Eckbos Legat Grant Exhibition

The Eckbos Legat Grant Exhibition is Vigeland Museum’s autumn exhibition, presenting new works by Johannes Engelsen Espedal (b. 1988), Wendimagegn Belete (b. 1986), Sebastian Rusten (b. 1986), and Liilian Saksi (b. 1989). The exhibition features four site-specific works, with a particular emphasis on materiality, craftsmanship, and the relationship between the works and the spaces in which they are presented. During the exhibition period, the jury will select one of the projects to receive a grant of NOK 200,000.

The exhibition is a collaboration between Eckbos Legat, Mesén, and Vigeland Museum.

In Gallery 7, Liilian Saksi presents the project Sau, sprang, sorg. The project consists of a series of sculptural works made up of S-shaped metal structures supporting stretched threads of hand-spun wool. The threads are braided using the sprang technique, forming subtle diagonal patterns and vertical fields of colour. The sculptures have a double-sided character, revealing two distinct textile surfaces. The wool comes from individuals in the artist’s own flock of sheep, Alli, Majlis, Lea, Salme, and Mauno, combined with dyed wool from her parents’ farm in Sweden. The project highlights relationships of care, both towards the animals and the materials, and explores coexistence and ways of living at a time when the connection between humans and nature is becoming increasingly fragile.

Also in Gallery 7, Johannes Engelsen Espedal presents the project Vassdrag. The installation, which takes the form of a river and its surrounding wetland, is constructed from man-made steel and concrete structures originally designed to protect us from and control the forces of water. Through this gesture, Espedal draws attention to our urge to tame nature, and to how, in doing so, we gradually dismantle it piece by piece.

In Gallery 11, Sebastian Rusten presents a work from the Heaps series. The floor-based installation is composed of spruce trees in various states: timber, bark, pulverised and charred wood, and pine needles processed in different ways. Unlike earlier works in the series, this iteration of Heaps also incorporates larger sculptural elements. In an attempt to work in collaboration with nature throughout the processes of gathering, processing, installing, and reusing the materials, Rusten seeks a form of self-effacement.

Wendimagegn Belete presents his work in Gallery 12. A recurring theme in Belete’s work is the exploration of cultural heritage and identity, storytelling, and collective making. For the Eckbos Legat Grant Exhibition, he presents All That Remains of Tomorrow, a large scale embroidered artwork that, according to the artist, “reclaims history and memory, refers archives, and foregrounds the labour and cultural significance of local artisans.”

About Eckbos Legat
Eckbos Legat is a private charitable foundation. In 1923, Major and lawyer Eivind Eckbo established the first of what would eventually become eleven funds. Each year, Eckbos Legat provides financial support to individuals, organisations, research projects, and other initiatives that fall within the foundation’s various areas of support, including art and culture.

About the jury
The art jury consists of Jarle Strømodden (jury chair), Ahmed Umar, Azar Alsharif, Kristine K. Wessel, and Mona Gjessing.

Grant recipient
To be announced in March 2027.