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Exam turned into festival

When UiArtfestival is held at the Theatre in Kristiansand, the public will be able to experience over 100 concerts, theatre performances and art exhibitions. Everything is presented by UiA students who are taking their exams.

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Shan, band bestående av masterstudenter ved UiA, foto
Shan consists of five master’s students from UiA. It is one of the bands playing at this year’s UiArtfestival. Photo: Simen Løvgren.

Text: Ingrid Anthonsen

“This will be cool opportunity for the public to discover lots of new music while we at the same time can introduce our music to even more people,” Johan Bakken says.

He plays keys in the pop rock band Shan who released the debut album “Confessions” in February. The band now looks forward to playing at UiArtfestival, previously known as Eksamensfestivalen. From 22 May to 3 June, music students from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Agder (UiA) will hold their exam concerts at the Theatre in Kristiansand. Over 100 bands and artists are on the programme. The students from the Bachelor's Programme in Theater Education are doing theatrical performances, and exam works from students in the Bachelor´s Programme in Arts and Crafts will be displayed.

“The point is to create a festival context around the exam work. Our students are talented, and here they will get to show the public what they can do,” project leader Øystein Nerland Flemmen says.

The festival is open for everyone, and entry is free.

“This is probably some of the most prepared concerts you can experience since the students performing are in an exam situation. The public can get many quality experiences here,” Nerland Flemmen says.

Øystein Flemmen, prosjektleder for UiArtfestival, portrettfoto

Øystein Flemmen, Project Manager for the UiArt Festival.

Performance anxiety and audience pandering

The pop rock band Shan consists of the master’s students Emilie Bjørnstad (vocals), Johan Bakken (keys), Øyvind Hovde (electric guitar), Ørjan Lægreid (bass guitar) and Marius Hansen (drums). They have been playing together since 2014.

“We found each other through a mutual taste in music. We started composing music together quite early,” Bakken says.

They are excited about the exam concerts they will be playing.

Shan gav ut debutplata i vår, og ser frem til å holde konsert i byen hvor de har base. (Foto: Bruno Gargo)

Shan released their debut record this spring, and looks forward to play in the bands home town. (Photo: Bruno Gargo)

“We are really looking forward to it. Maybe we will even be a little more focused since it is an exam situation,” Lægreid says.

Hansen cannot deny that they might feel a little more performance anxiety than usual.

“Instead of the thinking too much about the examiner, we are going to focus on giving the audience the best possible experience. Luckily, we feel pretty confident in what we do,” he says.

See the full programme here: Programme for UiArtfestival 2018.

A show window for the students

Assistant Professor Tore Bråthen is one the initiators of the festival that has been held for many years.

“From the beginning, the idea was to provide the students with a show window. Everybody will get an opportunity here to be seen by both the public and by people in the industry,” he says. This is why none of the concerts are held at the same time. This requires some logistics.

“The festival has grown a lot over the years. This year, we are holding all events on the theatre’s two scenes rather than spreading the festival out across different places. Hopefully, the events will be packed,” he says.

 

Tore Bråthen, førstelektor UiA, portrettfoto

Tore Bråthen, Assistant Professor and one of the initiators of the festival.