27.05.23 - 02.07.23
EXHIBITION: INNGREP / SOKNDAL by Adrian Bugge
As part of Velferden's programme WASTE / DEPOSIT, we opened Adrian Bugge's unique photo exhibition about man-made interventions in Norwegian nature, with a special focus on transformed landscapes in Sokndal municipality. There was also the opportunity to buy Adrian's photo book 'INNGREP', which has many photos from Sokndal.
INNGREP / SOKNDAL gives us an exciting opportunity to reflect more deeply on how we are changing the Norwegian landscape in the pursuit of valuable resources. The exhibition highlights the conflicts of interest surrounding the protection of nature, the green shift, securing jobs and the nation's economic future. In the exhibition you will see photographs of artificial mountains of earth and sand, holes where there were once mountains and monumental infrastructure from, among other things, power development.
Adrian Bugge "RACERBILBANE. MOTORCENTER NORWAY, SOKNDAL, ROGALAND, 2022. Race car track built with stone from ilmenite mine. "
The images are beautiful, well-composed, colorful and evocative. Some of them are on the verge of national romanticism, with layers of mountains disappearing into the misty sky. Others are crystal clear with details that don't hide anything and show what they show. All are the result of Adrian's respectful and patient exploration of a new type of Norwegian nature. He says, "The exploration of interventions is something that fascinates and frightens me, because this is where the resources are. Do we perhaps need man-made interventions to understand what is about to be lost?"
In Haua and the rest of Dalane, we are well aware of these issues, and our industrial pride is reflected in the municipality's coat of arms with its three notches.
In Sokndal, we've been making inroads into the mountains between our farms for almost 200 years, and we've become very good at it. That's why this exhibition is particularly relevant, as it gives us the opportunity to experience our own interventions seen through Adrian's photographic eye.
