Exhibition opening Thursday, April 16, at 6:00 PM.
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In the exhibition Unknown Alphabet Siv Bugge Vatne draws on the enigmatic 15th-century Voynich Manuscript. Written in an undeciphered script, the manuscript has puzzled scholars for centuries. Through meticulous drawing studies and sustained artistic inquiry, Bugge Vatne attempts to construct a new framework for approaching its mysteries. The exhibition presents the outcome of a years-long process aimed at unlocking the manuscript’s visual and linguistic codes.
Drawing as a Tool for Decoding
Since 2019, Siv Bugge Vatne has been using drawing as a primary method for analyzing and decoding the Voynich Manuscript. Part of this original 240-page book is structured as a herbal manuscript, filled with freehand illustrations of plants, diagrams, and apothecary jars alongside roots and botanical fragments. While the project began with the identification of 129 plants, the artist soon realized that the flora alone provided insufficient context to "read" the text. This realization shifted her focus toward the manuscript’s "cosmological" section. Here, she has scrutinized the book's most intricate diagram, which is a complex web connecting abstract and figurative motifs. By copying and scaling up this diagram, she has been able to calibrate and refine her decoding of the mysterious script, resulting in a comprehensive proposal for a forgotten alphabet.
Between Scientific Analysis and Artistic Wondering
With graphite, colored pencil, and ink on various types of paper, Bugge Vatne translates raw data into a tactile, sensory experience. Her work dissolves the boundaries between empirical analysis and artistic interpretation.
The exhibition is structured in two parts that mirror the artist’s methodical approach. In the gallery’s smaller room, nearly 90 pencil drawings are displayed, a collection of 1:1 scale copies of fragments from the original manuscript. In the main gallery space, her most recent investigations are presented. The centerpiece is a monumental 4:1 scale reproduction of the manuscript's fold-out circular diagram. Measuring 180 x 180 cm, this work allows the viewer to be enveloped by a univers of fortress-like structures, waves, and celestial bodies. It offers a rare vantage point to study details, patterns, and connections that remain nearly invisible in the original size.
About Siv Bugge Vatne
Siv Bugge Vatne (1975) is a multidisciplinary artist holding a Master's degree from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHIO), with a specialization in drawing. Bugge Vatne has, amongst others, had exhibitions at the National Museum (Oslo), Kunstnerforbundet, KUBE Art Museum, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, and Sandefjord Kunstforening. She has also developed several significant public art commissions, including the upcoming Tankeplass 2 along the pilgrimage route Pilgrimsleden to Trondheim (2025) and Furuseth Hageby (2023). Bugge Vatne lives and works in Oslo.
The exhibition is supported by the Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, the Arts Council Norway, and Arts and Culture Norway.
Other exhibitions during the period: Masoud Alireza, 56 Million Lines .
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Photo: Francisco Casale.
