MOMENTUM 13 | Galleri F 15
MOMENTUM 13: Between/Worlds: Resonant Ecologies, the 13th edition of the Nordic Biennale of Contemporary Art, curated by Danish sound art specialist Morten Søndergaard and organised by Galleri F 15 in Moss, Norway, brought together artists to explore the relationships between sound, ecology, technology and the natural world.
Featuring more than 40 works, the exhibition unfolded across Galleri F 15, the city of Moss and the surrounding forests, coastline and landscapes of Jeløy. Through immersive installations, performances, soundwalks and site-specific interventions, artists explored how sound can reveal hidden dimensions of our environment, challenge familiar ways of perceiving the world and encourage a deeper awareness of our relationship with nature.
The participating artists included Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, Christian Marclay, Christian Boltanski, Carsten Nicolai, Jana Winderen and Jacob Kirkegaard, alongside a range of experimental sound artists whose practices bridge art, science, ecology and technology.
What made this edition of MOMENTUM so distinctive was the way the artists approached sound as a means of understanding and engaging with the world. Their sensitivity to the natural environment, and their ability to make audible what we might otherwise overlook, offered a subtle perspective on ecological relationships at a time of growing environmental uncertainty.
The biennale also marked an important moment for Galleri F 15, as the first edition of MOMENTUM under the leadership of then director, Lise Pennington. Founded in 1998, MOMENTUM has established itself as an important platform for experimental contemporary art in the Nordic region, bringing international artistic perspectives into dialogue with the particular cultural and natural environment of Moss, a former industrial city just south of Oslo.
Working with my colleague Vanessa Saraceno at Pickles PR, I led the international communications strategy and media outreach for MOMENTUM 13, in close collaboration with Galleri F 15 and the biennale team. Our approach focused on communicating the richness of the curatorial vision, connecting contemporary art with sound, ecology, environmental research and emerging technologies, while also finding ways for international audiences to experience the artworks through the media itself. Sound was central to our strategy. Beyond traditional arts coverage, we prioritised broadcast media and sound publications, including broadcasters such as the BBC, RAI, Deutsche Welle, Resonance FM and RTVE, alongside publications like The Wire and VAN.
This was a meaningful project because of my own longstanding interest in sound. Having founded a recording studio in London, I've always been fascinated by its possibilities as a creative medium to shape how we experience and understand the world. I deeply appreciated the opportunity to encounter artistic practices that encourage a different kind of attention: listening to the sounds of forests, water, living organisms and the environments we inhabit, and recognising the complex relationships between them and there was something very special about experiencing these works in the landscapes of Jeløy.