Art takes place

Artscape Nordland is an internationally renowned art project. Five of the 35 sculptures are located in Vesterålen – which represents Artscape Nordland’s northernmost border. «Art takes place» is a motto for Artscape Nordland. In Vesterålen, art takes place along the sea. All of the sculptures here are placed directly on the seashore or are inspired by maritime themes. 

At Sortland you will find the sculpture «The Eye on the Sea». In Bø, “The Man from the Sea” towers in tribute to the ocean, and in Øksnes, the artist located the lamp-like sculptures «After-images» in the former fishing village of Nyksund and in the centre of modern Myre. In Hadsel, the sculpture «Days and Nights» is installed across the inlet from the old coastal express Finnmarken, and at Andenes, «Island Museum» comprises a collection of articles found along the shoreline. 

Maaretta Jaukkuri has expressed the rationale for  Artscape Nordland «The most important reason for these sculptures being placed in Nordland’s landscape is that it was here that they originated – in the meeting between the landscape itself and the artist.  And it is in the corresponding encounters between the landscape, the sculpture and the beholder that meaning is recognized and recreated. It is in the moment that art occurs.»

In Bø, you will find The Artscape Nordland Ourtdoor Gallery, which is a permanent photo exhibit showing the sculptures that make up the Artscape Nordland project.