Prosjekt 2021 is an initiative by Trondheim municipality and NTNU Health that presents five temporary public artworks in different sites across Midtbyen in Trondheim. Based on the effects of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, Prosjekt 2021 also includes contributions from NTNU researchers.

It will open to the public from June through August 2021.

Five artworks have been selected by curator Mishi Foltyn. Prosjekt 2021 is a collaboration between NTNU Health, Trondheim municipality’s art in public space program, University municipality collaboration TRD 3.0, and Midtbyen Management.

— I am proud to present Ana Dunjic, Tobias Liljedahl, Qianhui Qian, Pål Bøyesen, Anne Helga Henning, and Anna Ida Pezzot as Prosjekt 2021’s selected artists. Their works are hopeful yet critical, situated in places we all know so well and filled with joy and humour. They give us a special look at these changing times and a moment to connect again through art, says curator Mishi Foltyn.

Mishi Foltyn. Photo

— I hope that Prosjekt 2021 will encourage a larger public to make culture a regular part of their lives. Trondheim’s cultural community is so rich and diverse, with many institutions and actors contributing to a dedicated and engaged community, says curator Mishi Foltyn. Photo: Katherine Butcher/NTNU.

Five projects, five nationalities, five places in Midtbyen

These artworks address how we live in the world and what that world looks like in Trondheim.

— With six artists working with five projects, five countries from across the globe represented, in film, sound, monument, participatory art, drawing, and performance, happening from 20 minutes in one day to every day for three months, these works symbolize the diversity found within our community. They offer perspectives – ways of seeing – that resonate through the physical landscape of our city but also who we are as a community. They invite the public to participate in art in accessible and different ways, says Mishi Foltyn.

 

What makes Prosjekt 2021 interesting now, in context of the pandemic?

— Temporary public art has the potential to address the quick pace of change in a way that belongs to everyone, especially in times like these. It also addresses the commonalities and intersections of art and research, how different approaches and perspectives through art and science work together to create knowledge and build meaning in our lives, says Mishi Foltyn.

— The pandemic has given rise to strict categories of value, where we have had to learn how to be different in the same spaces. It has put a lot of pressure on connections – between you and me, families, neighbours, etc. and the importance of social contacts and space in our lives. We have also had to explore new strategies for developing meaning, reaching out across digital platforms to stay in touch and finding new ways to be, especially new ways that draw out what is important to us. Creative expression makes us healthy – it contributes to good coping strategies, helps us empathize, and exercises our creativity.

— The artworks in Prosjekt 2021 extend that invitation even further, to everyone, to participate in culture, to reclaim our presence in our city’s landscape, and to imagine what the future holds, concludes the curator.

 

The five chosen artists. Photo.

The artists involved in Prosjekt 2021: From left:  Anna Ida Pezzot, Qianhui Qian, Pål Bøyesen, Anne Helga Henning og Ana Dunjic. Tobias Liljedahl is not in this picture. Foto: Katherine Butcher/ NTNU.

Why an art collaboration between NTNU and Trondheim municipality?

— The corona pandemic has affected everyone and we want to help facilitate an unique experience for the people who visit Midtbyen, perhaps in the middle of or after the pandemic. An experience that can also contain some reflections – both on the pandemic and how art, culture, and knowledge can contribute to raising the quality of life, says one of the initiators of Project 2021, Ann Iren Jamtøy, coordinator, NTNU health.

— We wanted to create something in public space to make it accessible to as many people as possible and to create some awareness of spaces around Midtbyen. At the same time, Prosjekt 2021 reflects how outdoor space has been and still is important as a social meeting place during the pandemic, says Jamtøy.

Trondheim municipality has an extensive program with art in public space, with emphasis on permanent commissions in buildings and outdoor spaces. Berit Kirksæther is responsible for the municipality’s program and is pleased with the collaboration with NTNU in Prosjekt 2021.

— Together we can think about art in public space in new and bigger ways – we can establish new collaborations and include different professional perspectives. I think it is particularly exciting to work with projects that will take place and unfold in different places in Midtbyen – outside and inside, says Berit Kirksæther in Trondheim municipality.

 

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