Vågsbunnen Voices

Vågsbunnen has been an area in Bergen marked by substance use for a long time, a place most people avoided. Now, with this street festival and the unveiling of Gitte Sætre’s colorful mural, Vågsbunnen is given a fresh start as a neighborhood in Bergen – filled with art and cultural life for those of us who live here.

On Friday, September 12, Kunsthall 3,14 invited everyone to a street party with the unveiling of an 18-meter-long co-created mural at Nedre Korskirkeallmenningen – made in collaboration with the local communities in Vågsbunnen by Gitte Sætre.

The performance took place the following day and was composed of two parts. One part consists of stories, where storytellers from Vågsbunnen – both from the substance use community and from Korskirken – share their experiences. Then came Bergen folk music, calling back the animals that once roamed here. But now, it is other unpredictable creatures that enter the streets at high speed, intoxicated and with little risk assessment – namely, e-scooters.

Which voices have been heard in Vågsbunnen, which have been overlooked, what is noise, and what is music? By using Vågsbunnen as a starting point, we move the church space out of Korskirken and into the street – with the balcony above Godt Brød as the pulpit – giving the local street pastor and other voices from Vågsbunnen the place they deserve.