In conjunction with Ciara Phillips' exhibition Whatever happened to that bridge we crossed, we asked art historian and writer Astrid Helen Windingstad to conduct a conversation with Phillips about her work, inspiration, and collaborators.

Astrid Helen Windingstad: I’m curious about the title of the exhibition - Whatever happened to that bridge we crossed? To me, it refers to something that was and now is gone. What is the title referring to?

Ciara Phillips: My dad said it on a long car journey - “Whatever happened to that bridge we crossed?” I started thinking about it not only in terms of looking for landmarks but also as a personal question and a question that might be applied in wider societal terms. I like titles that can refer to something quite intimate - a feeling, relationships, a dedication - but that also reflect outwards and open up thoughts about how we operate in the world. Here, Whatever happened to that bridge we crossed? will be a starting point for the conversations I´ll be having through the collaborative project Workshop (2010-). It’s a catalyst for discussion rather than a direct reflection on the artworks in the show. I’m hoping a lot of questions will come out of this one question.

We are closed for the summer, and will open again on September 12, with a solo exhibition by Ciara Phillips.

In the meantime, please join us for a Bananas Concert on August 10, which we are hosting together with the yearly Chamber Music Festival.

We are also excited to announce a talk by Barbara London on August 25. London is the first curator who began to collect and exhibit video art at MoMA in New York. She is currently working on her new book, Video/Art, the First Fifty Years, which will be published by Phaidon in January 2020.

Join our Kids' Art Club! Registration is now open for the Fall Semester!

Dates for the Art Club:

25.08.19 artist Espen Birkedal

29.09.19 artist Marte Eknæs

27.10.19 artist Mari Kolbeinson

17.11.19 artist Friedrich Floen

08.12.19: Exhibition and vernissage with curator TBA

On May 8, 2019, Kunsthall Stavanger presented a special performance by Hanne Lippard and Bendik Giske during the opening week of the Venice Biennial 2019.

Kunsthall Stavanger has been working with Lippard and Bendik in the past. We presented Hanne Lippard with a special project at Coast Contemporary in 2017, and organized a large-scale solo exhibition, titled Ulyd, with the artist at Kunsthall Stavanger in the fall of 2018. During the exhibition, we presented a performance with Lippard and Giske. We will present a special concert at the kunsthall with Giske in 2020.

See pictures from the event here.