Exhibition: Tredje Rom

Jenny Skaale, Farhad Soufi, Mateo Tilrem, Mira Niedzielak, Stella Lindeberg, Ingrid Sande Mathisen, Nora Louise Johannessen, Nasha Perez, Selma Astrup Trebler Wold, Bror Hogasen-Hallesby, Martin Johan Melbye, Maria Grazia Ines Habiyambere, and Antonios Dimitracopoulos.

This autumn, Fotogalleriet’s Youth Advisory Board presents the exhibition Tredje Rom – a project developed by og for young people, grounded in cultural theorist Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the third space. In Bhabha’s theory, the third space designates a dynamic in-between zone that emerges through encounters between different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. It is a space where identity is negotiated, boundaries are challenged, and new forms of community can arise.

Building on this understanding, the Youth Advisory Group has explored how subcultures, countercultures, and alternative communities create and sustain their own third spaces. At the same time, they have sought to establish a corresponding space within Fotogalleriet itself.

Since 2022, Fotogalleriet’s Youth Advisory Group has offered young people between the ages of 17 and 25, from diverse socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds in Oslo, a genuine platform for participation in the art field. The project was initially launched through Kulturtanken, in collaboration with TrAP and Nøkkel til byen. Following the pilot year, it was continued as a three-year project funded by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. Its members Abdirahmaan Hasan, Esma Bouhaddouz, Hamda Barise, Selma Beyoglu, and Karl Ian Centino, represent a wide range of experiences, interests, and subcultures, and form the core curatorial team behind Tredje Rom.

Through an open call, young artists from varied backgrounds were invited to submit their works to a jury consisting of the Youth Advisory Group members, guided by the project’s producer, Camilla von Køppen, and Fotogalleriet’s Head of Exhibitions, Miki Gebrelul. The selected works together reflect a multiplicity of expressions, experiences, and narratives. The result is an exhibition that both investigates and embodies the third space as a dynamic and inclusive site.