Bente Geving, Margit Ellinor: Forgotten Images

My mother was born Sámi, and she grew up in the north of Norway, close to the Russian border. She moved south, near Oslo, at the age of 24, where she remained for the rest of her life. In 2002 I started a project of photographing my parent’s home. At that time, my mother began rearranging photographs, knick-knacks, silverware and other memorabilia that decorated her shelves and sideboards. Partly replacing these with hidden objects from cupboards and drawers, she constantly and continuously changed her own surroundings. She would put together different objects, small installations or still-lives, placed on tables, shelves or even inside cupboards. She tidied up and sorted out. I became fascinated by her juxtapositions of objects, the colours and form of her compositions, and I felt the desire to enter into this part of her world. My mother developed Alzheimer’s disease in 2001 and she died six years later, in 2007. By producing this series about my mother, I also became aware of the context and continuity in my own art practice since my first exhibition in Oslo 1988, showing photos featuring my grandmother and her sisters Anna, Inga and Ellen. Some images, sounds or other media used in the following presentation are subject to copyright restrictions that prevent them being shown. In order to provide a complete record of the conference, these items have been blurred or silenced. Should we obtain permission to use these images, sounds and other media in the future the films will be updated.