(Norway)

Vebjørg Hagene Thoe lives in the Lofoten islands, where she has her art studio and a gallery in Stamsund. She was educated at the art academy in Krakow, Poland, specializing in textile art, but she also works with other materials, often collaborating with composers and musicians. Having a background from Africa, Hagene Thoe has engaged herself in the situation for refugees in Norway, where she and her colleague Grethe Winther-Svendsen  have held art courses for immigrant women. With support from the National Council of Arts they have performed research in the field of young people's art expressions, offering new methods to reach them.
She has received national grants and prizes, and her works are present in many public buildings. The tapestries and installations have been shown in festivals and biennales in several foreign countries.
Being active in various art organizations, she startet an association  for art schools in Norway, where international cooperation was important. She was a board member of the national art union NBK, and afterwards she established an artist house with a residency programme in Lofoten together with the community. Her last international commitment was on the board for Tanzania Culture Trust Fund, as the representative for the donor countries.
At the ZKU she is doing research for her "Diamond Hunt"  project, about colonialism and culture in Africa. She also works together with Grethe Winther-Svendsen- the other half of the artist group "The Lofoten Ladies."

This residency is made possible thanks to ArtBase Helgeland 66°N