The operations office, which is among the nominees for BKF prize Artist-run Exhibition Places of the Year 2021, is housed in an old cardboard factory in the town of Bruunshaab, 6 km. southeast of Viborg.
Here, in the old operations office, where the operations manager of the cardboard factory Gl. Bruunshaab once sat, visual artist Annette Gerlif and ceramicist Helle Bovbjerg have created a unique exhibition space, which over the summer has been nominated for the BKF award by a host of enthusiastic colleagues, audiences and partners.
Grethe Wittrock: Taking Root. Operations office 2021. Photo: Birgitte Munk.
The two artists say that they had long toyed with the idea of establishing an artist-run exhibition space in Viborg, and had also had several collaborations with the cardboard factory in the form of art projects and symposia, when it became clear to them in 2020 that the factory and the old operating office was just the right place to create a different exhibition platform:
"It fulfilled more than just 'an exhibition space', and gave us the opportunity to create something completely unique, which cannot be seen anywhere else - namely to establish an artist-run exhibition space in a working museum," they say.
Bruunshaab gl. Papfabrik makes cardboard from waste paper, and is visited annually by 10.000 from home and abroad. Now that the Operations Office has moved in, changing artists are invited to a residency at the factory.
Here they can create site-specific exhibitions based on the factory, the history of cardboard, the old craft traditions and the nature around the cardboard factory.
"The exhibitions are created in an interaction between art, culture and nature, and give the visitors an art experience in an unexpected place. At the same time, we can see that the art attracts a new audience to the factory - so it's a win-win both for us and for the factory," say the two artists.
Grethe Wittrock: Taking Root. Operations office 2021. Photo: Birgitte Munk.
Local collaborations
In a short time, the operations office has become an important contribution to Viborg Municipality's other cultural life, and the only artist-run exhibition space in the municipality. One of the Operations Office's visions is to create further collaboration and networks between artists and cultural institutions in the municipality and the region.
"From the start, we created a two-year exhibition program with four exhibitions annually. Due to covid-19, we have had to postpone an exhibition with an American artist, but it opened up collaboration with Aarhus Visual Arts Center (AaBKC), where we could jointly announce an open call targeting artists in the Central Region," Annette Gerlif and Helle Bovbjerg say. .
The result of the joint open call was the exhibition FEMALE STUDIES with Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen.
Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen: FEMALE STUDIES. Operations office 2021. Photo: Birgitte Munk.
"We were super happy that such an exciting and interesting artist chose to apply for an exhibition at our place. Her openness and immediate approach to the newly produced wet blue cardboard as a malleable material and the use of rivets to hold the cardboard together bring to mind cowboy clothing (the rivets are used at the Papfabrikken for the production of boxes, among other things). Her artistic practice is experimental and unpredictable in its approach to the material, driven by a strong will to seek out the unexpected and surprising.”
In connection with each exhibition, the people behind the Operations Office - in collaboration with the individual artists - create a mixture of performances, artist talks and workshops.
"Each time we have invited the audience inside, some magical meetings and conversations have arisen. Our events have been well attended, and the audience is both artists and visitors from the area and the region.”
Pernille Pontoppidan Pedersen: FEMALE STUDIES. Operations office 2021. Photo: Birgitte Munk.
Artist-driven creates new opportunities
Artist-run exhibition venues are important for society because they have a different agenda than the established cultural institutions, Annette Gerliff and Helle Bovbjerg emphasize:
"As a place, we constitute 'a subculture', and create opportunities for other artists, by showing art that is independent of sales figures, and clicks and likes that control what is to be shown. We are a non-profit exhibition venue that gives the invited artists 100% free rein, and we support and back them up in their artistic process. At the cardboard factory, visitors can 'enter the engine room' and meet the artists in the process, and see how the exhibitions are created."
But to establish an artist-run exhibition place requires you to be a firebrand. Because it takes time, effort and a lot of legwork:
Support artist-run operations – not just startups
"For the place to be a success, you have to work hard and with many 'caps' - funding applications, dialogue and meetings with the artists, graphic identity, poster, invitations, workshops, SoMe platforms, website, press releases. It is demanding and takes time, thus also time and finances from one's own art practice. We know that it is self-selected - but we find that it is difficult to honor ourselves as curators and organizers of the place, as many foundations earmark their allocation directly to the artists. It would be nice if e.g. The Statens Kunstfond had a specific pool for the operation of artist-run exhibition venues.”
Grethe Wittrock: Taking Root. Operations office 2021. Photo: Birgitte Munk.
In return, the two artists experience support both from colleagues, the audience and business partners:
"We appreciate the support and backing we have received from the start of Viborg Municipality and Bruunshaab gl. Cardboard factory. And we are happy about the publicity the Operations Office has received via the Aarhus Visual Arts Center and locally – it is of great importance.”
"It has also been exciting here during the summer to read the presentations of the other nominees for the BKF award, and to hear about their attitudes and experiences with the same problems that we experience. We have an idea to create a regional network for artist-run exhibition venues, and are already in dialogue with Aarhus Visual Arts Center about the idea. The network must be used for the exchange of experience, so that we can stand stronger together and become even better at running these unique places.”