Bodies We Borrow — From an Idea to Our First Exhibition
12 August 2026
A few months ago, REFRACT existed only as an idea.
Hylja and I wanted to create a platform where queer artists could meet, be seen and present their work on their own terms. A space for art, visibility, collaboration and new perspectives.
That idea became REFRACT – Queer Art Platform.
Since then, things have moved quickly. We have built an organisation from the ground up, created our visual identity and website, applied for funding, connected with artists and organisations, launched our first open call and invited an independent artist jury to take part in the selection process.
And now, that work is becoming something physical.
On 1 September 2026, we open Bodies We Borrow, REFRACT’s first exhibition, at Elsa Laula Renbergs plass in Trondheim.
Bodies We Borrow
Bodies We Borrow explores the relationship between the body, identity and the gaze of others.
Our bodies are never experienced in isolation. They are seen, interpreted, categorised and given meaning by the world around us. At the same time, they can become places for transformation, memory, resistance, vulnerability and self-definition.
The exhibition brings together different queer artistic perspectives and approaches these questions in very different ways.
For us, it has been important that there is no single way of representing queer experience. REFRACT is not about creating one image of what queer art should look like. It is about making room for different voices, practices, identities and experiences to exist alongside one another.
Turning digital works into a physical exhibition
Much of the work behind the exhibition has happened behind the scenes.
Following our open call, the submitted works were reviewed by an independent artist jury. The selected artists then provided high-resolution files of their work, which we have been preparing for production.
The artworks are being printed on large aluminium panels and installed outdoors on exhibition structures at Elsa Laula Renbergs plass.
I love that transformation.
An image that has existed on a screen suddenly becomes something large, physical and public. Something you can encounter while walking through the city, even if you had no intention of visiting an exhibition that day.
That accessibility is an important part of the project.
There is no ticket and no gallery door to walk through. The exhibition exists directly in the public space.
Being both artist and curator
For me personally, this project has also meant moving between different roles.
I am one of the founders of REFRACT and work as a curator on the project, but I am also participating in the exhibition as an artist.
Those two perspectives are very different.
As a curator, I have been thinking about the exhibition as a whole — how different works communicate with each other, how the physical presentation works and how we create space for the artists involved.
As an artist, the questions become much more personal.
My own work often deals with perception, identity and the experience of being seen. Those ideas connect naturally with the themes of Bodies We Borrow, and being part of an exhibition I have also helped build has made the process especially meaningful.
From an idea to something real
One of the strangest things about starting something new is how quickly an idea can begin to feel real.
Not long ago, Hylja and I were simply talking about what we wished existed in Trondheim.
Now there are artists, artworks, exhibition panels, funding, partners, deadlines, production files and an opening date.
There have been countless emails, decisions, spreadsheets, design adjustments and small problems to solve along the way.
But underneath all of that is still the same simple idea we started with:
to create more space for queer art and queer artists.
And on 1 September, we finally get to share the first result.
Bodies We Borrow
Opening: 1 September 2026 at 18:00
Elsa Laula Renbergs plass, Trondheim
The exhibition will remain on view throughout September.
Free and open to everyone.
