Skien municipality and the Telemark Canal Culture and Nature Park invite artists and creative professionals to an open call for applications for a major Ibsen-themed project in central Skien. The project will be part of the Stories of the Waterways project, which aims to draw attention to places along the historic Telemark Canal that connects Skien to inland Telemark.
2028 will mark the bicentennial of the birth of Skien’s great playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Skien municipality is a central stakeholder in the work on organising a major national and international event: Ibsen 2028. In conjunction with the Ibsen bicentennial, the new Ibsenbiblioteket library and the Sølvåren cultural centre are set to be finished by 2028. The Ibsen-themed art project will stand on its own, but will definitely also point forwards both to the commemorative events in 2028 and to the road beyond.
The Telemark Canal Nature and Culture Park and Skien municipality wish to realise a major outdoor project as part of the work leading up to the Ibsen bicentennial in 2028. The aim is to make people more aware of and interested in Ibsen’s artistic contributions to critical thinking and reflection. Upholding personal liberty and a space for free expression is a continuously ongoing task.
This call is open to a broad range of artists, architects, designers, and other creative professionals. Three applicants will be selected and granted 75,000 NOK (~6450 EUR) each to develop their proposals in a closed competition.One of these three proposals will thereafter be chosen in order to realise this extensive project. The budget for the realisation will follow the project’s ambitions.
