2026 marks BOs 50th anniversary, to celebrate the occasion BO invites our audiences to the conversation series Tilbakeblikkets kapittel [The Retrospective Chapter], curated by Elisa Turcato Bakken. Unfolding through four conversations with four key figures in the Norwegian art scene, the series explores the function of artists’ organizations in Oslo over the past 50 years, as well as speculates into the future. What role has artists’ organizations and unions like BO played historically? What is our role today? And what will be our role for the time to come?
The conversation series departs from Bakken’s ongoing work with BOs archive. As historical trajectories gradually emerge, it becomes compelling to look at artists’ organizing in a broader context: How can we understand the history of arts policy – alongside purely artistic concerns – through the lens of artist-run platforms? Aiming to cast the contemporary art scene in a different, more historically grounded light, each of the conversations will look back in time, to describe current and predict future tendencies and possible conflicts
What makes BO’s structure different from that of other exhibition venues? Questions of this kind are relatively often posed by the visitors of our space in Rådhusgata 19. The well-established artists of the scene are likely to be more conscious of the aftermath of the 1974 Kunstneraksjonen [the Artists’ revolt] – the spirit era’s demands, which in turn established unique working conditions and rights for Norwegian artists. Yet, with time comes distance. And the question that now arises is whether this distance might ultimately erode this political legacy.
The relationship between art and politics is in constant flux. The principle of “arm’s-length distance” has always – or at least since the late 19th century – been upheld by artist-led platforms, albeit in shifting ways. Consequently, BO does not exist in a static form; the institution responds to and engages with the art sector as is at any given time. For over half a century, this work has taken place through various guises, locations, and forms of engagement.
The distinctive history of artists’ organization in Norway occupies a space somewhere in between: the individual artist, the independent field, major museums, more commercially oriented galleries, larger national artists’ organizations, and other forms of associations. As Marianne Heier emphasized in Billedkunst no. 1/2026: “The unique model upon which the Norwegian art scene is built was fought for by the artists themselves. It is up to us to defend it in the face of the challenges of our time”. So, what are the challenges of our time? And which “us” exists in today’s art scene? With BO’s history as a springboard, Tilbakeblikkets kapittel aims at, if not to answer, to discuss the questions raised by Heier’s fighting spirit.
In this context, one could naturally argue that the art world is caught in a sort of endless merry-go-round, where the artistic substance – the art works themselves – gets lost in a tangle of quasi-sociological analyses: “… let the country’s cultural workers devote their energy to creating things, rather than fighting for their legitimacy while on the public payroll,” Bernhard Ellefsen, the cultural editor of Morgenbladet recently wrote. Ouch. Yet, at times, he hits the mark. He goes on to assert bluntly: “Norway has become a country devoid of debate on cultural policy”, and in so doing he poignantly captures what could be said to be the spirit of our time.
In the first conversation of the series, Bakken meets artist and professor at KHiO Ane Hjort Guttu. Emphasizing the relationship between the artist and politics – or the state as such, the discussion will focus on the constant change and negotiation that come to determine this dynamic. Guttu completed he MFA at the then Oslo Academy of Art in the 1990s and has since played an active role both as an internationally acknowledged artist and as an educator for emerging generations of artists. The conversation will draw on Guttu’s experience with and reflections on younger generations of art students – specifically their understanding of artist-led organizations and the artist-run field: managed by artists, characterized by structures involving membership, jury processes, democratic principles, and, not least, qualitative judgements – elements that defy quantification and thus align poorly with current political demands of measurability.
At the turn of the millennium, author Thure Erik Lund wrote about his views on various organization structures: “It seems there is an unchecked proliferation of all manner of associations in the wealthy Western world. Is this increase and growing diversity of associational activity a sign that society is ailing – given that society itself, as an association, is not good enough as it is and no longer manages to unite us?” Delivered with a touch of sarcasm, this perhaps sheds light on the skepticism surrounding artist-run platforms at the dawn of the 2000s – a time when the independent field truly flourished, and the “creeping bureaucratization” of art was seen as a little hell of its own. What does Guttu think about the developments since then?
For many years, Guttu wrote the column “Skråblikk” for Billedkunst. In issue no. 1/2025, she drew upon the then-recent rift between the Norwegian Society of Authors [Forfatterforbundet] and the Norwegian Author’s Union [DnF] as an analogy of sorts for the visual arts field. Here, she employs two logics of cultural policy – administrative logic and quality logic – derived from the Arts Council Norway’s 2020 book Logikker i strid [Logics in Conflict]. The former logic requires that public funding be legitimized through some form of objective reliability; it involves different ways of making art a measurable quantity, whether based on commercial appeal or principles of democratic resource allocation. Extending this line of reasoning, Guttu points out that the most commercially successful artists would probably lay claim on the majority of the revenue from the Relief Fund for Visual Artists (BKH), a collective grant scheme, established in 1948.
Quality logic, by contrast, relies on qualitative judgement – as exemplified by the work of artist juries composed of peers. The Norwegian Author’s Union employs such a jury, as does BO. Guttu argues that problems arise when entities operating under an “administrative logic” – such as the Norwegian Society of Authors – seek public funding grounded in quality logic. A conflict of this nature emerged between these two parties within the literary sector. A key point, however, in Guttu’s view, is that administrative logic is gaining increasing support in Norwegian cultural policy, while the Association of Norwegian Visual Artists (NBK) has treated the conflict as if it were of no concern to them. She further asserts a growing skepticism in the Norwegian public sphere regarding “cultural elites” and “wasteful spending”. What are her thoughts on this in context of the visual arts field and the current operations of artists’ organizations? How do this administrative logic and skepticism manifest themselves, and how should they be understood and addressed?
The conversation between Ane Hjort Guttu and Elisa Turcato Bakken will take place September 26th, at 12h30.
Om deltakerne
Ane Hjort Guttu is an artist and filmmaker based in Oslo. She works in a variety of media, with a main emphasis on text and video. Among recurrent themes in her work are the relationship between freedom and power, how we move in public space, individual autonomy and the social, economic and political conditions of art. She has an extensive exhibition record both nationally and internationally and has also released several publications, the latest which is due in 2026. Ane Hjort Guttu is a professor at the National Academy of the Arts, Oslo.
Elisa Turcato Bakken holds a double BA in sociology and art history, with a focus on how the City Government in Oslo has changed its logic in relation to the art field since the 1990s and ecocriticism as an analytic and theoretical framework in recent art history. In addition to having been affiliated with BO as a mediator for over a year and a half, she has also been engaged as a Communication Officer at Astrup Fearnley Museet. Elisa has previously been active in the art historical journal Paragone. As of September 2026, Elisa holds the position as BO’s Gallery and Sales Coordinator. She additionally works for the student newspaper Universitas.
Acknowledgements
Tilbakeblikkets kapittel is organized with the support of the Norwegian Culture Fund.