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LIAF’s artistic council is pleased to announce Kjersti Solbakken as appointed curator for LIAF 2024. – We look forward to working with Kjersti, who has deep knowledge of both the Norwegian and international art scenes, as well as having her roots in Northern Norway, says Helga-Marie Nordby, who chaired the festival’s artistic council between 2009 and 2022.

Solbakken (b. 1984, Valnesfjord) is a freelance curator, writer and an institutional leader based in Oslo, Norway. Between 2017 and 2022 she was appointed director of Kunstnerforbundet, one of Scandinavia’s oldest artist-run exhibition spaces. During her time at the institution, Atelier Kunstnerforbundet was established – a studio collective, a network of art enthusiasts and a pioneer project in the field of public engagement in Kunstnerforbundet’s own premises in the center of Oslo.

Between 2015-2016 she was appointed director of Galleri Format in Oslo and from 2014-2015 she was the director of Fotogalleriet in Oslo. In 2014 she curated the exhibition Biography by Elmgreen & Dragset at Astrup Fearnley Museet, together with Gunnar Kvaran. She has curated numerous exhibitions as a freelance curator for institutions such as Hordaland Kunstsenter, Vestlandsutstillingen (Kunsthall Stavanger, Sogn og Fjordane Kunstmuseum, Kunsthuset Kabuso, Kunstmuseet Kube and Haugesund Kunstforening) Telemark Kunstsenter, F15 and Stormen kunst/dájdda.

In 2007 she co-founded the small press Feil forlag with Andreas Liebe Delsett where she in close collaboration with the artists has experimented with various formats and strategies of publishing. She has also been a co-organiser of Tekstallianse, a Nordic festival for imprints and small press publishers. From 2011-2013 she was the director of the non-profit project space Holodeck together with Lina Norell and Silja Leifsdottir. She has been a board member of UKS (Unge Kunstneres Samfund) and The Norwegian Association of Curators. Education includes an MA degree in curatorial studies at Bergen Academy of Art and Design and a BFA in Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Oslo, Norway. She has also attended Nordland Kunst and Filmskole. In 2022 she has been granted the curator residency at International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) through OCA.

The curator says the following about LIAF 2024:

“LIAFs experimental and inclusive approach to communicating art is rare, and it is a huge dream come true to be able to work with the collective meeting place that LIAF constitutes. I want to use LIAF as a platform to take a closer look at local stories, archives, collections, and conditions that can help uncover our recent history. I look forward to further getting to know artists, curators, writers, arts and cultural institutions, LIAF’s fantastic staff, artistic council and all existing and future partners.”