East of the Sun and West of the Moon

East of the Sun and West of the Moon takes the mythical island of Thule, imagined since Antiquity as a territory beyond the limits of the known world, as the starting point for a collective exercise in speculative fiction. Bringing together works by Nanna Gunhild Amstrup, Maja Nilsen, Vilde von Krogh and Amalie Vestergaard Olsen, the exhibition draws on Norwegian folklore and mythological imaginaries to envision alternative landscapes, forms of life and relationships with the environment. Through a fictional journey across the island, the exhibition challenges the boundaries between nature and culture, the human and the nonhuman, and the rational and the fantastic, asking how premodern knowledge systems and ecological imaginaries might help us navigate the uncertainties of the present ecosocial crisis. Quote from the curatorial essay: "After several exhausting days of sailing across the Arctic Ocean, having encountered countless storms and currents that continually threw me off course, I caught sight of a strange light on the horizon. A warm light that contrasted sharply with the leaden grey of the Arctic skies. With what little strength I had left, I steered towards that amber glow. I began to make out the contours of what appeared to be an island. Having lost all sense of time and space, I could no longer tell whether the vision was a product of my imagination or whether I had truly reached my long-awaited destination. As I continued towards the island, the heavy clouds gradually dispersed, revealing an intensely blue sky that, far from recalling the familiarity of my homeland, created an atmosphere unlike anything I had experienced before. I was approaching a place that felt both strange and familiar, a region with no visible human presence whatsoever. In the pages that follow, I will provide an extensive account of my discoveries on the island commonly known as Thule, an enclave adrift from humanity, untouched by modern narratives of progress and civilisation. Before doing so, however, I should explain what led me to its shores."