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| Starting early on arts of darkness Planning for KunstPause Svalbard underway in hope of attracting more visitors
It's never too early to start thinking about celebrating Longyearbyen's plunge into total darkness. Organizers are already announcing preliminary plans for KunstPause Svalbard, an annual event highlighting local art, taking place this year Nov. 12-15. Roger Ødegård Zahl, Longyearbyen's cultural advisor, said the event was launched in 2002 to increase activity during a slow time of year and hopes this year's early start will refocus on that goal. "We don't get too many outsiders, but every year we hope there will be more," he said. "We're trying to get the tourism companies to make more interest in getting people to visit. That was the intent when they started this...(but) we took over." The event isn't Longyearbyen's biggest "dark" celebration; that's the annual Dark Season Blues festival, scheduled Oct. 22-25 this year. KunstPause is more relaxed and diverse, promoted as "a break from everyday life and routines," focusing on visual art as well as music and performances. This year's festival collaborates with the "daily life of cultural heritage" campaign featured by the Svalbard Museum and the Svalbard governor's office. Tove Sundt-Hansen will open KunstPause with the exhibition "Sølvtråden" ("Silver Thread") at Galleri Svalbard, with later events including former minister Wenche Frogn Sellæg lecturing about building in Longyearbyen at the town library and Pernille Skar Nordby discussing similar development in the abandoned Russian mining community of Pyramiden. Music performances scheduled so far include the Valkyrien Allstars, a fiddle trio "rooted in the traditional Norwegian music," but expanding into avant-garde by including elements of rock, jazz, blues and soul. They are scheduled to release their second album in August. Also scheduled is northern Norwegian vocalist Tonje Unstad, whose debut album Sett is promoted as "pop music mixed with reggae, jazz and Latino styles, all wrapped in a down-to-Earth acoustic production." The full KunstPause lineup is scheduled for release in September. Other activities planned or tentatively scheduled include a hymn composition project, a children's theater performance, a snow sculpture course, and a display of old snowscooters and equipment. Plus, of course, a wealth of art exhibitions at galleries throughout town. "There are a lot of good painters in Longyearbyen and we want them to be in focus," Zahl said. |
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