Lise Linnert
Quivering Lines and Our Hearts – on cruelty and resistance, hope and care

Quivering Lines and Our Hearts – on cruelty and resistance, hope and care is Lise Linnert’s project for this year’s Bjørnson Festival. The exhibition brings together embroidered quotes on cruelty, plant-dyed textiles, clay birds of resistance, and books on hope lent by the local community. Through workshops, collective processes and many hands, the artist invites visitors to experience, share and reflect. Opens September 3rd at Møre og Romsdal Art Centre.

At the center of the exhibition is a large, spatial collage of plant-dyed textile fragments – dyed by children and collected over many years. Around, embroidered quotations on cruelty are hanging, written and stitched by workshop participants. Inspired by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s words from En fallitt (The Bankrupt): “After the rain the birds sing,” pupils from Sellanrå School in Molde and the Molde School of the Arts have created small clay birds together with the artist. They have given each bird a name and a story and called the collection birds of resistance. During the exhibition, the gallery’s project room will become an open workshop where visitors can create their own versions.
Books are also part of the exhibition. “Is there a book that means a lot to you – one that has given you hope or comfort – that you could lend to the exhibition?” Linnert asked the local community. The responses – and the books – will be on view when the exhibition opens on September 3rd.

Linnert’s artistic practice combines a distinctive visual language with a strong social commitment. Her social and political engagement mirrors that of Bjørnson himself, linking the exhibition to his legacy.