Exhibition
Artist Pedro Gómez-Egaña draws us into Bjørvika’s history as part of the contemporary art programme Munchmuseet on the Move. On Balcony 1 at the Opera, visitors may step into the room of a person who used to live and work in the area.
Departing from Bjørvika’s industrial history, artist and composer Pedro Gómez-Egaña has created the art installation The Voice of Jacob at Dawn for the VIP room at on Balcony 1 at the Opera. Here visitors may step into the room of a fictional character loosely based on Jacob Jarmann, one of the founders of Nyland’s Verksted in 1854. This manufacturer, which at one time was Norway’s largest shipyard, was situated at the mouth of the Aker River, where the Opera and the new Much Museum stand today.
Through a series of brief poetic chapters, Gómez-Egaña narrates the story of a character who resides in this room. He suffers from sleep paralysis, a condition that can set in just before one awakes, where one’s mind appears alert but the body cannot move. His daily rhythm is interrupted by the machines’ constant frequency, time seems to accelerate and the steam from the ship mixes with the Oslo Fog, which rolls in from the fjord and envelops the bay of Bjørvika.
Visitors are invited to sit on the character’s bed and may notice that the room gradually changes as the story unfolds. The soundtrack lasts ten minutes, and occupancy of the room is limited to four people at a time.
Pedro Gómez-Egaña was born in Bucaramanga, Colombia, in 1976 and is based in Oslo. His work has been shown at Yarat Contemporary in Baku, the Istanbul, Contour and Kochi-Muziris biennials, Performa 13 in New York and Lofoten International Art Festival.
Free entrance.
Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday (12–17)
Sted: Den Norske Opera & Ballett
The reception room Brunvoll on the first balcony (1st floor, on your right up the stairs)
