Open session Bergen
(2017)1h Philemon Mukarno
Open Art in Public: PAB Open Festival 2017
Bergen came alive on October 6, 2017, when Festplassen hosted a daring celebration of artistic freedom — the **Open Session at PAB Open Festival**. Organized by **Performance Art Bergen (PAB)**, this event pushed boundaries between body, space, and audience. It welcomed artists and passersby into a world where the human body itself became raw artistic expression, often exploring themes of **public nudity, vulnerability, and openness** in shared space.
A Gathering of Radical Openness
The Open Session followed a seminar at **Bergen Kunsthall** titled “Reality in Art – Do We Want to Differentiate?”. It was more than an extension of theory; it was art in action. Artists responded directly to the city, its architecture, and its pulse. They explored the thin line between private and public, clothed and unclothed, comfort and exposure. The audience witnessed human fragility transformed into poetic presence.
Performance Without Barriers
**PAB Open Session**, known as **PAB OS**, is not a spectacle meant for a stage. It’s an **improvisational field of encounters**. Since 2012, PAB has created open zones across Bergen where art happens spontaneously. In 2017, performers again blurred roles between artist and observer. Public nudity appeared not as provocation, but as a **symbol of honesty** — a reclaiming of the body as an authentic medium.
The Power of Participation
Artists from Norway and abroad joined in: Ronnie S, Marita Bullmann, Frauke Materlik, David Alræk, Laurel Jay Carpenter, and many others. Each offered gestures of openness — silent, loud, abstract, or intimate. The audience’s gaze became part of the performance. Some looked away; others joined in. These moments of tension and freedom defined the event. The performances insisted that **art belongs everywhere**, even in the city’s open square.
When Vulnerability Becomes Collective
Public nudity, in the context of performance art, often raises questions of consent, freedom, and identity. Yet at PAB Open, it became **a language of trust**. Here, skin was not scandal but sincerity. Nudity connected the performers’ movements to the physical world — the cool air, the ground beneath, the gaze of others. It invited shared reflection on what it means to be seen as human, stripped of pretense and expectation.
The Legacy of PAB Open 2017
The 2017 Open Session remains a landmark in Bergen’s avant-garde scene. It proved that **performance art thrives beyond walls**, where art, body, and place converge. The festival continued PAB’s mission to stimulate exchange across disciplines — including dance, music, and visual art — while honoring the courage it takes to be fully visible.
Participating artists at the festival PAB OPEN 2017: Philemon Mukarno
ronnie s, Marita Bullmann, Jan-Egil Finne, Frauke Materlik, Sunniva Innstrand, Sigmund Skard, Øystein Larssen, Rita Marhaug, Amber Ablett, Mia Øquist, Else Karin Tysse Bysheim, Joana Gelazyte, Koppen & Jorkjen, Anette Friedrich Johannessen, Ingeborg Wie/Innocent Fungurani, Collura/Launder, Tolga Balci, Roddy Bell/Sean Bell, Thomas Simonsen Balmbra, Léann Herlihy, Carole Novak, Vibeke Rød Kjøde, Przepraszam, Hans Christian van Nijkerk, Sander L. Haga, Elias Björn +Henrik Nordin and William Alexander Vik Skaten, Karen Kipphoff, Samuel Brzeski, Gudrun Tara Sveinsdottir, Laurel Jay Carpenter, Erik Tonning Jensen, David Alræk, Julia Kurek &Dominik Wolski, Meri Hietala, Thomas Reul, Noa Reshef, Linnea Jardemark/Marika Sanaksenaho , Bernadette Laimbauer, Wei-Ling Hung, Chun-Han Chiang, Vincenzo Fiore Marrese, Agnieszka Gotowała, Mari Norddahl, Álvaro Terrones, Juan Carlos Villalba, Ella Honeyma-Novotny and Mathias Loose, Guy Sioui Durand, Johanna Lettmayer, Minna-Kaisa Kallinen, Andrea Conradsen/Guro Rex, Olga Nikonova, Marie Christine Katz, Janne Jong Aass, Roos Hoffmann, Marta Ostajewska, Vidmante Cerniauskaite, Kristen Rønnevik, Gillian Carson, Florence Lam, Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh, Pavana Reid
