Detroit Kunsthalle Under New Management

Detroit Kunsthalle (DKH) was established by Kjetil Detroit Kristensen with the vision to create, curate and conduct programmed activities within the field of art and public space. It is physically located on an eight meter long, and three meter wide shoreline plot situated at Lurahammeren on the Norwegian west coast, and also hosts nomadic productions elsewhere, often in collaboration with invited artists.

Detroit Kristensen met artists Sayed Sattar Hansen, Nicholas John Jones, and Mathew Lacosse in august through a residency in Oslo, and after a conversation about what would happen next, invited these three artists to Stavanger to participate in a residency with DKH, hosted within his own residency with Studio17, Stavanger. Tickets were bought, accommodations arranged, and a request to carry out some to be announced task was issued by DKH to the artists – more information was promised. One hour ahead of arrival in Stavanger an email came through with the first set of instructions and the information that the artist would participate in a public conversation in two days time.

DKH results from Detroit Kristensen’s own questions about the value and role of cultural institutions. Faced with this situation, the invited artist found themselves questioning the nature and meaning of the Kunsthalle they had had been brought into; considering it’s meaning and the potential and implications it may harbour, as well as the value of more traditional cultural intuitional formats. The residency within a residency became a critique within a critique.

Sincerely,
Detroit Kunsthalle

—

Kjetil Detroit Kristensen, the manage of the Detroit Kunsthalle, was the second artist to have a residency at Studio17. His project «Detroit Kunsthalle Under New Management» started with a public announcement proclaiming that Detroit Kunsthalle is under new management by Sayed Sattar Hansen (NO), Nicholas John Jones (UK), and Mathew Lacosse (CA), who are to lead the rapid assessment of its assets and appraise the institution’s viability and future direction. The findings were announced to shareholders and other interested parties on Thursday, September 27th, 2018. Later on, the findings were turned into an exhibition, which had a finissage on Saturday, October 6th, 2018.