Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri
(Norway, b. 1975)

Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri (Norway, b.1975), graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Oslo. Growing up in an environment full of creativity in childhood, Kari Anne escaped from the typical Norwegian minimalist style, inherited the melancholy and cold temperament of Northern Europe, using old clothes, rags, and fragments of fabrics, restitched them and created her own language in textile art. Focusing on the theme of limitations, expectations, regulations, and isolation, these are the subject the each individual confront in the collective society. Kari Anne had exhibited in Kunstmuseet Nord Trøndelag, Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Norway, and Socle Du Monde Biennale in Denmark. Her works are permanently collected by Kongsberg Municipality, Den Norske Husflidforening and many other important institutions.

Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri's childhood came from a poor family. Her mother, a tailor, often used old clothes and other easily available fabrics to create designs, transforming decay into magic, which deeply influenced Bahri's interest in fabrics. The untimely death of her father left her in isolation, silence, self-doubt, and a feeling of being trapped in her own body. Through the process of creating by weaving, patching, and sewing together fabric scraps, she found a way to express herself. Her mother's inspiration as a medium and her father's imagery frequently appear in her creative content. She once said: "I use clothes and fabrics as a language of communication to liberate their function of packaging the body." Fabrics are materials with warmth. Clothing, as an object to cover the body, has the most intimate contact with personal skin. Once it is new, After clothing is worn, it is no longer in a new state. A person's mental state and emotions will leave traces of time on the clothing. It is a private dialogue with oneself, and it is also an individual's external image of himself in society.

Bahri makes good use of hand sewing methods and spends a long time with the collected fabrics to explore the details of the fibers.Using natural materials such as cotton, linen, and wool, Bahri often chooses white or neutral colors for presentation. She believes that art often reflects the heavier aspects of life. The use of neutral colors allows the artwork to be free from the influence of either pleasant or sad emotions. It liberates the confined body, transcending the limitations of self-imposed constraints and thereby creating a unique life story.Using weaving thread as a paintbrush, her creations explore issues such as Limitations, Restrictions, Expectations, and Isolation in current society. Through the reinterpretation and recreation of the chaos, abandonment, flaws, decay, and imperfections of ready-made objects, she allows viewers to escape from their own circles. , reflect on the memory experience from an objective position, and from this position stimulate the process of self-dialogue, identification, and compromise of "who I was in the past," "who I am in the future," and "who I can be."

In the textile art of the 20th century, artists used the toughness of fibers and the intimacy of fabrics to connect the body to express their own positions and differentiate themselves from traditional weaving techniques. Anni Albers, a German-American artist, was the first to break the boundaries between art and craft. She used the characteristics of fabric fibers to incorporate natural materials, synthetic threads, and metal plastics into tapestries to study the geometric layout and composition of the picture balance.American artist Judith Scott is renowned for her use of textile wrapping to create a series of everyday objects. The linear, entwined forms suggest a process that alludes to rituals and games.Contemporary Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota uses installations composed of wool and ready-made objects to guide viewers to experience the journey of life and completely record the fear of death.Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri's works, in contrast to representing the individual experience of life through weaving, involve old fabric traces, hand-sewn threads, and stitching together fragments of time. Her art serves as a counterforce against the societal values impacting individuality, offering a more profound and nuanced interpretation.

Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri uses Textile art as a storytelling medium. On the surface, she manipulates chaotic elements such as rags, fabrics, threads, and fragments. In fact, she deeply dissects the memory temperature felt by clothing traces and the psychology hidden in the profound inner world. State, through creation, she presents a microcosm of human nature with emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. Her art is a critical reconciliation, and it is also a concern for the depths of the soul.



Solo Exhibitions

2022 “Re fleksjon” Siloen, Drammen, NO 2020 “Overcover – Undercover”The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands, Torshavn, FAROE ISLANDS
2019 Anniversary exhibitor, Buskerud,Østlandsutstillingen (annual exhibition of the eastern region) 40 years anniversaryKongsberg Kunstforening, NORWAY
2018 “Jeg kler meg/ergo er jeg?” Group show+ solo show going on tourKunstvisitten, Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm, NORWAY
2017 “Uncontaminated 2017” Art and Fashion Festival, Mellomstasjonen/The National Museum,Oslo, NORWAY
2016 “Constraint where placed on the circulation of clothing” Oppland Kunstsenter, Lillehammer, NORWAY
2016 “Inside – Extra” Buskerud Kunstsenter, Drammen, NORWAY
2016 “Surgo”Kunstparken, Risør, NORWAY
2015 “Close(d)”Bærum Kunsthall, projectroom, Fornebu, NORWAY
2015 “Modify”Kongsberg Kunstforening, NORWAY
2015 “Needless” Trafo Kunsthall, projectroom, Asker, NORWAY
2015 “Procrustesbed” Det Gule Huset, Nesbru, NORWAY
2014 “Caught in the web” Ram Galleri, Oslo, NORWAY
2014 Kunstløa, Nome county, NORWAY
2013 “Uncustomized” Kunstmuseet Nord Trøndelag,NORWAY
2012 “Living in a box”display cases in the city Sandvika,Bærum,NORWAY
2011 display cases at Oslo Bussterminal, Oslo,NORWAY
2011 “You are never fully dressed without a smile”Galleri Blakstad, Asker,NORWAY

Group Exhibitions

2023 “Quartet”, Bluerider ART, Shanghai, CN
2022 “Sørlandsutstillingen 2022. Bølgenkulturhus, Lindtvedske Hus, and Ibsenhuset, NO
2021 «Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends» curatorTijs Visser 8th«Socle du Monde» Herning, DK
2021 “stipendiatutsstilling” Kunstparken Risør,NO
2020.”Summer Exhibition” Royal Society og Sculptors Dora House, London, UK
2019 «Sommerutstilling 2019 » Buskerud Artcenter, Drammen, NO
2017 «Uncontaminated 2017» art & fashion festival Mellomstasjonen
2017 «Telemarksutstillingen» Ibsenhuset,Skien & Kragerø, NO
2017 «Sommerutstilling 2017» Buskerud Artcenter, Drammen, NO
2015,17, 20 «Stipendutstilling» Buskerud Bildende kunstnere Buskerud Artcenter, Drammen, NO
2014 «The wearable art show» regi, Kreutzberg pavillon, Berlin Knipsu, Bergen, NO
2014 «Stipendutstillingen» Agder Artcenter, Kristiansand;NO
2014 «Det potensielle rommet» former Dikemark Hospital, Asker, NO
2014 «In a lonely place» Art Museum KUBE, Ålesund,NO 2014 «Østlandsutstillingen 2014» (annual exhibition of the eastern region) Kunstbanken Hedmark, Buskerud
Artcenter & ØKS, NO
2014 «NOoSPHERE Arts’3rd Anniversary Show & Benefit Auction» NOoSPHERE Arts, New York City, USA
2013 «The Spring Exhibition 2013» Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, DK
2013 «Craft 2013” The Nasjonal Museum of Art, Architecture & Design , NO
2013 «Byrom og andre rom» Bærum Art Union, sandvika, NO
2013 «A house full of friends» NOoSPHERE Arts, New York City, USA
2013 «Huntenkunst 13» SSP–Hall, Ulft, NL
2012 «International juried show» Galleri Ramfjord, Oslo,NO & NOoSPHERE Arts, New York City, USA
2012 «Lost Garden» BKiB in collaboration with HOK Henie — Onstad Art Center, Høvik, NO
2011 «The Norwegian sculpture Biennal 2011» The Vigeland–Museum, Oslo, NO 2011 “Craft 2011” The National Museum of art, architecture & design Oslo, NO
2011, 2012,2013, 2015,2016, 2019 «Novemberutstillingen»Lychepaviljongen,Drammens Museum, NO
2010 «Essens, Theme–Exhibition 2010» NK Art Museum KUBE, Ålesund & Kunstbanken, Hamar, NO 2010 «Østlandsutstillingen 2010» (annual exhibition of the eastern
region) Peder Balke senter, Øvre Toten, NO & Østfold Kunstsenter , NO
2007 «Paperwork» DTK–project Gallery, Høvik, NO
2006 «..med hjerte for husflid», husfliden 115 år Oslo Town Hall Gallery, NO
2006 «Jubileumsutstilling» The Drawing Center of Norway, Oslo, NO

Awards

2021 Stikk -Norwegian Crafts, UDs travel grant
2021 Art Councils diverse grant  
2020 Stipendutstilling 2020  Buskerud Kunstsenter  Grant sponsored by The Relief Found for Visual Artists
2018  Government Grants, 10 years work grant for established Artists
2018  Art Councils Projectgrant
2017 Stipendutstilling 2017  Buskerud Kunstsenter   Grant sponsored by The Relief Found for Visual Artists
2016 Art Councils diverse grant,  The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists
2015 Art Councils exhibition grant
2015 Stipendutstilling 2015  Buskerud Kunstsenter   Grant sponsored by The Relief Found for Visual Artists 
2015 1 year specializationgrant, Norwegian Association for Applied Art
2014 Risør county art grant 
2014 Travelgrant,  Norwegian Association for Applied Art
2014 Art Councils diverse grant  
2013 Office for Contemporary Art, International Support
2013  Kanalstipendet, Nome county
2012 Travelgrant, New York International juried show, Galleri Ramfjord
2012  award – most significant piece at Novemberutstillingen 2012,Drammens Museum
2011-13  Government grants for young, newly establ. artists , Norway, 3 years (NK)

Collection

Buskerud Kunstsenter
Den Norske Husflidforening

Marte Danielsen Jølbo

Clothes are something everyone has a relationship with and which is intimately connected to our bodies. Textiles have different degrees of softness, but they must be comfortable and characterized by being mobile and adapting to the body they surround. In Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri's sculptural clothing objects, the clothes have stiffened and the bodies are absent, but they have often left a clear imprint. Bulging shirts and jackets recur in several works, placed close together either directly on the floor, mounted on a pedestal or on the wall. The repetitive shapes are typically kept in light colors of beige and white, and even though they are objects we easily recognize from everyday life, they give a feeling of unheimlichkeit. "Das Unheimlich" is an expression the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud used to explain a disturbing feeling of unease at things that otherwise feel familiar and homely, and this can be said for much of Bahri's art and which is also reflected in the themes she deals with.

Mental health is a subject that Bahri has worked on consistently for many years. Through “clotheslike” objects, prosthetic sculptures and textile installations, she processes everything from serious mental disorders to cultural societal structures that shape the way we behave. Bahri is concerned with how interpersonal relationships, norms and rules limit and shape us. In this work, she describes restrictions as a triggering factor for her artistic practice. Physical limitations are actualized through items of clothing that prevent mobility and constructed prosthetic-like objects. The restrictions in the objects can also mirror psychological restrictions - implemented either by oneself or by the society around one. Through her sculpture practice, Bahri investigates cases where the social environment, fellow human beings and society's norms limit or paralyze individuals, it is about being different versus following norms.

In connection with the exhibition "I dress /ergo am I?" at Akershus Art Center in 2018, one could read "Bahri's clothesobjects describe thoughts and feelings that a person can have in various situations, such as pondering identity, existence, finding one's place, uncertainty, pressure and chaos, but also optimism, humor and finding ones place. The highlights are not given space in this room, Bahri rather highlights the more tired, everyday and tragicomic that life after all primarily consists of. The objects visualize components of a person's life, unpolished and personal". Based on the human situations Bahri works with, she creates works of art that are clothing-like in form or material.

The clothes we wear constitute a boundary between the private and the public, "(...) between the individual and an external world. Despite the thin, fragile nature of the textiles, they constitute a significant boundary and protection" (Bahri). This boundary between the inner and the exterior can be seen, among other things, in the way Bahri treats the textile itself, with large coarse stitches, she sews shirt sleeves to the body of the shirt, she sews several garments together into unrecognizable sculptures, assembles and transforms cloth into strange mutations.

The textile sculptures can be attached to hard steel structures or exhibited in glass vitrines to create or cross boundaries between internal and external structures to an even greater extent. Thoughts quickly turn to Louise Bourgeois and her series of cell installations. Where Bourgeois used her own personal background to create complex psychological installations that dealt with relationships between the psyche, women's work, bodies and living conditions, Bahri has a more sociological approach to these subjects. By putting the safe and the disturbing into play through various forms of boundary situations, Bahri creates art that challenges and opens up for reflection on elementary human experiences.

Author: Marte Danielsen Jølbo
Marte Danielsen Jølbo (b. 1984 in Stavanger, Norway) is a curator, writer, editor and art mediator. Since 2012, she has run the project room and publisher Another Space - project room for art and architecture together with architect Nicola Markhus, and she is co-founder and editor of Contemporary Art Stavanger (CAS). Jølbo has been the curator of a number of exhibitions and interdisciplinary projects, and has written and edited several art essays and publications. In 2012, Jølbo received Stavanger municipality's art curator grant, and she has recently participated in the curatorial programs Curatorial Program for Research: Mexico, OCA's curator residency at ISCP in New York and KORO's Curatorial practice + the public space. Jølbo has a master's degree in Modern culture and cultural communication from the University of Copenhagen and a bachelor`s degree in literary studies.

Tactile narratives

Gunhild Horgmo

In recent decades, we have witnessed a flourishing of textile art. The traditional art form has also been the subject of increased interest in Norway. This tendency has arisen as a contrast to the conceptual approach that has characterized art from the 80s. Textile art has often been considered something feminine, because the material is so closely linked to needlework and clothing. In Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri's works, however, the soft material is used as a medium in an idea-based way of thinking, and expands the framework of understanding for the art form. Instead of soft lines and smooth surfaces, the expression is rustic and characterized by an anti-aesthetic. The material is found and collected, then processed into new textile objects. For the artist, clothing and textiles close to the body represent the human being, and in the process she creates clothing objects that become narrative carriers of human history. The bright, light materials are contrasted with coarse fabrics sewn together with a strong needle. The patches and stitches in the fabrics become visible signs of life lived. It is about immobility and restrictions for the individual, and moving away from the template we must adapt to. About the fear of falling and falling out from the society ( if you exe: loose your job, you can`t provide for yourself and so on ). In this exhibition, the textile objects are framed in large wooden structures. As separate tableaus, they tell about important events in human life. As a whole, the installation is a visual composition that takes you on a journey from birth to death. Through the shape of the textile sculptures and the tactility of the material, the works say something about who you were, who you are and who you can choose to become.

Author: Gunhild Horgmo
Horgmo has a bachelor's degree in art history from the University of Oslo and freelances as an art critic and writer. She has published in, among others, KUNST, Billedkunst, Kunstforum, Kunsthåndverk (the main artmagazines in Norway) and scenekunst.no, contributed to the book about Seljord og sogene, and was a regular art critic in Telemarksavisa from 2010 and more.

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