Saga Night

When Marianne Heier donated her installation Saga Night to the Maihaugen open-air museum in Lillehammer in 2008, her intention was for the work to be displayed in the same way as the other heritage buildings and cultural artefacts there. This photograph documents the installation: a paved stretch of road that begins in the curve that corresponds to the year 1968 in Maihaugen’s chronologically ordered exhibition.

1968 was the year when oil was first discovered on the Norwegian continental shelf, and marks the beginning of an oil boom (known as “the oil fairytale”) that increased the standard of living and spurred economic growth. In her inaugural speech, Heier explained why she wanted to update the permanent exhibition at Maihaugen: “When I grew up during the seventies, the roads were of course not gravelled [as they are at Maihaugen], but were paved with a fresh, solid asphalt covering in line with modern, effective standards. … This was the seventies – there was no lack of money for things like that in Norway!” Heier, who on several occasions has used gift-giving as an artistic strategy, provided Maihaugen with a way to interpret cultural history, one that is not without critical connotations. Saga Night, whose title evokes both the Norwegian oil company Saga Petroleum and a memorable line in the Norwegian national anthem, prompts us to query how the museum represents modern Norwegian culture and oil-driven prosperity. How likely is it that homes from the 1970s and on are flanked by gravel roads rather than paved roads? Gravel roads serve perhaps to make the exhibition setting more idyllic, but shall nostalgia really count for more than accuracy when history is being presented? Saga Night is similar to other projects where Heier examines institutions in a critical light.