Archive for category Art, culture and literature
Out Stealing Horses (Per Petterson, 2003)
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on March 9, 2010
67-year-old Trond has moved from the city to a rustic cabin by the Swedish border, in an isolated part of eastern Norway. After the death of his wife and sister, he has no great ambitions for the rest of his life, which he plans to live out as quietly as possible in his new country retreat. But an impromptu meeting with his neighbour, Lars, forces him to reflect on events that took place some 50 years earlier, in the summer of 1948. A summer that was to have a profound impact on the rest of his life, although Trond knew nothing of it at the time. A beautiful, soberly written yet deeply felt novel about youth, love, loss and life itself, Nordic in tone and setting, but universal in the themes in encompasses.
The winner of various prestigious literary awards, including the 2007 Dublin IMPAC Award, Out Stealing Horses was also named in Time magazine as one of the Top 10 Fiction Books of 2007. The book has sold 230,000 copies worldwide and spent 70 weeks on the Norwegian bestseller list. The English edition was translated by Anne Born.
Praise for Out Stealing Horses:
“A gripping account of such originality as to expand the reader’s own experience of life.” Thomas McGuane, The New York Times Book Review
“From the first terse sentences of this mesmerizing Norwegian novel about youth, memory, and, yes, horse stealing, you know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller.” Newsweek
“Petterson’s spare and deliberate prose has astonishing force.” The New Yorker
“Petterson tells a Bergman-esque tale of a solitary man coming to grips with his past…” Entertainment Weekly
“That’s the effect of Per Petterson’s award-winning novel: It hits you in the heart at close range.” Alan Cheuse, NPR’s All Things Considered
“A masterpiece of tough romance . . . ” The New York Sun
The Man Who Loved Yngve (2008)
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on March 2, 2010
One of the most successful Norwegian films of 2008, based on the equally popular novel by Stavanger author Tore Renberg (the book sold over 100,000 copies in Norway), this is the story of two teenage friends, Jarle and Yngve, and their ‘coming out’, as they slowly discover their feelings for each other, and struggle to acknowledge them. It’s not so much a gay movie though, as a universal one, covering themes that many will relate to, including the insecurities felt by all teenagers, while at the same time celebrating the energy and sheer lust for life that comes with being young. Red-head Rolf Kristian Larsen, who plays the movie’s main character, Jarle Kleppe, was a newcomer with only a few shorts to his name before being cast in the role. He pulled it off, and in fact he is so endearing that it’s easy to identify with him, whatever your sexual orientation. Bittersweet and touching at the same time, it’s little wonder the film was a success with audiences and critics alike.
‘November 1989. The Berlin wall collapses. In Stavanger, Jarle Klepp (17) has no idea that everything is about to change. So far he has got everything; the best girlfriend in the world, and the world’s coolest buddy. Together they will soon launch Stavanger’s toughest punk band, “Mattias Rust Band”. But then the new boy in class, Yngve, appears. He is not like anyone else, and Jarle is confused. He does not know what to do. All he knows is that he cannot stop meeting Yngve, even if it involves doing things he really hates, like listening to Duran Duran and playing tennis. Slowly but steadily Jarle lets everyone around him down, and finds out what it means to stand alone.’ (Motlys AS, Production Company)
Directed by Stian Kristiansen, with Rolf Kristian Larsen in the main role. More info on the movie, in English, here http://www.nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/index.php?sid=60&ptid=3
And for readers in the UK: The film will be screened in London during the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival later this month (BFI Southbank, 27 and 29 March, 8.30pm).
David Sandum: A colourful journey
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on February 20, 2010
The first time I came across a painting by David Sandum, it was that of a sun-drenched southern landscape in shades of oranges, yellows and greens that evoked both Van Gogh and Cézanne. As it turns out, the two masters have been big influences on his work, he told me when I met him recently, something that won’t really come as a surprise once you become more familiar with his style.
David comes from Gothenburg, Sweden, although he lived in the US for several years. He is passionate about colours, and uses them to striking effect in his art, whether it’s painting landscapes or people, or even still lives. He’s not interested in realism. He’s much more of an expressionist, and his approach is a very personal one. ‘Good art to me is about emotions, not just aesthetics’, he says. ‘But it is also a dialogue. What the viewer brings to the experience is just as important as what the painter puts in it.’
This openness is characteristic of Sandum. Indeed another thing I noticed about him, before even meeting him, was how ready he was to promote other artists’ work. His website has an entire section, featuring no fewer than 100 artists, dedicated to people he admires, from internationally acclaimed masters to lesser known Scandinavian painters. His facebook page is full of links to old and new artistic discoveries he’s made and wants to share with others. And he uses twitter in very much the same way, still managing to remain enthusiastic about art at 2 o’clock in the morning (he often paints late into the night).
In conversation he is just as generous and open, talking about his work, but also the creative process, and the ups and downs that go with it, in a very personal and candid way. David is entirely self-taught (something you may find hard to believe looking at his paintings), but this learning process hasn’t been a painless one. He actually started painting to fight depression some 10 years ago. It’s been a saving grace, but also a struggle, at many levels, not least financially. He rents a studio in Moss, where he works full time, painting and teaching, but there are only a limited number of art buyers locally, and quite a bit of competition. He admits to having once paid a dentist bill with a painting, and considered taking a part-time job to support his family (he’s married with two teenage boys).
David Sandum will be exhibiting at the Varden Gallery in Moss in September. A solo exhibition that means a lot to him. Some 30 of his oil paintings and gouaches will be on display, and this is a real chance for him to get noticed, and find buyers for many his paintings. I hope he does – he’s got talent.
More on David Sandum at www.davidsandum.com
Exhibition at Galleri Varden, Moss, in September (exact dates to be confirmed nearer the time, watch this space) www.gallerivarden.com
Tellusalie performing ‘See You Sometimes’
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on February 18, 2010
The video for ‘See You Sometimes’, from the Is The Outside Still There? album.
Tellusalie: A talented band from Fredrikstad
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on February 18, 2010
The five-man band has released three albums so far, all of which have received very good reviews, but The Man Across the Fountain, which features 18 tracks, is possibly the most accomplished to date. Ole Jørgen Ottosen was nominated for it in the 2009 Spellemannspris awards, the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammys (popular music composers category). Ottosen, who is the lead singer and guitarist in the band, is also the brother of Tommy Lorange Ottosen, the man behind Tommy Tokyo, another very popular Fredrikstad band (check this link for more info http://www.elusivemoose.eu/tag/tommy-tokyo/).
But what about the music? ‘The trademark of this band is the finely balanced energy of their music. Its myriad catchy fragments are sewn together into short songs that seem “full”, i.e. vibrantly whole. At the same time the songs also have insidious properties, so that they gain on the listener unconsciously, who soon might find himself arrested. The countryesque elements provide depth and calm to the songs and thus make the music many-layered and therefore enduring, rather than simply immediately charming.’ (Listen to Norway, www.mic.no)
Discography to date: Tangerine Dreams (2004), Is the Outside Still There? (2006), The Man Across The Fountain (2009).
Tellusalie will be performing tomorrow (19 Feb) at Parkteateret for the by:Larm Festival (on stage at 18.45, free entry), and on 24 April at the Rockefeller (book tickets at www.billettservice.no). Both venues are in Oslo. More info at www.myspace.com/tellusalie
A Norwegian love poem for Valentine’s Day
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature on February 14, 2010
This poem is called ‘It’s the Dream’ (from Drops in the East Wind, 1966). It is written by Olav H. Hauge, one of Norway’s most famous poets.
…
It’s the dream we carry in secret
that something miraculous will happen,
that it must happen –
that time will open
that the heart will open
that doors will open
that the rockface will open
that spring will gush –
that the dream will open,
that one morning we will glide into
some little harbour we didn’t know was there.
An introduction to Norwegian art
Posted by admin in Art, culture and literature, Photos and videos on February 4, 2010
