OUTSIDERS
The 17th of October during the Insomnia Festival artist and curator
Charlotte Bendiks in collaboration with the artist collective Spacement,
and the senior charity foundation “Gutta på Skauen” will transform the nature
surrounding Tromsø into a vibrant stage for OUTSIDERS — a unique series
of nocturnal concerts and performances. A free cultural gathering,
OUTSIDERS invites audiences to immerse themselves in art, music, and
dance while embracing the mysticism of the Arctic. It offers a profound
exploration of marginalization, indigenous history, ritualistic power,
and, most importantly, togetherness. In a world often divided by
polarization, this event aims to rekindle unity and shared experience
under the open Arctic sky.
The heart of OUTSIDERS lies in its mission to explore and celebratenatural landscapes through artistic expression. Attendees will embark ona guided journey through Tromsdalen's forests, where site-specificperformance art installations unfold with each step. As they traversethis two-kilometer path, participants are not only drawn deeper into thewilderness but also into layers of storytelling, culture, and history.Accompanying the journey is the artist collective Spacement, whose workfocuses on social interactions, aesthetics, installations, andcounterculture. Known for challenging conventional norms, Spacementcreates immersive spaces that invite dialogue, participation, andreflection on societal structures, promoting alternative ways ofthinking and living. Their installations blur the boundaries betweenlife, art, and activism, fostering a deeper connection between individuals and their environments.
Spacement and other collaborators:
Isak Mølster
Ellen Vikström
Rurik Sjösten
Mimi Midorikawa
Marita Isobel Solberg
Joar Nango
Andre Enger Aas
Vegard krane
The journey culminates at Freidigtunet, an outdoor space carefully
maintained by the “Gutta på Skauen” foundation. Here, local electronic
musicians will perform alongside further installations and performances,
creating a space where the typically underground world of club music
meets the open air of the Arctic.
Musicians performing:
Mental Overdrive (live)
Charlotte Bendiks (live)
Munk (live)
O. Blom (dj)
As these artists take the stage, the event blurs the lines between
nature and culture, underground and open air, inviting the audience to
reflect on how music transforms when it’s no longer confined to clubs,
but instead reverberates beneath the infinite Arctic sky.
Tromsø, known as the birthplace of electronic music in Norway, holds a rich cultural heritage. Electronic music has long been a refuge for outsiders—a space where differences dissolve into a shared rhythm.
In the Arctic, where centralization and depopulation deepen feelings of isolation, OUTSIDERS encourages collaboration across disciplines,
ideologies, and cultural backgrounds, with artists from a variety of
fields—musicians, sound artists, performance artists, sculptors,
graffiti artists, DJs, and even shamans—joining forces to celebrate
diversity and individuality. Together, they craft a deeply unique
cultural experience that fuses art with nature.
The significance of OUTSIDERS is rooted in its respect for the land and
the cultures that have shaped it. The Tromsdalen and Freidigtunet
locations are not merely stages but sacred grounds, historically
significant to the Sami people — one of the two indigenous groups whose legacy permeates Northern Norway, the other being the Kvens.
Through this convergence of art, music, performance, and indigenous
heritage, OUTSIDERS becomes more than just an event — it becomes a space for shared understanding, unity, and the breaking down of boundaries between cultures, artists, audience and nature.
(Text by Zuri Maria Daiß)
