The Kaviar Factory in DAMNº53:

It is these kind of articles that I like DAMNº for: the initiatives that surprise, that hold hope in a better world, that are started by one or a few people with strange ideas in a strong head. Kaviar Factory is certainly one of these weird but completely sensible projects: probably the most northern art centre in the world. Active since 2012, brought to life by Venke Hoff – together with her husband Rolf, who is amongst the most important collectors in Scandinavia.

When Venke saw the place, she immediately fell in love with this 1950s fish-manufacturing factory and decided to renovate it. “If I would have known on beforehand how hard it would be, I would have never started this,” she says laughing. “I never really had the idea of starting an art centre. It happened spontaneously. It is a typical snowball effect,” she says with a metaphor that suits the environment.

In 2010, Venke organised a pop-up exhibition of the Norwegian graffiti artist Dolk and it was a huge success. Since then, Kaviar Factory brings one exhibition a year. Often – but not exclusively – with works from the couple’s collection, including internationally acclaimed artists like Elmgreen & Dragset, Shirin Neshat, Ai Weiwei and Banks Violette.

DAMNº 53

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