Art Exhibition in Harstad, April 10 – 17

Stangnes videregående skole (Stangnes upper secondary school), Harstad, Norway, and Escola Massana, Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain) have been partners in this two years cooperation titled "North South Ephemeral Art Communication". The Catalan students have been on exchange visit to Harstad building snow sculptures, and the Norwegian students have been on exchange to Barcelona building kites. This cultural cooperation between north and south is thoroughly documented.  Now Stangnes videregående skole invites to an art exhibition:

KUNST, KULTUR & KOMMUNIKASJON
ART, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Place: Harstad Kunstforening, Tore Hunds gate 5, Harstad

Building snow sculptures

During the first exchange in Harstad in January 2014, all the fifteen exchange students from Escola Massana and all the 31 students from the Visual Art Department at Stangnes videregående skole made eight Snow Sculptures.

The teachers at the Visual Art Department made an oral instruction in English accompanied by photos of the entire Snow sculpture constructing process. This presentation is now updated with text and new pohotos.

On Internet you will find this "Making Snow Sculpture" Instruction.

You might also see the video "Snow Sculptures" showing most of the prosess.

The "Snow Sculptures from zero to finished" is also on video.

And at last you can watch one snow sculpture grow up in the video "From snow cube to snow sculpture".

Day 10 in Harstad

Day trip Harstad - Sortland - Harstad

Today we were going with the Hurtigruten, the coastal steamer, from Harstad to Risøyhamn (short stop) and then to our destination at Sortland. The name of the ship was "Richard With". We were leaving Harstad harbour at 08:30, and we arrived at Sortland at 12:30.

From Sortland we went by bus for approx. 2 hours to Harstad, passing the southern part of the Gullesfiord, then nearby Lødingen and all the way along the Tjeldsundet up to Harstad and finally to Borkenes.

The evening was at the host families, going early to bed. Early Monday morning the students from Escola Massana went to Evenes Airport flying down to Oslo and then home to Barcelona.

Day 9 in Harstad

1.

 

We woke up this morning and it was snowing. It's Saturday and we have had free time, no planned activities from the school. Majen, Frida and Maria with their guests and I have decided it could be a good idea to go to the Harstad ice ring, but we couldn't go there. 

We decided to think about other activities. Majen thought it could be a good idea to go to his oncle's  farm , it didn't sounds right at first, but we have had a quite good time there.  We have had a lot of fun  making a ''snow man'' as we used to do when we were younger. 

I have to confess it has been a fantastic day for all of us!!! 

 

 

2.

 

 

 

At eight o'clock it was sunny, but after ten it started to snow and in a few minutes everything in Central Harstad was painted in white. It has been absolutely impossible to be indoors and we went for a walk around Folkeparken. We had a nice two hours walk with Torun and the three of us had a cup of coffee in a "gapahuk?" (lean-tos) where a couple with three little girls were having lunch after playing for a while with the snow.
 



Day 8 in Harstad

Today we finished the rest of the snow sculptures and we made a big drawing of the final sculpture for the exhibition. We had a final meeting (vernissage) outside with everyone who participated in the project, were we looked back at all the work we did.

We also had a visit of the local television news channel and the local newspaper. You may see us on NRK1 for Friday 21 February here (at the end of the 15 mins report "Nordnytt"). The web reports in the local newspaper, Harstad Tidende, are here and here. After the vernissage we made a lot of photos. Some of them you may see on Stangnes' own website, here and here.

After school we met at the active events fun parks with the whole class; and we played pool, paintball and did other fun activities.

Day 7 in Harstad

This morning we have already started the snow sculptures, we were very excited about doing them and how this new material, the snow, will work. Eventually, it was not as hard as we thought and we really enjoyed to do them. They are not going to be as we have planned in the sketches and in the clay models, but they are in fact quiet similar. We hope to have enough time tomorrow to finish them.

But that was not all, after watching a classical animation Norwegian film, we could see the Northen Lights! They were like a dream for most of us, they were really incredible and we are going to remember them for ever.

Day 6 in Harstad

Today we have had our last Norwegian language class, we've learned some words and some useful sentences like: "Hva vil de ha å spise?" and we have also learned how to say the time and about some norwegian typical food.

Afterwards each group has finished their sculpture models made by clay; most of the groups have done two different models, but a few just have had time to do one. Once all the clay models have been finished, we have had to present them to the other groups and tell them why we had done it that way and if it was inspired by something in special and we have also decided which one we thought would be the best one to make in snow.  Everyone have had great ideas and we really  think all of them are going to be great snow sculptures.

Day 5 in Harstad

Today some people are still working on the drawings and some started working on the clay. 

We also have been bowling today,  the whole class had fun cheering on each other.Tomorrow everyone will be working with the clay before starting working with the snow sculptures.

Day 4 in Harstad

Today was the first day at school and Barcelona students started our Norwegian lessons. We were divided in diferent groups for the sculptures planning, and we have done sketches of how they are going to be.

After choosing two ideas we had science and we did DNA structures with a plastic thread and a band. It was really exciting!

Day 3 in Harstad

Today we have been in a farm called Olaåsen here in Harstad. On the farm there were horses and sheep, the horses are typical norwegian. They are called fjording and nordlandshest.

The students from Barcelona tried sledging and learning about the aboriginal people of Norway, the Sami people.

We were in a Lavvu, that is a kind of tent which the Sami people used as a kind of house when they where travelling with reindeer packs. The students also tried eating reindeer meat. The food was cooked over a fireplace inside the Lavvu. A woman of the Sami people taught the students about her culture and showed some objects e.g. a knife made from the horns of a reindeer and her shoes made out of reindeer skin.

   

Day 2 in Harstad

This day with a nice sun and some few degrees above zero was settled at Trondenes, a few kilometres outside the town centre near the old church. We met our Norwegian students at the local historical centre. Here we watched the historical exhibitions, and we got a taste of Norwegians cakes (“the world’s best”) and waffles. Thank you to Trygve for a nice meal!!

“the world’s best”




From Trondenes we walked into town, and met at the Gallery North Norway. The woman in charge, Roanne, started in castellano, she actually had lived for one year in Barcelona.

We spent the evening with our hosts.

Day 1 in Harstad

The airplane from Oslo arrived at Evenes airport outside Harstad on schedule. Most of the Massana students were met by our Norwegian hosts at the airport and in few minutes they went to their new “homes” for the next ten days.