They are marked by a fine interplay between the local, the national, and the global. And however different they may be, they share a common goal: a vigorous striving for unity, peace, and humanity. Several of them have – throughout their lives – painfully experienced that this striving has often been difficult to realize, indeed even trampled underfoot.

When an artist has gone all the way to the limit in order to realize an idea, it gives us all an unforgettable experience. That is what art can do, and that is precisely what Copenhagen Contemporary here on Papirøen also seeks to show. In the hall next door you may go in and witness that there is another artist who has gone all the way to the limit – perhaps even beyond: Kiefer, who exhibits his four monumental airplanes in lead. In the same way, they challenge our senses and take us on a journey without our knowing exactly where, but with many possible paths.

In a time of great division within the European project, it is precisely the cross-border cultural exchange and strong artistic projects such as Life-boats that can create cohesion and mutual understanding between peoples. This is something we need – both in political and in commercial terms.

Art is a journey of the mind. Great art sends you on a long voyage, and Marit Benthe Norheim takes you even further. Life-boats is a declaration of love for life – a project which, once the moorings are cast off for its maiden voyage, is born and takes command of its own destiny.

With her art, Marit Benthe Norheim spins a net to capture the human being and give it agency. Art should not exist for its own sake, but move and transform, set conversations and humane processes in motion. Life-boats invite us all on board and make us participants in a project that calls for ethical and moral engagement with our fellow human beings.

LIFE-BOATS can become such spaces for us. They can move and open themselves as forums, as spaces people may not even have realized they were missing. They hold the possibility for all of us to be heard where we are in life. They can allow us to share our longings, our lives, and our memories.

There is an optimism and a strength here that we sorely need after economic crises and cultural depression. The wanderlust of the Nordic people has led to ways of experiencing life beyond simply accumulating in barns, and this art project can be seen as a reflection of the Nordic contribution to our shared European culture – that it is possible to create remarkable societies and cultures based on the Nordic model, politically, socially, and artistically. This project is not ideology in a fixed form, but rather functions in an open and inspirational way. Even in these times, there are alternatives, and this is precisely what we so desperately need.

"The three amazing Life-boats have managed to move and awaken the imagination of all who have seen them gliding into Limfjorden and into the ports around the region. Now, the three boats set on their further journey towards new parts of the country, and we are enthusiastic about taking part in sharing their visionary messages - hope and optimism - with a new audience. With this journey, the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 helps to bring new creative trends in visions for the future," says Programme Director, Juliana Engberg.

Marit Benthe Norheim’s sculptures almost always contain a dual perspective. They are filled with presence, but at the same time they open towards a universal horizon. This duality has in a compelling way been interpreted by Geir Johnson’s music, which is incorporated into many of her works.

"The Life-boats project is positioned at the intersection of ‘creative alliances’ and ‘culture and business collaborations.’ It involves the artist, cultural organizations, the business sector, knowledge institutions, as well as the tourism and experience industries. The strength of Marit Benthe Norheim’s works lies not only in their high artistic quality. Her artistic impact is considerable. Her works move everyone. They open up experiences for all, regardless of age, educational background, or social position."

A Shipload of Women’s Memories: Narratives across Borders is a remarkable and outstanding book, well researched, well written and accessible beyond the narrow circle of academics. I would strongly recommend it not only to students of social sciences or gender studies, feminists and visual artists but to anyone interested in learning about our societies and the ways in which diversity and dialogue can connect us in resisting intolerance, violence and war.

Many of Marit Benthe Norheim’s monumental sculptures are mobile.
It is art that appeals to people in the places where they are, and which tackles existential and humanistic themes which never go out of fashion.

Marit Benthe Norheim’s Life-boats is both a fascinating and an intelligent journey — an open work that unfolds not through an institution but in direct encounter with its audience. It is an appeal, or an invitation, to the child, the viewer, the spectator, the museum, the city, the nation — to step inside and take part.
An elementary, simple, and archaic quality — one we may already have lost in our desire to encompass the entire world.

Her new project Life Boats, presents a natural progression from the beautiful Rolling Angels, work which I also took to the UK in 2000, through the Caravan Women / Campingwome, to a new and vibrant exploration of the moving and iconic female form.

Life-boats want to demonstrate that it is possible - both in everyday life as well as on a holiday - to move around in a CO2-neutral manner. Life-boats can also create a backdrop for local debates and local educational projects about energy, in the places that they travel to. There will also be an opportunity for cross-border discussions and comparisons of energy solutions.

Benthe Norheim creates mythological figures on a large scale. They appear to me to be consciously emotionally laden, which could easily become sentimental, but empathy is juxtaposed against an aesthetic which is dissonant and tortuous.

This is how Marit Benthe Norheim starts a wave of new visions in the world with her highly visionary, but very concrete sculptures.

Marit Benthe Norheim’s Life-boats project is a magnificent artistic vision of how people and regions can be connected. The project crosses borders and creates contact, while also drawing threads back to our past – to the time when the Vikings set out in their ships across Europe’s seas and rivers, bringing Danish goods and customs to distant places and returning with impressions and objects from other cultures.

In my view, it would be natural to attach songs to the boats. The boats will cross borders and create contacts and it is thus important and natural that they be filled with many different kinds of artistic expression. Songs are one of the best shortcuts to creating an understanding of each others’ cultures, which is what the boats meant to do.

Projektet imødekommerIt also addresses the Agreement’s emphasis on children’s culture, as thousands of children in North Jutland and along the European canals will encounter professional art in their everyday lives, participate as cultural bearers and co-creators in a professional artistic process, and at the same time experience North Jutland being highlighted as an open, tolerant, and artistically rich and talented region in Europe. desuden Kulturaftalens satsning på børnekultur i det tusinder af børn i Nord-jylland og langs de europæiske kanaler vil møde professionel kunst i deres hverdag, medvirke som kulturbærere og kulturskabere i en professionel kunstnerisk proces og samtidig synliggøre Nordjylland, som et åbent, tolerant og kunstnerisk rigt talenteret område i Europa.

The aim is to bring people together across religion, culture and gender, high and low alike, to reflect on how we can live with one another in the 21st century – despite, or perhaps because of, our differences.
As a starting point for this conversation, the three ships contain a series of stories.

Life-boats meet a popular need for a renewed focus that celebrates diversity and creativity as the driving forces behind a new, innovative, and sustainable Europe.

LIFE-BOATS symbolize vessels carried by shared dreams, lives, and vital experiences — expressed through a distinctly female perspective on life. They embody fundamental expressions of living and close human connections formed through encounters along Europe’s waterways — with art as their language and an open invitation to contribute to a collective message of peace.

This message is shaped through the exchange of experiences from woman to woman, and from women of all ages to the men and women in the communities the boats visit.

For the Women's Museum, it is of special importance that Marit Benthe Norheim gives voice and visibility to women with her art. Life-boats is an entrepreneurial artistic project, which understands and interprets womanhood on many levels and involves many elements - from the physical structure of the ships to existential reflections on what a woman's life encompasses. Marit Benthe Norheim operates with involvement at many levels, working in space both internally and externally, in solid forms and movement. She communicates, insists and reveals. Her art inspires and demonstrates that one can work in large formats and with awkward themes - and succeed at it.

The women – the ships – are laden
with longing, with life, with memories.
Now they lie here, securely tied:

Both longings, life, and memories.
But the truth is that neither longing, nor memories, nor life itself can be moored.