Common Lands – Allmannaretten is a temporary art project taking the current city development of Bjørvika in Oslo as its starting point. Three artist-duos have been invited to develop projects for Common Land for the duration of the project. The artists are: Bik Van der Pol, Dellbrügge & de Moll, and Geir Tore Holm & Søssa Jørgensen.

Bjørvika is the former harbour area of Oslo. An ongoing transformation of the area will turn the area into a new central part of the city, and a relocation of the library and a new Much-Sternersen Museum will give the area a strong cultural focus.

The development of waterfronts is a current trend in post-industrial cities where such areas are converted to new urban spaces with an emphasis on busyness, housing, and recreation. The development of Bjørvika can be seen in the light of this international tendency. Common Lands uses the process of city development to scrutinize the series of issues related to urbanisation, democracy, access, and distribution of power. Alongside the art projects, a row of seminars, workshops, and text compilations has created a new focus on the specifics of the ongoing process in Bjørvika and provided a larger perspective of more general problems to reflect on. Common Lands is still an ongoing project following the development in Bjørvika and, along the way, making references to similar urban developments around the world.

During the stay at BAC in August-September, Rakett is working on the second publication related to the Common Lands – Allmannaretten.

About the publication Rakett states:

“The official debate about the development of Bjørvika has to a large extent revolved around aesthetics: the height of buildings, the harmony of buildings, and how open views should provide a connection between fields and the fjord. With this publication we wish to throw light on problems that have hitherto evaded public attention. On the one hand, we wish to disclose circumstances, which in its nature have little visibility (hidden structures such as ownership, power distribution between public and private agents etc.). On the other hand, Bjørvika functions as a kind of projection screen where fantasies and ideas about alternative, possible and impossible urban space can emerge.”

Text contributions from: Marius Grønning, Tone Hansen, and Oddrun Sæther.

Artist contributions from: Anna Kindgren and Carina Gunnars, Johan Tirén, Ingrid Lønningdal, Bik Van der Pol, Geir Tore Holm and Søssa Jørgensen, Dellbrügge & de Moll, and others.

Rakett is a collaboration between artists Karolin Tampere and Åse Løvgren starting in 2003 in Bergen, Norway. The Rakett-projects often function as temporary platforms for curatorial examinations. Both implicit and explicit these project address issues of copyright, (im)material and ephemeral production, the role of artist and curators as well as the possibility for mobile and flexible platforms within the institutional and public framework from where to look at art and society.

Rakett has realized and presented projects among other places, in Murmansk Art Museum, part of Barents Spektakel (in collaboration with Pikerne på Broen (Girls on the Bridge) in Kirkenes), Sparwasser hq, KuKu Klubi in Tallinn, Sørfinnset Skole / the nord land, Kino Kino in Sandnes, Projekt 0047 in Berlin, Nightschool at New Museum, part of Lights On at Astrup Fearnley Museum, and hosted the Curating Degree Zero Archive in the city of Bergen.

Rakett is invited as part of the Artist-in-Residence programme supported by NORDIC-BALTIC MOBILITY PROGRAMME. They will stay at BAC during August and September 2010.