MARIUS MOLDVAER

Å Leia, rettleia eller villeia.

To follow, guide or lead astray, is a very rough translation of a rather poetic norwegian title of the essay that tries to tackle the question of creative work with and by people with differently abled bodies, and neurodivergent. The essay is takes as its starting point my experience and current position as the coordinator of the art department at Aurora Verksted, a workplace for different neurodivergent and different abled bodied people.

Aurora Verksted SA is a private, social cooperative that was founded in 1987 by Trine Dreyer that provides a workplace for people with different abled bodies and the neurodiverse. From the very beginning Aurora Verksted SA was founded on the belief that to provide people with a meaningful job, and a place for creative output, is also a possible solution to converse and solve a series of both social and societal problems. At Aurora Verksted we believe that by providing meaningful work, where we all collaborate through discussion, design and production, we create a community that teaches everyone involved how to collaborate, see, and understand each other, and the value of each persons very own outlook on life.

Since the beginning there has always been a department at Aurora Verksted SA that focuses on visual art, where unlike the departments of textile, ceramics and knitting, there is not a focus on production, but the focus is wholly and solely on each individuals own unique artistic expression. We work within a studio setting, where each artist formulates their own set of questions, own set of expressions, where we also guide and help them when it comes to techniques, questions, and doubts. Many of our colleagues have never been able to freely express their thoughts visually, and often not at all, and in the cases where they have, they have not been taken seriously, as an expression of a world view, a specific way of telling a truth about an experience of living, and making that is wholly unique and gives grounds for further conversation and understanding. At the department of art, there is no «right» way of making and thinking, it is only your way of making and expressing, which leads to the department having a series of group discussions, collaborations between artists, and the whole process is shaped by the group as a whole, where each individual creates and formulates their own set of artistic tools, expressions, and artworks.

The essay was published in SOR-Rapport, a magazine published by the SOR Foundation that focuses on human rights, quality of life and questions for and concerning the differently abled and neurodivergent community. For this issue of SOR-Rapport Aurora Verksted was able to present their philosophy and working methods by being given the whole issue to focus on the different departments and their way of working.

Download the full essay here: Å Leia, rettleia eller villeia. (Norwegian Only)