The Nordic Village The Nordic Village is a talent platform for emerging Nordic artists. Since 2018, this project has showcased over 20 artists from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland in the main festival program. Selected artists have been chosen for solo- and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad such as for a pop up exhibition at World Village festival and Nordic Culture Point library in Helsinki and at the Cultural Centre of Palethe at the Belgian photo festival Lens op de Mens in 2019. Events with Nordic experts are part of the festival’s program. The Nordic Village 2020 was hosted in The National Museum’s Summer Yard.
Hans Jørgen Ro (NO)
Saturn Return Saturn orbits the sun every 29.5 years. In modern Western astrology, Saturn is called the “Taskmaster”. Some people believe that as the planet returns to the same constellation it once was at its birth, it would bring darker times. During these dark times, Hans recalls not being able to connect with the outside world. He could not see the world the same way he used to before. All of his senses were amplified to the point where even the softest touch to his face was uncomfortably intense. Other times the artist felt pure emptiness. Situations in which he usually would have thrived, he now observed indifferently. The artist’s only goal was to get better, but at that point he had no idea what was going on. At age of 28, Hans burnt out completely and for the first time in his life, he experienced depression and anxiety. Stories are very important to humans. Our reality is almost entirely constructed by them. Stories help people to cope with complex issues by simplifying them into neat narratives. “Frozen Man” is a character that Hans based on a stranger who died of hypothermia and whom he decided to photograph at the Central Subway Station in Oslo. The artist captured the man’s neat haircut
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and immaculate suit as he was staring into the void surrounded by plain concrete. He seemed small, and in his gaze, Hans saw his own personal crisis unfolding. Whilst encountering depression and anxiety, photography turned out to be more than just a hobby for Hans. The photograph of ‘Frozen Man’ essentially inspired the artist to produce his latest project Saturn Return, in which he revisits his emotional burnout and explores his own problems with anxiety and depression. Saturn Return is a story of what the photographer found. He always trusted that everything will be OK. That trust in the world, and in himself dissolved in the overwhelming tides of his personal burnout. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Hans Jørgen Ro is a student of photography from Oslo, Norway. He is currently enrolled in the Advanced Photography class at Bilder Nordic School of Photography.
