While I was in Norway recently for the preview of 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Norway, I visited USF Bergen, a multi-disciplinary arts venue that houses performance spaces, dance studios, designers’ workshops and incubator spaces for graduates from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.
I was there to visit Norwegian designers Vera & Kyte, Hanna Kari Ravndal, Mikael Pedersen and Morten & Jonas, kindly hosted by the Academy’s Dave Vikøren and Petter Bergerud, who are curating this year’s 100{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} Norway. The designers’ studios were really inspiring – light airy spaces with uninterrupted views over the harbour (keep your eyes peeled for creative spaces posts coming soon!), but what really struck me about USF was the diversity of the creative activities happening within it. Alongside designers’ studios and workshops, graduates from the Academy are given the opportunity to have subsidised spaces plus access to the Academy’s resources and mentoring. There are artist residency programmes, dance studios, performance spaces, recording studios, bars and restaurants – it’s a vibrant, dynamic space in which the cross-fertilisation of ideas across disciplines is almost inevitable. So much so that Dave Vikøren, who designed the beautiful original chairs for the shared spaces (middle image above), has kept his own office on the top floor waiting until he retires from the Academy! We need more spaces like this, and more incubator programmes and mentoring programmes for new designers. Bravo USF!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: temple of agape
- out and about :: central saint martin’s degree show 2014
- out and about :: coppicing with sebastian cox
- out and about :: clerkenwell design week 2014
