Maritea Dæhlin: A-FI-SA. But it might not be tomorrow

About

For her first solo exhibition, Maritea Dæhlin has created the video installation A-FI-SA , filmed in Longyearbyen and in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, and a series of new works in photography and on mirrors. These explore how ritualistic actions and the body's presence in different landscapes can activate both memories, play and possibilities for healing.

Through language, movement and a multi-channel soundtrack, A-FI-SA opens up for reflection on experiences that are both personal and collective, and that reflect the diversity of the African diaspora. The generational perspective, a thread in Dæhlin's artistry, is woven into the works: the artist, who herself has roots in Norway, Mexico and Cameroon and is a third-generation artist, shares the stage with her daughter, Nina. Together they create situations where bodies and landscapes challenge familiar notions of identity and belonging along a north-south axis.

The exhibition stems from Dæhlin's residency at Artica Svalbard in 2023, a series of dialogues with collaborators in Mexico and Svalbard, and the artist's long-term work on themes such as identity, displacement, and multilingualism. The word afisa , from Medumba, a Bamiléké language in Cameroon, is repeated throughout the work. Its embodied meaning is about how language can activate memories and connections, rather than the semantic value of the word.

The body – both as a site of experience and communication, and as something that is seen, interpreted and judged – runs like a strong current through Dæhlin's practice. She directs, confronts and turns the viewer's gaze, while delicately balancing between stereotypes and identity politics without falling into either. In A-FI-SA. But it might not be tomorrow , landscape, language and body emerge as the three central pivots.

The exhibition is commissioned and supported by the Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, and curated by Liv Brissach. The project is realised with support from Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, regional project funds, the Norwegian Artists' Fund, the Norwegian Sound and Vision Fund, the Norwegian Arts Council, Atelier Nord , Artica Svalbard and the McColl Center.