Joar Nango
I Found a Wall in My Lungs
“I Found a Wall in My Lungs” is a backyard experiment in circular economy – it is an encounter between ruins and the future.
Originating from Joar Nango’s artistic practice and Sami background, the project is based on a philosophy of using what you have, taking care of what exists, and listening to places and materials.
The materials come from the former psychiatric hospital at Oppdøl, outside of Molde. The building was demolished, but some of its materials and furnishings were saved – five roof trusses, a cornice made of copper, a soapstone oven, a stone staircase, and a mural by Molde’s very first artist Oliver Sylthe (1905–70). All of this is now being revitalized – in an obscure backyard in the middle of Molde as well as inside the art center.
The roof trusses have been reused and transformed into an airy event space in what is colloquially known as Hølet (“The Hole”) – the area between the art gallery Die Tankstelle and the stairs at the Plassen cultural center. Here, Nango and his team will be developing and refining the project throughout the festival. The installation will grow day by day and serve as the framework for various events that, in each their own way, are about the circular economy and taking care of the things that you have.
At the same time, a restored ceramic fresco that Oliver Sylthe made in 1960 will be displayed in the gallery room at Plassen. The work, which once adorned the façade of the A and B pavilions at the old hospital in Hjelset, shows the fisherman farmer – a traditional archetype from Norway’s coastal and inland areas. The fresco is thus being revived, accompanied by a new poem written by the local poet Endre Ruset.
By means of this project, the artist addresses Molde’s local history and stories about the past and the present. The project also seeks to promote discussions about what we take care of and showcase how historical buildings and traditional crafts play an important role, both as a counterbalance to today’s throw-away society and in presenting continuity and cultural heritage to all of us.
Both of the exhibition venues will become living laboratories during the festival:
The MRK art center as a popular, circular economy-based conservatory that will preserve and activate Sylthe’s fresco.
Hølet as a creative and constantly changing space – a space where materials are reworked, transformed, and given new meaning.
Joar Nango (b. 1979) was born in Alta but also grew up in Molde. He currently lives in Tromsø. His work explores the intersection between art and architecture, and he frequently involves the audience in his installations. He graduated as an architect from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2008. Nango has exhibited internationally in several major venues, including Documenta 13, the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the National Gallery of Canada. In 2010, he cofounded an idealistic architectural collective dedicated to infill (Felleskapsprosjektet å Fortette Byen, FFB), and in 2020 he was named the festival exhibitor at the Bergen International Festival. In 2024, he received the Kurt Schwitters Prize in Hanover, Germany, which is one of Europe’s most prestigious art prizes.