B-open inviterer aktører fra det profesjonelle kunstfeltet til fritt å besøke kunstnere som har åpent atelier under festivalen.
Gjester B-open 2026
Karen Kitani Harsbo/Peach Corner (DK)
Karen Kitani Harsbo is a Japanese born Danish artist and artistic reseacher and curator. She is associate professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and is co-founder of the artist-run gallery space Peach Corner in Copenhagen, founded in 2021, showing Danish and international ceramic art and craft. The gallery has presented work at the Ceramic Brussels Art Fair and at 3daysofdesign Art Fair in Copenhagen.
Her artwork bridges traditional craftmanship and contemporary technology, experimenting with 3D printing and digitality. In her reseach she focuses on new sustainable materials with focus on bio art, in the intersection of planetary economies, digital technologies and careful interspicies pedagogies, as in the reseach project https://digitalmaterialities.kunstakademiet.dk . She has exhibited widely and recieved prices and honorary awards. She is currently part of the board of CLAY, Museum of Ceramic Art, DK.
Petter Buhagen/BABEL (NO)
Petter Buhagen (f. 1983, Trondheim) er billedkunstner og kunstnerisk leder for BABEL, LKVs kunstnerdrevne visningsrom i Trondheim. Parallelt med sin kunstneriske praksis har han arbeidet med kunstnerdrevne visningssteder gjennom de siste 15 årene. Først som medgrunnlegger og drivkraft bak Noplace i Oslo (2011–2021), og siden 2023 som kunstnerisk leder for BABEL.
Buhagen arbeider også som prosjektleder for kunstprosjekter i offentlige rom. Han er utdannet ved Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo (MA, 2008) og The Arts Institute at Bournemouth i England (BA, 2006).
Jasmina Kemura/Kunst på arbeidsplassen (N)
Jasmina Kemura er kurator og kunstfaglig rådgiver med en praksis forankret i formidling av samtidskunst til publikum utenfor de vante kunstrommene – fra ungdom i skolen til ansatte på norske arbeidsplasser. Hun er opptatt av hvordan kunst kan gjøres tilgjengelig og relevant utenfor de tradisjonelle institusjonsrommene, og har gjennom hele karrieren søkt mot prosjekter i skjæringspunktet mellom kunst, identitet og samfunn.
Gjennom mange år ved Buskerud Kunstsenter og Den kulturelle skolesekken kuraterte og produserte hun en rekke utstillinger som utforsket tematikker som kropp, identitet og kulturarv – blant annet Et sted for fortellinger med kunstneren Laila Mari Brandsfjell og slampoeten Ida Helene Benonisen, og Bak sløret, om barn og unges identitet, med kunstnere som Jumana Manna, Charlotte Thiis- Evensen og Tori Wrånes.
Som ekstern kurator for KORO arbeider hun nå med kuratoriske prosjekter ved ungdomssentre rundt om i landet. I dag er hun også kunstfaglig rådgiver i Kunst på arbeidsplassen, der hun bygger opp og utvikler organisasjonens kunstsamling, og blant annet tok initiativ til å etablere et offentlig visningsrom i deres lokaler på Kampen i Oslo.
Camilla Rasborg/Sydhavn Station (DK)
I 2012 var jeg med til at starte Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station (USS), et kunstnerdrevet udstillingssted for samtidskunst, der drives af 11 udøvende billedkunstnere. USS er placeret på en aktiv S-togsstation i København, hvor samtidskunst ikke normalt finder sted. Hvert medlem har på skift ansvar for en udstillingsperiode og står selv for alle praktiske gøremål i forbindelse med gennemførelsen af sin udstilling. Denne model skaber et sted med mange selvstændige kunstneriske stemmer under samme tag. Årligt præsenteres der ca. 10 udstillinger i udstillingsrummet samt 12 udstillinger i plakatfrisen i forhallen og i billboardet udenfor stationen.
I min praksis inddrager jeg ofte kasseret materiale. At scanne omgivelserne og samle efterladte genstande op har fulgt mig fra jeg var barn, og et fælles træk for mange af mine værker er, at de på forskellig vis tager afsæt i noget, som har mistet sin funktion og ikke længere har værdi. De fundne underlag, som jeg maler på, er på én gang et råt og sårbart fundament. Jeg tager afsæt i underlagets spor af forgængelighed, af det igangværende forfald. En transformation fra noget kasseret til et billede. Det er en intuitiv, famlende maleproces, hvor brudstykker af motiver bliver filtret ind i hinanden. Et slags billed-spind, som jeg prøver at rede en eller anden form for helhed ud af. Min praksis inddrager også tekst, akvarel, tegning og relief. Senest aktuel med udsmykningen ”Hvad end der er og kommer…” til behandlingsstuerne på Afdelingen for Blodsygdomme på Aarhus Universitetshospital. Billedkunstner (DK), f. 1974, uddannet på Det Jyske Kunstakademi i 2002. Modtog i 2026 et 2-årigt arbejdslegat fra Statens Kunstfond og i 2025 et hæderslegat fra Anne Marie Telmányi, født Carl-Nielsens Fond.
Maria Friis/Galleri Maria Friis (DK)
Gjester B-open 2025
Ifrah Osman/Kunsthall Oslo (N)
Ifrah Osman is an anti-disciplinary curator and mediator with a background in Peace and Conflict Studies. Her practice is shaped by critical research, inclusive methods, and transnational perspectives. Through this approach, she develops innovative ways to make contemporary art accessible, relevant, and responsive across audiences, formats, and geographies. Osman has worked with institutions including MUNCH, KORO, Bergen Kunsthall, and Kunsthall Oslo. She has developed multilingual public programmes, curated exhibitions, and led a major embassy commission in Nairobi, Kenya. Osman’s work explores the intersection of language and art, creating projects deeply rooted in African cultures while resonating in a global context. Currently, she is Program Developer at Kunsthall Oslo and the curator for KORO’s art project at the Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi.
kunsthalloslo.no
Maria Wettergren/Galerie Maria Wettergren, Paris (FR)
Maria Wettergren is a Danish-born (now Paris-based) art dealer and gallery owner celebrated for her influential role in promoting contemporary Scandinavian art and design. She launched Galerie Maria Wettergren in Paris in 2010, originally located in Saint‑Germain‑des‑Prés, before moving to a significantly larger and light-filled space in Le Marais (121 rue Vieille‑du‑Temple) in 2020.
The gallery is known for championing contemporary Scandinavian art and design, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary dialogues between art, design, architecture, and craft. It has a particular interest in textile arts, often spotlighting works by women artists. Before launching her own gallery, Wettergren studied Art History and directed the Paris branch of Copenhagen’s Dansk Møbelkunst, which specialized in rare Danish furniture from the 1920s–70s. This role served as valuable preparation for her later focus on contemporary and experimental design. Her gallery hosts monographic shows, issues catalogues, and has facilitated numerous collaborations and acquisitions by prestigious institutions such as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Smithsonian Cooper‑Hewitt (New York), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), mudac (Lausanne), and Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris). Galerie Maria Wettergren regularly appears at major international fairs—including TEFAF New York & Maastricht, FIAC Hors les Murs, Design Miami/Basel, PAD Paris/London, and FOG Design & Art, San Francisco. In 2013, she was included in the Art + Auction magazine’s Power 100, which lists the 100 most important personalities in the art world. In 2014, she became the first gallery owner ever to receive the Finn Juhl Architecture Prize, honoring her contributions to promoting Scandinavian artists internationally. Wettergren views her gallery as a pioneering platform for “design art,” blending poetic experimentation with meticulous craftsmanship. She champions profoundly original works that transcend traditional commercial design. In her own words: “There can be a lot of poetry embedded in empirical experiments”.
mariawettergren.com
Brian Noguera-Gabrielli/Skog Art Space, Oslo (N)
Brian Noguera-Gabrielli is a Colombian-born medical doctor and multidisciplinary creative with a deep-rooted passion for art and design. Since moving to Norway in 2012, Brian has made a distinctive mark on Oslo’s cultural landscape through his curatorial work and design ventures.
From 2014 to 2022, he founded and led Skogen Design, a renowned interior store specializing in mid-century design in Oslo. At the same time, he was part of the Form publishing house, specializing in mid-century and Norwegian furniture literature. In 2022, he co-founded SKOG Art Space, an unconventional and dynamic gallery that has quickly become a recognized name in the Oslo art scene. Under his curatorial direction, SKOG has participated in notable international art fairs such as Ceramic Brussels and Enter Art Fair in Copenhagen.
Brian’s unique approach to curation has garnered increasing recognition, culminating in his role as a jury member for the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHIO) exhibitions in 2025. His work bridges disciplines, cultures, and aesthetics, reflecting a rare combination of medical precision and artistic sensibility.
skogart.org
Ruth Alexander Aitken/Tromsø Kunstforening, Tromsø (N)
Ruth Alexander Aitken (b. 1990) is a Tromsø-based, Scottish curator and artist working with themes around labour, economics and resource distribution, always through the lens of our relationship to the environment and with a goal of lowering the threshold to art. She started the environmental arts/curatorial project Failure, Understanding, Care (& Kunst) with James S Lee in 2018, and the film project, Kinobox, with Sarah Schipschack in 2020, and is part of running the analogue film initiative Polar Film Lab. She previously co-ran the independent art spaces, Kurant Visningsrom in Tromsø, and Generator Projects in Dundee. Currently, she works as a curator and producer at Tromsø Kunstforening (Romssa Daiddasiida/Tromsø Centre for Contemporary Arts). She has a BA(Hons) in Time Based Art and Digital Film from Duncan Of Jordanstone (2012), and an MA in Contemporary Art from Tromsø Kunstakademiet (2018).
tromsokunstforening.no
Ichraf Nasri/curator, Brussels (BE)
Ichraf Nasri is an artist-researcher and curator based in Brussels. Drawn to social norms, customs, and rituals, she explores issues related to domination, resistance, and transmission. With collaboration at the core of her practice, curating has become a natural extension of her artistic work. Through it, she questions Western and patriarchal hegemony in the production and circulation of knowledge.
A decolonial feminist and politically engaged artist, in 2019 she founded Xeno @xeno_exhibitions, a nomadic artistic platform and a practice-based research laboratory on intersectional feminist questions. She is currently a recipient of the FRArt-FNRS artistic research fellowship, where she is developing an experimental investigation into how the circulation of food and culinary practices can challenge the postcolonial social order traditions as potential strategies of resistance. She is also the curator of Tashweesh Festival at Beursschouwburg (Brussels), a feminist arts festival from the SWANA region held in October 2024, and co-curator of Boutures Festival at La Balsamine (Brussels) in June 2025.
Gjester B-open 2024
Filip Zięciak & Jeanette Gunnarsson / Coulisse Gallery, Stockholm
Rachael Harlow / Raven Row, London
Aga Paulina Młyńczak / 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow
Jessica Williams / Nitja Senter for Samtidskunst
Coast Contemporary er en kunstnerstyrt plattform som jobber for å generere samarbeid mellom kunstnere og deltagende institusjoner. Coast Contemporarys EDITION EIGHT foregår i Oslo 16.-20.september 2024, og internasjonalt program i Bergen 20.-22.september 2024. Deltakere i det internasjonale programmet besøkte B-open 2024.
Gjester B-open 2023
Katja Jaren & Øyvind Sørfjordmo fra Van Etten (N)
Kristian Schrøder & Mathilde Carbel fra Pachinko (N)
Henriette Noermark (DK)
Coast Contemporary besøkte B-open 2023 med fire gjester fra USA som deltok i det internasjonale programmet til Coast Contemporary Edition seven i Lofoten.
Coast Contemporary etablerte i 2023 et samarbeid med B-open og Open Studios Stavanger (OSS) om Coast Contemporary prisen som tildeles en kunstner som har deltatt med åpent atelier under B-open og OSS 2023.
Prisen består av finansiert deltakelse og representasjon under Coast Contemporary 2024.
Vinner av Coast Contemporary prisen 2024 er Sveinung Rudjord Unneland