IBA Stage: MOMENTUM 13, Nordic Biennale of Contemporary Art – Jacob Kirkegaard

Jacob Kirkegaard. Photo by: Nadja Mattioli.

IBA Stage: MOMENTUM Biennale
September 15, 2025 (Monday)
2:00 PM (Oslo/GMT+2)
https://momentum.no/momentum-13/

As part of our introduction to the upcoming IBA Stage event dedicated to the 13th MOMENTUM – Nordic Biennale of Contemporary Art, we are pleased to present Jacob Kirkegaard, one of the participating artists in this year’s edition.

Born in Denmark in 1975, Kirkegaard has dedicated his practice to listening closely to environments and conditions that are often unnoticed, inaccessible, or difficult to approach. His sound works have engaged with subjects as wide-ranging as radioactivity in Chernobyl, melting ice in the Arctic, border walls, global waste management systems, and the processes surrounding death. Since 2006, he has also extensively researched and composed works from otoacoustic emissions, sounds generated within the human ear itself. At the core of his artistic method lies a commitment to recording and revealing the tangible presence of the intangible.

For MOMENTUM 13, Kirkegaard presents The Grey Zone (NeverWhere) (2025), a sound installation situated in the forest. The work combines recordings of a radioactive swimming pool inside the Zone of Alienation in Chernobyl with the natural sounds of the forest. The dripping water captured within this radioactive site is played back through speakers hidden in trees along a natural pathway, creating a dialogue between two seemingly disparate ecologies. The work is a tribute to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris, evoking its themes of altered perception, layered realities, and the porous boundary between human consciousness and the environment.

In addition to this installation, Kirkegaard also presents PERMANENT CLOUD, a concert that captures the sound of humanity’s rapidly growing digital memory. Recorded with sensors placed directly on the servers of a massive German data center, the piece transforms the vibrations and hums of “the Cloud” into a resonant sonic experience.

At this year’s IBA Stage, Kirkegaard will join MOMENTUM Director Lise Pennington to discuss how sound as a medium resonates across the artistic and curatorial dimensions of Between/Worlds: Resonant Ecologies.

Join us on September 15 at 2PM Oslo time (GMT+2) for this live conversation. As always, IBA Stage events are designed as a moment to hear about biennials through their makers and participants, and to join the discussion through a Q&A at the end of the session.

Stay tuned for more news from us on this IBA Stage event, and keep following our channels for updates on biennials worldwide.

To register to the event follow this link.