Alumni News: Bianca Hisse & Christian Danielewitz present Rivers End at Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo

Installation view. Credits: Thomas Tveter / Kunstnerforbundet.

We are pleased to share that Artica Svalbard alumni Bianca Hisse and Christian Danielewitz are currently presenting their collaborative exhibition Rivers End at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo.

Developed through fieldwork in both Svalbard and Zambia, Rivers End explores rivers as acoustic environments—spaces where listening becomes a way of sensing infrastructures, ecological change, and the distribution of power. The project brings together Hisse’s interest in how societies are shaped by underlying structures of control, and Danielewitz’s research into resource extraction, energy production, and environmental inequality.

At the centre of the exhibition is a dialogue between two distant yet interconnected waterways: the Longyear River in Svalbard and the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Through sound recordings gathered during their time in both locations—including underwater currents, shifting sediments, ice fracture, and the low hum of industrial systems—the artists trace how rivers are shaped by technological intervention, political ideology, and socio-ecological processes.

These recordings form the basis of a sculptural installation that incorporates materials such as concrete, ceramics, rubber granules, and plant fossils. Ceramic elements function as containers, ruins, and resonance chambers, carrying geophonic and hydroacoustic sounds that reveal the hidden movements and pressures within these landscapes.

By placing the fragile, climate-affected Longyear River in conversation with the vast hydroelectric infrastructure of the Kariba Dam, Rivers End reflects on the long histories and ongoing impacts of extraction, energy production, and displacement. The work draws attention to how environmental transformations are experienced unevenly across different geographies and communities.

Exhibition details
Exhibition title: Rivers End (16.04.26 to 16.05.26)
Location: Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
Address: Kjeld Stubs gate 3, 0160 Oslo

We’re delighted to see how the artists’ research in Svalbard continues to develop, expanding into a nuanced and resonant exploration of sound, landscape, and the infrastructures that shape our world. Bianca Hisse and Christian Danielewitz were nominated for the residency at Artica by OCA, The Office for Contemporary Art Norway in 2025.

For more information about the exhibition, visit this link.