Grip friheten! Take Liberty!

This international group exhibition presents works that explore issues to do with democracy, national identity and personal freedom. The defence of individual freedom has become a controversial topic in which the concept of the nation plays an ambiguous role.
The exhibition is part of the celebrations to mark the bicentennial of Norway’s Constitution. It will examine, interpret and comment on the philosophical and political ideals of 1814 in a contemporary perspective.
A key theme of the exhibition is freedom of speech, one of the fundamental human rights set down in the Norwegian Constitution. The exhibition shows works by international artists with a defining interest in the opportunities, but also the threats, associated with free expression in a world still plagued by systematic violations of human rights. Concepts such as democracy, independence and nationality are linked to contemporary discourses on culture and diversity and the struggle for freedom and the ideals of liberty. Human rights and personal freedom are being challenged. Traditional concepts such as citizenship and the nation are becoming unstable.