Newsletter SEPTEMBER '25

Heya! I hope you’ve had a lovely, or at the very least, bearable summer. As in my initial newsletter post, if you’re not interested in receiving updates on what I’m up to, you may opt out at the bottom of the page.

This edition features some news from my end, as well as a new recommendation column, featuring guest contributors. First one being the wonderful, acclaimed writer Bjørn Hatterud! So stick around for that.

I’m really happy to read some of your responses to the last post! If you have any reactions, suggestions or just wanna say hi, you can simply reply to this mail!

Regardless - I’m hoping you’re well these days, wherever you are.

New solo performance at HAMAR PERFORMANCEFESTIVAL

I’ll be participating in the bi-yearly performance festival at Kunstbanken! For this edition, I’m presenting a new work, part of the ‘røde manøvre’ series that has been ongoing for a couple of years. The new performance piece is a collaboration with visual artists Jo Mikkel Sjaastad Huse and Vilde Jensen. It’s funded by Norsk Kulturråd and Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond. I’m otherwise tight-lipped as to what will happen, but do make your way over. Only a short train ride from Oslo!

Festival lineup:
Aga Klos
Anne-Marte Før
Dorothea Rust
Hamid Waheed
Heidi Tronsmo og Glenn Erik Haugland
Marija Griniuk
Minda Marie Kalfoss
Ola Koziol
Shwan Dler Qaradaki
TRONTALKS

The performance is set to happen as part of the programme on 18th of October at Kunstbanken in Hamar.

Dates: 17-19 October
More info: https://kunstbanken.no/performance/

DET LIKNER EN KROPP - Production wrap

It’s a wrap on an intense production period with ‘Det likner en kropp’, my new short film produced by Skissefilm. Thank you to all the amazingly skilled and lovely people I got to spend a week with in Lofoten and Vesterålen a month back. It’s been hectic, but also incredibly gratifying! You are all wonderful and I’m sending you lots of love <3

Cast: Hamid Waheed, Joakim Nesvik, Sunniva Eira Sætereng, Sarah Frostmo Faraj
Director/Screenwriter: Hamid Waheed
Producers: Iggy Augunset, Johanna Carin Nyström
Co-Director: Sverre Matias Smith
Director of Photography: Amelie Mattisson Chue
1st AC: Andrea White Hveding
Location Sound: Oda Ryan Drechsler
Make-Up/SFX: Izabella Englund

This autumn we’ll be entering post-production and you can expect more substantial news about the work sometime in the beginning of 2026.

BJØRN HATTERUD recommends!

In this new column, I invite someone I know to make a recommendation. It can be anything really, whether a piece of media, an experience or something else entirely. To inaugurate this little section, I’m very excited to have Bjørn Hatterud over on the newsletter!

Bjørn Hatterud (b. 1977) comes from the village of Veldre in Ringsaker municipality. He is a cultural writer, art critic, curator, musician and sits in Kulturrådet. He has previously published Mot normalt (2018) and Mjøsa rundt med mor (2020). In Mjøsa rundt med mor, Hatterud describes life as a homosexual and disabled person with a working-class background in the countryside. The book won many hearts and was awarded Kritikerprisen. Hatterud has also received Fritt Ords Pris.
He is currently out with the new book Blokka på Bjerke: tretten år på tredje etasje (2024).

Bjørn:
(In Norwegian, English below)

«Jeg anbefaler den ytre, østlige delen av Oslo som kalles Groruddalen. Du kan ta t-banen eller buss nummer 31 utover, til landskaper med høyhus, kjøpesentre, motorveier, gamle industribygg, sykehus, golfbaner, graffiti, grøntareal og skog. Mye av det du ser er fra de siste sju tiårene. Nye bydeler spratt opp utover dalsidene gjennom etterkrigstida. Det som var gårder og jorder ble store boligområder. Her ute har arbeiderklassen bodd i generasjoner. Først var de innflyttere fra andre steder i Norge, mange kom fra bygdene rundt, en del kom nordfra. Etter hvert ble de supplert med innvandring, til dels fra Asia, Afrika og Latin-Amerika. Ryktene sier at det er her i Groruddalen at de fattige, kriminelle og trygdede bor. Fremdeles møter jeg folk i Oslo som hevder de aldri har vært i Groruddalen. Tveita som er stedet der jeg selv bor leste jeg nylig omtalt som «et helvetes høl». Da høyrepartiet Fremskrittspartiet lagde valgkampvideo om hvor ille ungdomskriminaliteten er før i år, filmet de den her. Området er omstridt. Likevel koser jeg meg i Groruddalen, og det gjør de fleste av oss som bor her. Det tror jeg du vil gjøre også. Så det jeg anbefaler er at du både reiser ut hit på besøk og at du flytter hit. Så kan du finne deg et atelier og lage kunst her ute. I Groruddalen er det god plass til alle.»

"I recommend the outer, eastern part of Oslo, called Groruddalen. You can take the metro or bus number 31 outward, to landscapes with high-rise buildings, shopping malls, highways, old industrial buildings, hospitals, golf courses, graffiti, green spaces and forests. Much of what you see is from the last seven decades. New burroughs sprang up on the valley sides during the post-war period. What were farms and fields became large residential areas. The working class has lived out here for generations. At first, they were immigrants from other parts of Norway, many came from the surrounding villages, some came from the north. Over a period, they were supplemented by immigration, partly from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Rumor has it that it is here in Groruddalen that the poor, criminals and those on welfare live. I still meet people in Oslo who claim they have never been to Groruddalen. I recently read that Tveita, the place where I reside, was described as "a hell hole". When the right-wing party Fremskrittspartet made an election campaign video about how bad the youth crime rate is earlier this year, they filmed it here. The area is disputed. Still, I enjoy Groruddalen, and so do most of us who live here. I think you will too. So what I recommend is that you both travel out here to visit and that you move here. Then you can find yourself a studio and make art. In Groruddalen, there is plenty of room for everyone.”

All the best.

a queer and riotous pride month
azaadi wishes for
Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Kashmir, Ukraine
and all the peoples globally
fighting colonialism, fascism or imperialism