Marita Isobel Solberg from Kåfjord, Norway, is a versatile musician and artist who mixes elements of Sami and northern culture and subcultures in her work.
Marita Isobel Solberg grew up in Manndalen in northern Troms, a village where Sami, Kven and Norwegian have lived side by side, and where the Riddu Riđđu festival has been a meeting place for different cultures from all over the world for decades.
This is reflected in her music, performances, installations, images and videos. By mixing elements from Sami, northern and subcultures, she conveys stories, sounds, smells, encounters and clashes between people and places. Her art has been described as burlesque, expressive, sarcastic and ecstatic.
Challenging the audience
Growing up in Kåfjord, Solberg became familiar at an early age with materials and objects associated with nature, crafts/duodji and seasonal work. She learnt to draw, paint, knit, weave, sketch and work with wood as a material at an early age. In her work she uses materials such as wool, clay, water, dough, clay, moss, and interspersed with images, sounds, light, videos and stories, she creates powerful, lush installations.
Performance is an important part of Solberg's work. With a strong presence, she expresses herself through movement, smells, sounds and song, challenging her audience to listen, smell, reflect and explore.
Solberg herself says that she works in the borderland between art, life and science. She wants to take her audience on a journey into an imaginative, philosophical and metaphorically charged world, where one can explore one's innermost self and fantasise about relationships, nature and bodily functions.
Even though I'm very much «here and now», I'm constantly on the move, at the start, on my way to new challenges, new projects, new people and new ideas. And that's how I really want to keep going until I die.
Marita Isobel Solberg, detduser.no
Different musical genres
Solberg started taking singing lessons at the age of 7 and has explored many different musical genres, including pop, rock, jazz and soul. Mara & The Inner Strangeness has been Solberg's pet project, a concept with music, installations, performances and art. The band toured both at home and abroad to good reviews, and released both an EP and the album Red Sounds Whisper.
Today Solberg is touring with the band MmmMaras. The band creates new experimental pop by exploring soundscapes and visual effects.
National and international assignments
Solberg holds a master's degree from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2007). She is based in Tromsø, but is constantly on the move, at home and abroad, to perform and seek inspiration. Encounters with different people, cultures, dialogues and discussions are the most important things we can do with our time, according to Solberg: The Watermill Center in NY (Robert Wilson), Art & Life Institute in Kingston, New York, Fordypningsrommet in Fleinvær (2017) and Pushkinskaya. 10 Art Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, are just some of the places she has performed. In recent years, she has had several assignments in the region, including as director and performance artist for Sámi Dáiddamusea (2017), curated by Jérémie McGowan for Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum. On the basis of this, the museum received the Museum of the Year award this year.
All the while she was going round the room, looking the spectators and musicians in the eyes, seemingly in her own world, acting out her emotions. Her presence and her voice, sometimes a cry, sometimes a murmur, always intense, were filling the place, creating the sound and the silence. Her way of singing, so powerful and free, reminded us of Björk's...
Manon Courtax
More about Marita Isobel Solberg
Marita Isobel Solberg's website
Marita Isobel Solberg, detduser.no
In a parallel reality, sdmx.no
About Marita Isobel Solberg, Nordnorsk kunstsenter
Seven chaps: Marita Isobel Solberg, thewillhelmsen.com
Will publish Tromsø's rock history, itromso.no
Facts about Marita Isobel Solberg
- Visual artist, musician, performance artist
- Born in 1977
- From Manndalen in Kåfjord, living in Tromsø
- Master's degree from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (2007)
- Tours in Norway and abroad. Marita Solberg's CV
- Releases:
“In dark places” Mara & The Inner Strangeness, 2011
Album: “Red sounds whisper”, 2012
