Collecting For... The Private Kunsthall: KaviarFactory

How do you distinguish between KaviarFactory, and museums and kunsthalls in Norway? Does KaviarFactory occupy a different position?

When KaviarFactory opened in 2013 our aim was simply to show contemporary art on a high international level in a small fisherman’s village above the Arctic Circle. We never set out to open a kunsthall, but when the old and abandoned caviar factory was put up for sale, we felt that the building belonged to the art world. We already had a holiday place in the same village, where we had been running an unofficial artist residency program, since we bought it in 1997. Turning the run-down factory into a space for contemporary art felt like the natural next step.

Being private we are not as restricted in the same way that many kunsthalls and museums are. We can continue to buy young and unknown artists, as we have always done. As an example, when we first bought an installation by Marguerite Humeau in 2015, we could move quickly. For us, it is a discussion over dinner, and not a decision to be made by a committee. We have the freedom to act on instinct and take risks.

What role do private collectors play in helping to build the collections of public museums in Norway?

Very little, if any. In the few cases where public museums in Norway reach out to private collectors, it seems quite random. There seems to be very little interest from the public museums in Norway to collaborate with collectors. The dialogue is almost non-existent.

In the cases where we lend out art to public museums in Norway, the request usually comes from the artist or the gallerist. There seems to be very little interest from public museums to find out what we have in our collection or if we have seen anything exciting recently. It’s a shame because collectors love to share.

Do you notice a difference in the relationship between collectors and museums in Norway, compared to the US for example?

We have little knowledge about how it works in the US, but there seems to be a big difference just between Norway and Denmark. As far as we know, there is a much closer relationship between private collectors and public museums in Denmark. In Norway it seems there is a reluctance for public museums to work with anything that is private. It’s sad because in the end, everyone loses out, the artist, the public and the museums.

The public museums in Norway seem to have very little interest about what is happening outside their walls. To give an example, when we had an exhibition by Ai Weiwei and curators from the National Museum spent a full day in Henningsvær, they did not walk the 100 meters to see the exhibition.

It seems that you have played an important role in bringing works by New York-based artists to the Nordic region. Is there a special connection between Norway and New York?

We do not believe there is a special connection, but New York has always had a great art scene. Funnily enough, most of the art we have bought in New York is actually not American, and the American art in our collection we have mainly bought in Europe. For instance we were the first in Norway to buy both Josh Smith and Alex Hubbard. Since neither of them had exhibited in Scandinavia, we had to travel to make new discoveries.

Regarding bringing artists to the Nordic region, we have had an unofficial artist in residence program for 25 years in Lofoten. Max Hooper Schneider stayed there in 2022.

Could you talk a little bit about some of the high profile artists you have collaborated with at KaviarFactory, perhaps thinking specifically about Ai Weiwei and Yoko Ono for example?

We had an exhibition by Ai Weiwei in 2021-2022, a solo exhibition he was personally very involved in, which included new works and a site-specific work that will never be shown again. After a meeting and lunch in Berlin, we shook hands and things started rolling. Then Covid happened and the world got a little crazy. Ai Weiwei extended the duration of exhibition from 3 to 15 months. He was incredibly generous and patient.

The Yoko Ono collaboration happened through our long time relationship with Luise Faurschou. For 6 weeks, the message “I love you” was sent through Yoko Ono’s own code consisting of a series of light flashes: “I” (1 blink) “love” (2 blinks) “you” (3 blinks) to the entire world. In the winter darkness it was a spectacular sight, that was also streamed from her website.

We also streamed another project when we collaborated with Michael Sailstorfer in 2019. 3 sculptural tears formed from salt were installed on a reef just outside KaviarFactory. It was streamed from us to a simultaneous exhibition of the artist’s work at Perrotin in New York. Michael has had several residences, and he is responsible for our façade sign and logo. He took the “ART” out of “KAVIARFACTORY,” as it is written in the sign.

How do you think about the legacy of your collection? I have read that your children play an active role in the programming at KaviarFactory, do you imagine them inheriting the collection in its entirety?

We never set out to build a collection, we were just interested in art. So when we were first asked to exhibit our collection in 1998, that was also when we realised that we had a collection. That was also the same year that we bought our first international piece at ARCO Madrid. Since then, we have been more a part of the international art world than the Norwegian. That is perhaps why we titled the exhibition ‘Expanding Frontiers’ when we exhibited part of our collection in Paris in 2016.

If there is a legacy, I hope it will be related to our love and passion for art. We were collectors by heart, and not by ears. We also never used advisors, so the collection is completely formed by us. We also have a passion for sharing, so perhaps that will be our legacy.

What will happen with the collection in the future is not something we have given much thought to. As for now, we are more focused on upcoming projects and exhibitions.