Time is a ship that never casts anchor – Stories from New Kirkenes Hospital is a new artistic documentation project carried out by the Norwegian-Finnish artist duo Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen in conjunction with the construction of New Kirkenes Hospital.
Kirkenes, Kirkkoniemi, Girkonjárga or Киркенес is located at the north eastern tip of Norway, right at the borders of Russia and Finland. Situated in Norway’s largest and least populated county Finnmark in Sør-Varanger municipality, it is by area just a little bit bigger than Denmark.
The project aims to tell the story of the new hospital – through the stories of the people who have defined and continue to shape Sør-Varanger in the future. Hjorth and Ikonen will document the transformation by engaging the local community as active participants. The final result will be a series of vivid portraits encouraging new perspectives on the Barents region.
Hjorth and Ikonen will visit Kirkenes three times; early winter 2014, summer 2015 and autumn 2016. The progress of the project can be followed and contributed to on this site with the final artworks coming to public view at the New Kirkenes Hospital in the spring of 2017.
The duo met during an artist residency in Sandnes, Norway in 2011 and have collaborated ever since on a series called Eyes as Big as Plates.
The project title ‘Time is a ship that never casts anchor‘ originates from Harald Gaski’s book on Sami proverbs. ‘Jodi lea buoret go oru’ means it is better to be on a journey than staying still or holding on, e.g an expression for a nomadic culture’s world view.
If you have suggestions on stories, locations and personalities to feature, feedback or if you just feel like saying hello, please get in touch: +47 45 77 57 67 / karoline.hjorth@gmail.com / mail@riittaikonen.com
© Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen
Time is a ship that never casts anchor 
Very nice images and stories.
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