Lofoten International Art Festival – LIAF is the longest-running art biennial in Scandinavia, presenting works by local and international artists in a location-conscious context.

Lofoten International Art Festival – LIAF is organized by North Norwegian Art Centre in collaboration with LIAF Artistic Advisory Board. The members of the Artistic Advisory Board are glass artist Sigrid Høyforsslett Bjørbæk (chair), professor of art history Hanne Hammer Stien (vice-chair), director of North Norwegian Art Centre Marianne Hultman, director of Sør-Troms museum Sabrina van der Ley, and artist Kjetil Berge.

Entrance to Lofoten International Art Festival is always free! More information about the programme, artists, collaboration partners and supporters is coming soon. Stay tuned to all of North Norwegian Art Centre’s channels.

This year’s festival, which is the 18th edition, is curated by Kjersti Solbakken (b. 1984). LIAF seeks to be an open, experimental and accessible meeting place for artists, contributors, collaborators and audiences. LIAF does not have a set venue but takes place at different locations in Lofoten each time it is held.

Kjersti Solbakken says the following about LIAF 2024:

“LIAFs experimental and inclusive approach to communicating art is rare, and it is a huge dream come true to be able to work with the collective meeting place that LIAF constitutes. I want to use LIAF as a platform to take a closer look at local stories, archives, collections, and conditions that can help uncover our recent history. I look forward to further getting to know artists, curators, writers, arts and cultural institutions, LIAF’s fantastic staff, artistic council and all existing and future partners.”

Lofoten International Art Festival has a history dating back to 1991. LIAF began as a festival with a regional and national focus, and gradually developed into the international biennial it is today. Since 2009, LIAF has been under the auspices of North Norwegian Art Centre. It has an artistic council with six members.

The festival has no fixed venue, but is created anew each time by infiltrating and exploring Lofoten’s local surroundings. LIAF has exhibited art in a park, a garage, a library, a shed, a bunker, a fishing hut, a private house, a shop, an old warehouse, etc. Developing and discovering new understandings and knowledge through art lie at the core of the festival.

Each festival is designed by curators with different backgrounds, ideas and practices, bringing together the known and the unknown in different ways. By insisting on an open and experimental approach, LIAF can on many levels be a place for exchange and engagement, revealing new things about our world and ourselves over and over again.

Lofoten International Art Festival has been curated by Tor Inge Kveum, Per Gunnar Tverbakk, Vibeke Sjøvoll, Gry Ulrichsen, Göran Christenson, Maaretta Jaukkuri, Taru Elfving, Richard Borgström, Helga-Marie Nordby, Thora Dolven Balke, Linn Pedersen, Anne Szefer Karlsen, Bassam El Baroni, Eva González-Sancho, Matt Packer, Arne Skaug Olsen, Heidi Ballet, Milena Høgsberg, Neal Cahoon, Hilde Methi, Torill Østby Haaland and Karolin Tampere, as well as Francesco Urbano Ragazzi.