Juvenilia Garden – A Performance by Jonas Øren

In response to the new exhibition in the Pillars at the National Museum, one of Norway's most prominent dance artists and choreographers, Jonas Øren has created a new performance work. With music by composer Mats Høstaker (freij) and costume by designer Anne Karine Thorbjørnsen, the work draws from the site-specific installation of Narcissus Garden (1966–) by the world-renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

Premiere: Friday, 6 September 2024

The term “juvenilia” describes the works of writers and artists that were produced during their youth. These works help give a sense of witnessing the bourgeoning style and language of an artist or writer, traces of which often appear in more mature works. In a society that worships youth, beauty and excellence, juvenescence – a state of being young – is more than often connected to outer appearance and contemporary beauty ideals.

In the performance Juvenilia Garden, dance artist Jonas Øren (b.1988) approaches these themes through flashes of grandeur and vulnerability, forming a naïve and ostentatious artistic landscape. Using movements and choreographic ideas from his body of work, he gets lost in his own oeuvre, which for over 17 years has continued to be described as "up and coming". Juvenilia Garden is a collection of forms, movements, sequences, methods of creation and choreographic means taken from a life of dance. In the process, Øren questions his own attraction and aversion to today's mechanical development of talents, and the concept of the "prodigy". The work is created through a continuous reinterpretation and reorganisation of fantasies and notions of artistic greatness, genius, and beauty.

Artist biographies

Jonas Øren (b. 1988, Høyanger) is a dance artist, choreographer, performer, and writer, who creates and performs in projects for stage and film. He holds a BA in classical ballet (2009–2012) and an MA in dance (2017–2019) from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. He has also studied at Conservatoire National Superieur Music et la Danse Lyon and at The Ballet School at The Norwegian Opera and Ballet. Øren is interested in investigating how movement, dance, and choreography, underlined by references, citation, and mirroring, can define and demarcate identity. Øren has also worked with direction for music videos and fashion, and received several awards and scholarships.

Mats Høstaker (b. 1997, Førde) is a musician, composer, DJ, and music producer with a versatile portfolio, which he performs in various cultural venues across Norway and abroad. Through the solo project Freij, he has both created and performed music for film, theatre, dance, and performance art. As a composer, Høstaker creates unique soundscapes that challenge and engage both the audience and performers. Høstaker holds degrees in Creative Music Technology from NTNU and Live Electronics: Music Technology for Performers from the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH).

Anne Karine Thorbjørnsen (b. 1982, Akershus) is a designer living and working in Elverum, Norway. With a BA and MA degree in Fashion Design Womenswear from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK, she started her own practice after graduating in 2012. In 2020, she shifted from working within the fashion design system, to an independent practice that explores the space between fashion, art, and crafts. Thorbjørnsen has exhibited at Salgshallen, Galleri Format, and as part of Østlandsutstillingen, and her work acquired by the National Museum, Buskerud Art Centre, DKS Viken, and private collections.

Contributing performer is Torfi Tómasson (b. 1998). Tómasson is an artist, songwriter, music producer and dancer based in Reykjavík, Iceland.