The Culvert
Places We Meet - Art in Public Spaces

Stavanger, 2025-2026

The culvert is a distinctive transitional space that, throughout the development of the art plan of Places We Meet - Art in Public Spaces, has often been referred to as a “nonplace” – a space one passes through rather than seeks out. The anthropologist Marc Augé introduced the concept of the nonplace (non-lieu) to describe spaces shaped by the infrastructure and mobility of modernity, which lack the relationships, histories, and identities typically associated with “places.” These spaces are functional but often relationally and emotionally empty. They do not necessarily create meaning or community, but enable flow, transport, and efficiency. Yet such spaces can be reactivated through artistic and social interventions and gain new significance.

In this context, the culvert can be understood as a functional junction with great potential – a place that, through an artistic intervention, can be transformed from something one merely passes through into something one actually experiences and remembers. The culvert is a green, open area that many cycle through between Våland and Mosvannsparken, located just above the motorway. The area can be described as a meeting point between city and nature – a junction where infrastructure, landscape, human movement, and protected birdlife intersect. The Culvert functions both as part of an important recreational route and as a gateway to the city.

We aim to initiate a permanent artwork for the site that can activate it – while taking into account the site’s complex character. This can be seen as a first, essential step toward creating a sense of belonging and giving the area a new identity over time. The art project could, for example, strengthen the connection between nature and city through approaches related to ecology, biodiversity, rhythm, and movement. We are seeking proposals that challenge and engage with the existing landscape and architecture, and that can make a place of significance – both physically and experientially.

The artist or artist group will be selected through an open prequalification process. The open call will be available to all professional artists and artist groups and will be announced across the Nordics. Interested artists must submit a CV, documentation of relevant reference projects, and a brief statement of motivation for participation. Based on this material, four candidates will be selected to participate in a closed, paid sketch competition. In evaluating the sketches, emphasis will be placed on the artists’ ability to recognize and respond to the site’s qualities and challenges. The sketch proposals will be evaluated by the municipal art committee. The goal is to enter a contract with the selected artist or artist group in the spring of 2026.

The Culvert is a permanent project alongside The Axis.