Since graduating from the bachelor program in scenography at Norwegian Theatre Academy in 2016, Mari har been busy with performances, exhibitions and installations. Looking back she says NTA made a huge impact on her development as an artist.
“NTA is totally a bubble, but it has
branches to all over the world.”
Mari Lassen Kamsvaag, former BA Scenography student
Why did you choose to apply for the bachelor program in scenography at Norwegian Theatre Academy (NTA)?
- I wanted to go to a place where I could learn to get stronger in my own artistic voice. I had a feeling that too much of the artistic field was influenced by a pressure to adapt to a trend or to an economic market. I had a tiny voice inside me telling me the small stuff is important, I wanted to learn how to listen closer and to stick with what I felt was important. Most of all I wanted to study at a place where sharing with generosity was encouraged. I had the impression that at NTA so many different voices met, and it was not a competition in who was the best, but an aim to give space for the diversities to experiment in a multitude of ways. After three years of studying I was mind blown just how wide these values could go, and how magical and challenging it could be to stand in this vulnerable and free space.
I remember a good friend said, when we were working together with the application tasks, that this study programme (BA in Scenography) was for getting tools to be good on the bad days. It is easy to be good on a good day, but how to stand in the trouble, how dare to fail and how to be a good collaborator when the dark days come?
How did you learn about NTA?
- I first heard about NTA when I studied at Prosjektskolen in Oslo, and from friends and colleagues. It kept coming up from totally different people. I applied twice, the first time I got the rejected, but after that I just wanted to come back. I tried again next year, more prepared. I talked to students at NTA, saw some student performances, and tried to figure out what my interests were so that I could better communicate that to the admission jury. This I have figured out later, is a very useful and essential tool in collaborations in general.
“In this tiny Norwegian town people from all over the world, both students and professors, meet to share making weird performative art together. It is beautiful.”
Mari Lassen Kamsvaag
How did you experience being a scenography student at NTA?
- It was like being inside a tornado, being in constant motion, and then figuring out I could actually choose to grab onto things when I wanted and just float in the storm when needed. We got bombarded with so many different workshops, different people, different places, different impressions, and didn't have time to digest. We would just have to let everything happen, and then try to make sense of it after some time. It was an immensely rich experience.
Can you describe the international profile of NTA – from a student perspective?
- In this tiny Norwegian town people from all over the world, both students and professors, meet to share making weird performative art together. It is beautiful. The students also get to travel a lot, from the biggest visual arts venue in Berlin to the crude conditions in a light house. It is just so humbling what opportunities the students are given, and are allowed to play around in. My god, just crazy! NTA is totally a bubble, but it has branches to all over the world. What this diverse environment creates is so plentiful and hard to put into words, but meeting people with different stories is one of the most important things to do in life.
What is your work experience since graduating from NTA?
- Right after graduating I was part of Robert Wilson´s production "Edda" at Det Norske Teatret (and touring to Århus and Reykjavik) as Serge von Arx’s scenography assistant, which was an incredible journey of formation in itself! I have had several productions at Ålborg Teater. I have established the performing arts group Vandrefrank together with three others, among one that I studied together with at NTA, Desiree Bøgh Vaksdal. We have produced our show «det er ein fest inne i sola og alle er inviterte», and are planning our next project. I am part og the duo Propaganda Machine together with another colleague from NTA, Katrine Leth Nilsen, and we have dived into the performativity of micro plastics, and are showing a performance and installation in 2023, also together with NTA alumnis Kaja Egeberg and Anders Tougaard. I have had show a Blackbox theatre in Oslo with Cecilie and Julie Solberg. And after moving outside of the city I am collaborating a lot with the Art centre Fossekleiva, in Drammen kommune. In general I have worked at institutional theatres, had exhibitions with sculptures and miniatures, produced my own artistic projects, worked with both scenography and costumes, in theatre and for concerts, still finding time for experimenting and diving into the unknown. And I have had a kid, and figured out it is totally possible to combine family life and artistic life.
As an alumni, how are the things you learned at NTA useful to you?
- It is not just useful, studying at NTA has definitely impacted my perspective on so many levels. How I view art, but also how I connect my artistic work and everyday life, and the world, you know, the Norwegian privileged pond, at the same time that it is an urge for plurality and experimenting in this country as well. I think I have learned something about relating, which just gives me a different way of moving around in the world in every aspect. I believe I think at least twice a week about how grateful I am for that NTA experience. I also believe that almost every job I have had since then can somehow easily be traced back to the NTA environment. But most of all I have a much wider perspective on the "scenographic toolbox", material language, and on collaboration.
Why would you recommend others to apply for this study programme?
- It is not for everyone to study here, but for those who want this, they should really try the application tasks and the entrance exams. Then you will know if you are up for this challenge or want another one. So I do recommend you to find out if you want this, talk to previous students and definitely attend some student performances. If you really want to study here, you got this! For me it was about finding my own voice through uncovering how to relate to the world around me in a deeper way and developing my own material language, and it turned out to be SO much more!
Application deadline for the BA Scenography programme is March 1 this year.
Read more about the programme and how to happly.