Thank you, 2025
Published
We look back on 2025 with gratitude for the strong community around BEK: the artists, collaborators and audiences who together have shaped a rich and dynamic year of artistic production. We are proud of the breadth of activities and the quality of the projects realised, ranging from experimental workshop series and cross-disciplinary presentations to public events and professional conversations.
Throughout the year, a number of local and international artists have taken part in residencies in BEK’s studios and project spaces, allowing room for both exploratory processes and the development of new works.
Our public programme has included a wide range of formats and events.
BEK Opening Week featured workshops, film screenings and presentations, including the exhibition Testing the Membranous Boundaries by Ingrid Bjørnaali, Fabian Lanzmaier and Maria Simmons, which explored sound, sculpture and digital practice at Lydgalleriet.
A Family Day as part of Borealis offered sound- and movement-based workshops for the whole family, led by Elin Már Øyen Vister, Yohei Hamada, Karina Sletten and Sean Minhui Tashi Chua.
The year also included a summer party and jubilee celebration marking BEK’s 25th anniversary, with live music and a celebration of artists in residence.
Workshops such as Spatial Audio with Mariam Gviniashvili and Aural Intelligence with Hexorcismos aka Moisés Horta Valenzuela explored spatial sound and artificial intelligence within artistic practice. While ASTERISK and BEK invited to Playing Queer: Repurposing games to create differently, a three day workshop with Chloé Desmoineaux. And Karen Werner at the Bergen Architecture School invited to a two day workshop with Ada LaNerd, who is part of the π-node (pronounced pi-node) collective in Paris, where we learned about, made and creatively broadcast with π-boxes as part of Bergen Assembly 2025
In November 2025, BEK hosted the international symposium The Only Lasting Truth is Change, bringing together artists, theorists and practitioners including Shuruq Harb, Marwa Arsanios, Open-weather, Geert Lovink, Touki & Rehana Zaman, Jenny Berger Myhre & Niklas Adam, DJ Daeva, Lesia Vasylchenko, soso brafield and others. The programme comprised performances, lectures, workshops and conversations addressing the role of art in the face of political and technological transformation.
Throughout the year, BEK has also been actively engaged in the city’s arts and cultural life through participation in Bergen Art Book Fair, Kulturnatt and B-Open, as well as through publication launches and presentations in collaboration with local and international partners.
Through these activities, we have continuously sought to expand the space for artistic experimentation, share new knowledge and create meeting points across disciplines.
The BEK team is now taking a short break, but will be back from 5 January 2026 and looks forward to continuing conversations, projects and collaborations with you all in the year ahead.
In a time of global unrest, BEK stands in solidarity with people across the world facing oppression, military aggression and genocide. We continue to hold hope for a more peaceful year ahead for everyone.
Image: Conflict Grains by soso brafield during the symposium The Only Lasting is Change 2025. Photo: Nayara Leite.