Stay put, history will catch up with us,
2024
Performance commissioned by Vilhelm Christensen, Stacey de Voe, 
and Emil Sandström for Rådmannsgården Intermezzo exhibition.

A sonic response to the living and non-living inhabitants of the historical building. 
A performance that questions the way we prioritise property over people and evokes
the voices of those no longer with us, specifically those deemed disposable.
Referencing Wergeland’s poem: The girl in the anatomy chamber, Khachik draws parallels to
today’s horrific treatment of people for the purpose of occupation of land and resources.


Rådmannsgården Intermezzo
Vilhelm Christensen, Stacey de Voe, Emil Sandström
2024

Through staging, archival material and a series of performative interventions, a multifaceted narrative about Rådmannsgården, the 17th-century building where the Oslo Kunstforening is located, is examined.

Rådmannsgården Intermezzo is an exhibition project in the form of eight thematic acts over eight days. The project examines the history of both the building and the institution from different perspectives. Through mapping archival material and documentation, individual events, material and narratives are highlighted, with a simultaneous view.

The artists Vilhelm Christensen, Stacey de Voe and Emil Sandström approach questions of history, archives and institutional frameworks in different ways. They have invited musicians, historians, artists, writers and theorists to enter into dialogue with and reflect on the diverse history of the place.

Sculptural installations form a mobile scenography as a frame for the various activities and the historical rooms. Concerts, performances, readings, lectures, film screenings and architectural interventions will fill the first floor of the building. The rooms bear traces of use from different eras, with faded wallpaper, worn wooden floors, painted over frescoes and a distinctive plaster ceiling with depictions of virtues and exotic animals.

Photo: Kristine Jakobsen/Oslo Kunstforening
Curatorial statement: Stacey de Voe