Nimble Weavers Artist-in-Residence

NIMBLE WEAVERS works within ACTIONABLE and the Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve to create operative structures involving art and science via an artist-in-residence model, employing these different fields of practice to generate outputs across disciplines and communities, such as exhibitions, seminars, publications, conversations, walks, performances, etc. The project asks; how can these formats and structures enhance research via cross-sectoral collaborative initiatives towards affecting vital systemic change? How can the successes in navigating these conflicting values of the local human and more-than-human communities of the Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve be platformed via meeting points between the arts and sciences? By sharing ontological and epistemological resources, tools, and methodologies, the project plants the seeds for new ways of knowing and doing, integrating these across multiple arenas.

At its core, the project employs the concept of artists as “nimble weavers”—individuals who bring together varied threads of thought, expertise, and agency from across disciplines and communities, responding rapidly to pressing social and environmental issues, weaving platforms and amplifiers together from views through artistic, scientific, and local lenses.

About the project

NIMBLE WEAVERS works to co-produce knowledge and generate policy-relevant research through artistic methodologies aligned with the aims of ACTIONABLE. The artist’s residency will look in particular at conflicting values of nature that align with current societal debates in Norway on land-use change, especially regarding the destruction of natural spaces (biodiversity crisis) and infrastructure development in terms of the green transition (climate crisis). There is a particular focus on the context of Nordhordland’s role in power demand and supply and land-use change implications for different values of nature, including instrumental values such as energy supply and intrinsic values such as biodiversity.

Two cases where this will be engaged with are the proposed development of an on-shore wind farm in Stølsheimen in Modalen municipality where relational values such as the individual bond with local nature and the associated sense of place also play a role in the conflicting values, and the rejection of wind power development by Fedje municipality in favour of promoting tourism to the island. 

By integrating artistic and scientific methodologies in its approach, the project aims to create a dynamic and participatory model for addressing complex environmental and societal challenges. Through public events, the artist-in-residence model can become a catalyst for dialogue and research, employing the capacities of the cultural field to amplify local voices and connect diverse stakeholders through other means of engagement. By integrating local voices and perspectives, the project ensures that knowledge production is co-created rather than imposed.

The residency will consist of three months in total, spanning summer 2025 to spring 2026, is divided into three phases:

1. Fieldwork and Community Engagement (June–November 2025): The artist participates in research activities with ACTIONABLE’s PhD candidate Janne Thomsen and the broader ACTIONABLE team and engages with local communities.
2. Public Events and Knowledge Dissemination (June–November 2025): The artist curates and participates in  events such as workshops, discussions, and seminars.
3. Exhibition and Public Events (April–August 2026): The residency culminates in a solo exhibition at Hordaland Kunstsenter, complemented by public engagement activities.

ACTIONABLE Project PI Alicia Donnellan Barraclough and PhD student Janne Thomsen are the main UiB researchers involved, and they work closely with NW coordinator Robin Everett and artist in residence Ase Brunborg Lie. 

The NIMBLE WEAVERS project is funded in part by Vestland Fylkeskommune.

Contact

Any inquiries or interest in the project can be directed to Robin Everett.