Runtime: 1h 43 min
Movie starts at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00
Language: Norwegian, Swedish
Subtitles: English
Note: Capacity is limited, so arrive early to secure your spot, tickets can be picked up in the lobby upon arrival.
The film Open Call questions the relationship between art, citizens and city municipality. An artist is commissioned to create an artwork to mark the city’s anniversary. Using ‘participation’ as a method, a group of Oslo residents are invited to take part. Under the banner of ‘trust, creativity and joy in collaboration’, they are asked to develop and present their own proposals for a work of art. Together, the group is supposed to decide which of the artworks will be best for the city of Oslo. The project – which seems to fulfil the city municipality’s desire for participation – turns into a tragicomic dystopia as the artist tries to satisfy official procedures and a multi-faceted public sphere.
Open Call is a social satire about the role of public art in a complex city, where culture and the private sector rub up against each other. Based on a competition which Storihle themselves took part in, they portray a fictional competition, Open Call.
The film is a portrait of Oslo which turns the spotlight on ethical, political, economic, historical and social issues around art and public space. The production was designed as a role-play, and shot at Gamle Munch, MUNCH, Sukkerbiten, Lokomotivverksted, Middelalderparken, Haugenstua and Hersleb upper secondary school.
The cast includes Nosizwe Baqwa (Teacher), Louise Löwenberg (Coach), Ole Asgeir Madland (Investor), Ole Petter Ribe (Activist), Paweł Stypuła (Building worker), Sille Storihle (Artist), Charlotte Beck Solvær (Coordinator), Desiree Bøgh Vaksdal (Guide) og Hedda Eirin Østberg Faldet (Assistant).
Open Call (Norway, 2024)
Concept/design/producer: Sille Storihle
Runtime: 1’43”
Sille Storihle is an artist, filmmaker and educator based in Oslo, working primarily with moving images and printed matter. Their current research and work focus on live action role-playing games (LARP) as an artistic methodology in the production of moving images. Their first film using this method was The Group Crit (2022, 72 min) which has been shown at Kunstnerforbundet, LIAF, CPH:DOX, among other venues.
In 2024, it was 400 years since the medieval city of Oslo burned down, and Christiania was founded in today's Kvadraturen. After an open call initiated by the The City of Oslo Art Collection (Kulturetaten), artist Sille Storihle was commissioned to create an artwork celebrating the anniversary. The City of Oslo Art Collection has the professional responsibility for, and acquires, produces, manages and disseminates art in public spaces and buildings in Oslo.
Photo: Kristoffer Archetti Stølen / Sophie Søborg
