ART AS A DOORWAY TO OPENNESS

The exhibition “To be or not to be” was acquired by the Norwegian Cancer Society and used nationally in their work promoting openness, especially aimed at children and youth who are family members of cancer patients. The exhibition toured the entire country, with its opening in Bergen in 2014 by Secretary General : Anne Lise Ryel. It then visited Stavanger, Kristiansand, Tromsø, Hamar, Trondheim, and Tønsberg. The Cancer Society used the artwork as a gateway to foster openness.

“To be or not to be” makes a profound impact. It depicts growing up with a mother suffering from cancer in the 1970s—a time when cancer and death were taboo topics, kept at arm’s length. The consequences of silence can be fatal, as unresolved grief inevitably resurfaces. Today, healthcare professionals have a legal obligation to ensure that children affected by serious illness in the family receive information and necessary support. The exhibition helped both children and adults open up, enabling the Cancer Society to provide timely and appropriate follow-up care.

Kunstnerportrett   som forteller bakgrunnen for “To be or not to be”

“Filmmakers in the studio at Studio Krekke”

“National Press Coverage:”

Trondheim:

NRK TV Midtnorge. “Live broadcast from the exhibition opening, featuring an interview with Krekke and Secretary-General Anne Lise Ryel.”

NRK Radio Midtnorge.  Direktesendt intervju  med Torill Sæther Krekke og daglig leder i Kreftforeningen i Midtnorge: Eva Faanes.

 

 

 

 

Adresseavisa, 14.4.2016

 

Hamar: 

NRK  TV Hedmark og Oppland. Direktesending fra utstillingsåpning.

NRK TV Hedmark og Oppland: Redgiert versjon i 21 nyhetene.

NRK Radio: 15 min. direktesendt intervju med Torill Sæther Krekke og Anne Lise Ryell.

Tromsø: 

NRK Troms: 15.6 direktesending, intervju med Anne Lise Ryel og Torill Sæther Krekke

ITromsø , Avis: redaksjonell omtale fra åpningen.15.6.2015

Blogger med brystkreft “Altannetennea4” har skrevet en rørende reportasje fra utstillingsåpningen her.

Kristiansand:

Radio Sør i Kristiansand. Radiointervju 9.4 .2015, direktesending, med Anne Lise Ryel og Torill Sæther Krekke

Stavanger:

NRK Rogaland TV-innslag under Nyhetssending  fra utstillingen 12.2.2015

NRK radio P1. Anne Lise Ryel og Torill Sæther Krekke, 12.2.2015, direktesending.

Bergen:

NRK Hordaland  Nyhetsinnslag fra  åpningen i Bergen.

Informasjon om “To be or not to be”  fra Kreftforeningen´s Hovedkontor her.

(September 2014:) The exhibition “To be or not to be” has been acquired nationally by the Norwegian Cancer Society and will be actively used in efforts to promote openness around serious illness, death, and grief work. The exhibition will embark on a nationwide tour, with plans to visit every city where the Cancer Society has offices. The first official opening will be in Bergen. The exhibition will be displayed for two months in each city, during which the Cancer Society will organize numerous themed days for those affected. The themes focus on openness about living close to cancer, death, and active grief processing.

The cities we plan to visit are:

: Stavanger, Kristiansand, Tønsberg, Oslo, Hamar, Bergen, Trondheim og Tromsø. 

“To Be or Not to Be” puts openness about cancer on the agenda—both from the perspective of loved ones and the person affected by cancer.

It depicts a childhood with a mother suffering from cancer at a time when cancer and death were kept at arm’s length.
“My mother died of cancer at 41 years old. While fighting for her own life, she also fought a silent battle in a society unwilling to talk about cancer.

There was no active cancer society at the time (1978) to support the process or the grieving.

Therefore, this was a time when illness, death, and grief were associated with taboo and silence. The exhibition illustrates the thoughts of the 9-year-old child and the terminally ill mother. Even today, many believe that illness and suffering should remain private. I want to promote openness around this. Being so ill that you fear for your life can be lonely, chaotic, and anxiety-inducing. But it can also be lonely for those close to you.

Openness and inclusion in the process of illness and death create understanding, which can be the path out of something difficult. I hope this exhibition can be a door opener for dialogue and meaningful conversations about living close to cancer, death, and especially active grief work.

The exhibition is dedicated to my mother and to all those who live closely with cancer. It is built around the music my parents listened to, as a way to return to my own childhood.

To create powerful art that moves people, one must dare to share oneself and one’s inner life. I have done that, and I believe that is why the exhibition communicates as it does—because what is genuine goes straight to the heart. “To Be or Not to Be” is no longer just about me and my story but about art in a broader perspective. That the exhibition has now been acquired by the Norwegian Cancer Society, become national, and will be shown throughout the country as part of their awareness work around openness—that is something I am both proud and humbled by.
— Torill Sæther Krekke

“Art and music reach into the wordless.” — Anne Vada
“We need art that enhances our ability to think, not reduces it.” — Kjetil Røed, art critic, Aftenposten, 16.2.15

During the exhibition period, the Norwegian Cancer Society organizes themed meetings promoting openness and dialogue around cancer, death, and grief work. Examples include:

1. Children as family members

2. How to talk to children when the sick person can no longer be cured

3. Grief when you know you will lose, or have lost, someone dear to you

4. The exhibition’s target audience includes relatives and bereaved, as well as politicians and healthcare professionals in cancer care.

   See previous interview on NRK.

:  Norwegian Television (NRK) , Lørdagsportrettet i GD og Artikkel i Aftenposten Innsikt 

English: 

The exhibition “To Be or Not to Be” was acquired by the Norwegian Cancer Society in September 2014 and is touring all cities in Norway where the Cancer Society has offices. The purpose of this tour is to use the artwork as a meaningful contribution to important topics such as living with cancer, death, and grief work. I am deeply honored that my art will be part of this vital outreach.

The official opening took place in Bergen in November 2014. Since then, the exhibition has been shown in Stavanger and will open in Kristiansand on April 9th. Following that, it will move to Tromsø, with an official opening on June 15th, led by the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Cancer Society, Anne Lise Ryel.

The tour will visit Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Tønsberg, Oslo, Hamar, Trondheim, and Tromsø.

This exhibition reflects a childhood marked by a mother’s breast cancer and her tragic death at the age of 41—a childhood without the active presence of a mother. It portrays her struggle, despair, frustration, and gradual withdrawal from life, alongside the child’s reflections and desperate need to understand what is happening. So many questions, so few answers.

I also seek to illustrate what it must have been like to be a young mother, battling cancer while knowing she would not be able to actively participate in her children’s lives. The exhibition reveals the powerless thoughts of both the child and her mother during a decade when cancer and death were taboo topics in society.

Accompanying the exhibition is a CD that adds an additional emotional dimension to the paintings.

This exhibition is dedicated to my mother and to all those who face cancer in their lives.