Oslo Art Weekend Expands its International Programme

Oslo Art Weekend (OAW) opens on Thursday, 28 May, and this year the programme has been expanded with a stronger focus on international outreach, exchange and relationship-building. We spoke with Karen Rosness, Project Manager and Frida Rusnak, Programme Manager of Oslo Art Weekend and Director of Oslo Open, about this year’s programme and how OCA’s new grant scheme, the International Visitor Programme for Institutions (IVPI), has helped make the international visitor programme possible.

International Curators and Arts Professionals to Oslo

For Oslo Art Weekend, the IVPI grant has been crucial in enabling the programme to reach a broader audience while simultaneously strengthening its international professional dimension.
– Frida Rusnak

Through the support, OAW has invited new audiences to discover galleries, artist-run initiatives, and institutions across Oslo, while also developing more targeted programmes for international guests and arts professionals.

This year, 55 venues are participating, and many visitors are travelling to Oslo specifically for OAW. The programme therefore functions both as a wide-reaching public event and as an international professional meeting point. Through IVPI, OAW has developed tailored visitor programmes and integrated professional meetings and networking opportunities into the public programme.

The initiative also strengthens local collaboration among artist-run initiatives, commercial galleries and institutions, while opening opportunities for further research, dialogue and collaborations across the field.

Oslo itself provides particularly strong conditions for this type of programme. With many venues located within short distances of one another, it is possible to create carefully curated routes and shared programme structures that bring together a wide range of actors and visitors. OAW hopes to continue developing and expanding this model in the years ahead.

The collaboration with Oslo Open has also made it possible to include additional studio visits with participating artists, offering international guests broader insight into Oslo’s contemporary art scene.

Frida and Karen emphasise that OCA’s funding has been especially important in strengthening and professionalising the international visitor programme and in making programmes for international guests possible.

They also point to the transfer of the scheme to OCA from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a positive development:

OCA has expertise within the visual art field that provides a strong foundation for understanding the needs of the field and evaluating applications in a relevant and informed way. OCA knows the field well and has a clear understanding of what we are working towards and aiming to achieve.
– Frida Rusnak

What is being done differently this year?

New this year is the establishment of a dedicated Pro Programme — a professional visitor programme aimed at international actors within the visual art field. The programme consists of professional meetings, curator-led tours, lunches and various networking platforms intended to facilitate knowledge exchange, dialogue and future collaborations.

The programme is tailored specifically for professional visitors, and Oslo Art Weekend has strong potential to continue growing and developing in the coming years.
At the same time, several networking events and meeting points are integrated into the open public programme, allowing professional visitors and audiences to meet within the same spaces. This contributes to a more inclusive and dynamic festival structure.

This year’s international guest group comprises a broad mix of freelance curators, representatives from smaller exhibition spaces and larger institutions, creating opportunities for many kinds of connections and collaborations across the international art field.

Guests participating in Oslo Art Weekend 2026

There are three categories of invited guests this year. In total, 26 guests are participating: 16 invited through Oslo Open and 10 invited through Oslo Art Weekend. The groups follow partly overlapping and partly separate programmes.

Invited by Oslo Art Weekend

Visiting venues Friday–Sunday

• Elene Abashidze — Curator, E.A. Shared Space, Tbilisi
• Julia Geerlings — Curator, Museum Rijswijk
• Laura Bruni — Curator, Henry Moore Foundation
• Paolo Baggi — Independent Curator, Paris
• Shane Anderson — Writer, Arts of the Working Class
• Jenny Lund — Curator, ARKEN Museum for Contemporary Art, Ishøj
• Grace Lai — Curator, Applied Arts and Design, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum
• Abhijan X — Independent Curator and Writer, London
• Jayne Wilkinson — Art Writer and Editor, Toronto/Berlin
• Cinthya Garcia Leyva — General and Artistic Director, Casa del Lago UNAM, Mexico City (invited through OCA’s own visitor programme in Oslo and Bergen)

Invited for studio visits with Oslo Open Thursday–Friday and venue visits Saturday–Sunday

• Maija Rudovska — Independent Curator, Director of Studija Space, Kuldiga
• Henriette Noermark — Independent Curator and Writer, Copenhagen
• Janice Mitchell — Curator, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn
• Sakari Tervo — Director, Pitted Dates, Helsinki
• Salomé Burstein — Independent Curator and Writer, Director of Shmorévaz, Paris
• Magnus Thorø Clausen — Curator, Den Frie, Copenhagen
• Jonatan Habib Engqvist — Independent Curator and Editor, Stockholm
• Pip Day — Director, Mosaic Rooms, London

Invited for studio visits with Oslo Open Thursday–Friday and venue visits Saturday–Sunday

Norwegian guests from outside Oslo, covering their own travel and accommodation while participating in shared programme activities

• Štefania Ďuričová — Independent Curator
• Anne-Gro Erikstad — Independent Curator, Levanger
• Noor Bhangu — Independent Curator, Kløfta
• Helga Nyman — Curator, Stavanger Art Museum
• Maria C. Havstam — Interim Director, F15 + Momentum
• Camilla von Køppen — Head of Pilotgalleriet, Nitja / Producer, DKS Akershus
• Stina Högkvist — Director, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum
• Adriana Alves — Curator, Nordnorsk kunstnersenter

Oslo Art Weekend is Norway's largest festival for contemporary art. Over four days, 55 Art institutions in Oslo come together for a full program of exhibitions, performances, film screenings, guided tours and more. Oslo Art Weekend is a unique opportunity to discover Oslo's contemporary art scene and the city's many art venues, including artist-run exhibition spaces, galleries, art institutions and museums.

During Oslo Art Weekend, the city is transformed into a meeting place for Norwegian and international artists, art lovers, professionals and collectors. The festival brings together the local art scene and facilitates art experiences, collaboration and networking for Oslo's professional art field and the public.

The festival was first organised in 2016 by Oslo Art Guide.