprehension and control.

This project, which he started as a Ph.D. student at the Anthropology Department at The Johns Hopkins University, has led him to carry out long-term fieldwork among indigenous alpaca herders, collaborate as a field assistant in 5 scientific expeditions to obtain ice cores from the Quelccaya’s summit, work as a field producer for the documentary BBC series Frozen Planet, and participate as a chapter scientist in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). In 2014, together with Tomás Tello –an experimental musician living in Portugal— he founded the Sonic Melting collective to start producing a set of field recordings of the ice of the Quelccaya as it melts. These recordings offer a sonic narration of Valdivia’s encounter with the Quelccaya that seeks to present an alternative approach to the complexity of the Anthropocene: namely, one which is not limited by visuality.

His work on sound includes collaborations with various sound artists including Stuart Hyatt, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Gazelle Twin, and Mary Lattimore, and has been featured in Motherboard – Vice, The Wire Magazine, GlacierHub, and other media.

Sam Williams

Sam Williams (b. 1985, Essex, UK) currently lives and works in London, where he studied MA Sculpture and Moving Image at the Royal College of Art.

Sam has exhibited and screened nationally and internationally at institutions including Estuary 2016: Points of Departure (alongside artists including John Akomfrah and Adam Chodzko, curated by Gareth Evans and Sue Jones) Focal Point Gallery (Southend), ONCA (Brighton), Outpost (Norwich), Baltic39 (Newcastle), Independent Dance, Sadler’s Wells, V&A, Lychee One, Tate Britain and Jerwood Space (London); Fragment Gallery (Moscow) and Korai Project Space (Cyprus).

He was awarded the RCA residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2015), the Relax Digital Commission (2016) and the Stuart Croft Foundation Award (2017). In 2018 he received an Artist Network Professional Development Bursary to organise a series of choreographic workshops for non-dance artists, and was also artist in residence at ArtHouse (Jersey) and JOYA Arte + Ecología (Almería).

As part of the audio-visual group Emptyset he has performed internationally at institutions including BOZAR (Brussels), Arnolfini, Spike Island (Bristol), La Gaîté Lyrique (Paris) Kunsthalle Zürich and Kraftwerk (Berlin).

For several years prior to her passing, Sam was a close collaborator with the seminal British choreographer Rosemary Butcher MBE. Together they showed work at The Place (London), Nottingham Contemporary and Akademie der Künste (Berlin). Sam is a founding trustee of the Rosemary Butcher Foundation and will work with her extensive archive towards a gallery retrospective.

Image 1: until they feel – ahead of them – a barrier (2016), film still

Image 2, 3: the actual structure is the material (2018) two channel film installation, film still

Image 4: here and not (2017) two channel film installation collaboration with Joe Moran, film still

Jessica Williams

Jessica Williams (b. 1986, US/NO) is an Oslo-based artist who works freely within the realms of publishing, photography, text, and new media. She holds a BFA from the Cooper Union in New York City (2008) and a MFA from the National Academy of Art, Oslo (2014). Her working methods echo those of a hunter gatherer: collecting objects (both physical and metaphysical) that stand in as metaphors for intangible, shared feelings and experiences. The power of language and everyday physicality in the increasingly digital world are constant themes.

Between 2011-2014, she was the driving force behind the small, yet internationally recognized artists' publisher North, South, East, West – NSEW for short. Since 2012, she has regularly given talks and held workshops related to self-publishing and Risograph printing. In 2016, she started producing printed works under the moniker Hverdag Books and in 2018 she co-founded the Norwegian Risograph Society.

Williams' work has been exhibited widely over the past decade, notably at Good Press, Glasgow (solo); KRETS, Malmö (solo); High Tide, Philadelphia (two-person); The New Museum, New York City; Art in General, New York City; Capricious Space, Brooklyn; Open Space, Baltimore, among others. She has also had solo exhibitions in Oslo, Bergen, Barcelona, and Austin, Texas.