In 2018, artist-educator Jordi Ferreiro (Barcelona, Spain) collaborated with Johanne Hauge Gjerland, Linnea Halveg and Lisa Holmås of Bergen Kunsthall’s young people’s association Unge kunstkjennere (UKK) on a series of workshops investigating the architecture and functions of Bergen Kunsthall. Bergen Kunsthall was built in 1935 and, as a listed building, few physical improvements have since been made to make the building more accessible to people with movement or visual impairments.

Together Jordi and UKK explored how an art institution like Bergen Kunsthall can accommodate different voices, needs and abilities in developing its audiences and programming. And furthermore, what changes this would necessitate for the organisation and the building itself.

These explorations culminated in a one day takeover of Bergen Kunsthall by UKK in November 2018. Through a series of architectural actions – such as inviting visitors to use only the accessible ramp entrance on the side of the building – UKK set out to ask questions such as: Who is the institution for? Who has access to culture? And above all, in our programmes grounded in inclusivity, who is still excluded?

Supported by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) also supported Jordi Ferreiro’s residency and commission at Bergen Kunsthall through the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE), in the framework of the Mobility grants.