About
GRAC stands for Grim Residency for Artists and Curators. We facilitate residency programmes in different scopes and formats, for artists and curators working across contemporary art practices. GRAC invites artists and curators from Norway and abroad to the region and connects them with local networks, resources, tradition and expertise. In this exchange, new collaborations, ideas, and long-term relationships are created, benefiting both tourists and the local community.
GRAC’s geographical scope is the entire Agder region. We are based in Kristiansand and Hovden, and work actively to strengthen a cultural and artistic axis stretching from Odderøya in the south, along the Setesdalsveien valley, all the way to Hovden in the north. This geography brings together urban art institutions, rural knowledge systems, nature, craft traditions, music, and performing arts. GRAC’s role is to connect these elements and position Agder as a place for artistic development, production, and exchange.
In Kristiansand, GRAC is located in an old mill in the Grim neighbourhood. This is an area shaped by industrial history and currently undergoing transformation. By establishing a residency programme and public art activities here, we aim to contribute to long-term cultural infrastructure, social sustainability, and accessible meeting places. We believe that art and culture can play an active role in neighbourhood development and in shaping new forms of belonging.
GRAC runs several residency programmes throughout the year, welcoming artists and curators with diverse practices. The residencies provide time and space for research, experimentation, and production, and are always connected to a public dimension, through exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks, workshops, or other forms of engagement.
Advisory board
Erik Pirolt (artist)
Ann Cathrin November Høibo (artist)
Ingrid Michalsen (Kristiansand business association)
Lene Dalgård (Knuden art scool)
Sven Persson (sound technician)
Thank you to our supporters and partners
Kristiansand kommune
Kulturdirektoratet
Agder fylkeskommune
Cultiva stiftelsen
Sør-fondet
Strai kjøkken
Kulturrom
Our Team
Benedikte Olsen
In-house photographer
Benedikte Olsen is a photographer and graphic designer. She documents most events and happenings in GRAC.
Gustav Oliver Gunvaldsen
Creative lead & co-founder
91606067
post.grac@gmail.com
Gustav Gunvaldsen is a visual artist, film maker and expert art handler. In GRAC he is the main sparring partner for all artists and curators in the programme, as well as a master technician (he can make anything happen).
He is a co-founder and researcher at Lab Genalguacil, an artistic laboratory focusing on rural innovation and place-based practices. Gustav was the initiator and organiser of Skogsus, an iconic performance art festival in Kristiansand.He has worked for several years as an art technician for a wide range of artists and art institutions in Norway and internationally. Currently he is working on a self produced feature lenght documentary.
Gustav holds an MFA from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (NTNU) and a BA from Lofoten Art and Film School.
Henriette Wulff
Project manager & co-founder
47374374
post.grac@gmail.com
Henriette is a concept and business developer working across art, culture, urban development, and place identity. She previously worked with strategic organisational development and digital transformation at the Norwegian Police Directorate. Her background includes initiating and developing cultural and place-based projects such as Monument Festival, Lilleborg Torg and 8.2, projects focused on making cultural heritage and craft traditions accessible to broader audiences.
She currently works full-time with projects and operations at GRAC, where she develops long-term cultural infrastructure and cross-disciplinary collaboration in Agder. Henriette is also the founder and managing director of Vinbaren på Mølla, and holds a Master’s degree in Social Entrepreneurship, with a strong commitment to inclusive and socially sustainable cultural initiatives.
Madeleine Noraas
Head of communications & co-founder
99354133
post.grac@gmail.com
Madeleine Noraas is a visual artist and curator based between Basel and Kristiansand. At GRAC, Madeleine works with communication, overall branding, and the coordination of the residency programmes. She is also our in house graphic designer.
Before founding GRAC in 2024, she has been working with curation in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, at the same time as holding her own artistic practice and running a business with partner Henriette. She is also managing the Northern GRAC base together with Torjus, and on her spare time she runs the exhibition space Harteløa in Hovden, the artist food platform Polyamoral and the floral design concept Polyflory.
She holds an MFA from Institute Art Gender Nature in Basel and Malmö Art Academy.
Mari Haaland Andersen
Head Technician
post.grac@gmail.com
Mari Haaland Andersen is an author and poet, and our dedicated everything-guy. She is in charge of buildups together with our creative lead, and holds everything in check.
Martin Besteland
Technician
Martin Besteland is GRACs own carpenter/bee-keeper hybrid. He is in charge of the (soon to be) workshops in GRAC, and keeps us supplied with honey at the same time.
Torjus Løvdal
Technician and Head of Hovden Workshops
Torjus Løvdal is a product designer and wood worker. Torjus runs the northern base of GRAC in Hovden, Setesdal. On the property he is managing a design studio and an extensive wood workshop. He also has his own brand of bespoke wood design products called Fjóm.