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Vardø Restored - Everything is a Story

Vardø Restored is an urban development project that aims at revitalising the built heritage of one of Norway’s northernmost towns. After decades of decline, there is a new optimism, and new lights in the old windows.

By Ivan Brodey
Published 15 Dec, 2015
 
Vardø. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Vardø.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Storehouses built between 1840 and 1900, some of the oldest harbour structures in Finnmark. The largest one houses the Pomor Museum, which documents the trade contacts between Northern Norway and Northern Russia from the 1600s to 1917.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Vardø in flames. The Russians bombed the town in 1944.
Photo: Varanger Museum

Vardø after the war.
Photo: Varanger Museum

Map showing the number of buildings remaining after the scorching of Finnmark in the Second World War.
Ill: Vardø Restored/Varanger museum

Postwar reconstruction building housing Bjørn Bangsund’s shop. The building was repaired in collaboration with Vardø Restored.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Bjørn Bangsund runs one of the few shops in Strandgata, a main street completely rebuilt after the 1944 bombing.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

From Strandgata. Alexander Rottem (left) and Eirik Daugaard clearing snow. The house in the background is being refurbished as part of Vardø Restored.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

The buildings housing the seafood section of Vardø secondary school have been refurbished in collaboration with Vardø Restored. Local fishermen have storehouses and moorings along the adjacent quays.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

The North Pole Pub has been open since the 1860s and is the oldest pub in the north of Norway.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Bjørn Bredesen, the owner of the North Pole Pub. He hopes to refurbish the upstairs guest rooms and restore the pub to its former glory as an inn.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Grand Hotel, built 1912-14, occupied during the war as a hospital and police headquarters, now being restored for use as business premises.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Bjørn Bertheussen in the hotel staircase with his daughter Maria Bertheussen Skrydstrup and granddaughter Cornelia Linn Skrydstrup.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Husegården, the last remaining complete townhouse from the Pomor period, was built around 1860. It is in the course of restoration and houses local cultural businesses.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Heidi Kvernevik, the driving force behind the restoration of Husegården.
Photo: Vardø Restored/Varanger Museum

Svein Harald Holmen, project manager for Vardø Restored, in the door of his office at the restored Husegården.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

Rasmus Skrydstrup is the craftsman of Vardø Restored, on loan from the restoration workshops of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
Photo: Vardø Restored/Varanger Museum

From Komafest 2012. My Sores. My Scars. My Years. Artist Atle Østrem.
Photo: Ian Cox

Komafest 2012. Whale skeleton on warehouse in Vardø harbour. Free hand painting by the artist Roa from Belgium.
Photo: Ian Cox

Roa.
Photo: Ian Cox

Komafest 2012. Quote from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick on stockfish warehouse at the edge of town. Artist E.B. Itso from Denmark.
Photo: Ian Cox

Komafest 2012. From the western quay. Artist Ken Sortais, France.
Photo: Ian Cox

Komafest 2012. Mural at the boatyard, northern harbour. Artist Conor Harrington, Ireland.
Photo: Ian Cox

The old cinema was restored and opened during Komafest. Artist Husk Mit Navn, Denmark.
Photo: IHA

Ida Pernille Ulle clearing out the old cinema.
Photo: Vardø Restored/Varanger Museum

From the opening show.
Photo: Ian Cox

Cod is the basis for a lot of Norway’s wealth and culture. Artist Stephen Powers, USA.
Photo: Ian Cox

Tor-Emil Sivertsen, chef at Vardø Hotel, takes cod seriously.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

From Kristian 4.s gate. Polish artist Vhils made the image, based on an old photo of a local fisherman, by chipping away the painted render. Photo: Ian Cox

From Blood Bank, pilot project for Komafest 2016. Exhibition of an art project where townspeople made drawings and paintings. Komafest 2016 will focus on empty shops along the Vardø main street.
Photo: Nima Taheri

Blood Bank. Svein Harald Holmen from Vardø Restored.
Photo: Nima Taheri

Blood Bank. Lila Amundsen.
Photo: Nima Taheri

Blood Bank.
Photo: Nima Taheri

Blood Bank. From the opening. Red carpet.
Photo: Nima Taheri

Blood Bank. From the opening. Photo: Nima Taheri

From the Vardø harbour. Street art by Pøbel, Norway.
Photo: Ivan Brodey

The removal bus, that used to assist people leaving the town, was parked for good during Komafest. Artist Pøbel, Norway.
Photo: Pøbel

Vardø Restored

Vardø is unique within the Finnmark region, being the only town in this Arctic county with a coherent set of pre-war buildings; almost all other buildings in Finnmark were ruined by the Germans’ scorched earth policy.

In the years following the war, Vardø lacked any clear city planning strategies, and the historical buildings were poorly maintained. After decades of dilapidation, many of the inhabitants, as well as the local authorities, seemed to think it better to tear the structures down.

But then something changed.

The driving forces behind the Vardø Restored project are local people who wish to alter the future of their town and their region. As the buildings are being restored, new businesses are emerging and old businesses are being brought back to life. And through this work, local pride and optimism towards the future is being restored as well.

Komafest

During the summer of 2012, a multi-national team of twelve street artists descended on Vardø and spread out across its streets, turning the decaying façades and abandoned factories into substrates for their work. The result was a colourful spectacle that turned the town into a destination for street art aficionados the world over.

The stunt was an art project, Komafest, intended to wake the houses of Vardø from their coma.

Komafest 2016 will take place in the empty shops of Vardø’s main street.

Facts:

Vardø Restored:
The main aim of the project has been to develop a national model for local development based on cultural heritage in commercial ownership. Buildings are restored in collaboration with the owners, with the aim of supporting their commercial activities. The restoration works are financed by the owners themselves, with support from the Norwegian Foundation for Cultural Heritage, The Uni Foundation, the Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Norwegian Cultural Heritage.
Project owner: Varanger Museum
Project period: 2012-2016 Project partners: Varanger museum IKS, Vardø Municipality, Finnmark County, the Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Nidaros Cathedral Restoration Works, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Future North, the Agencies for Coastal Culture, National Fortifications and the Norwegian Foundation for Cultural Heritage Project managers: Svein Harald Holmen and Monica Dahl
Craftsmen: Rasmus Skrydstrup and Kjell Odin Larsen
Architects: Ingrid Vedeler Brekkhus and Mats Kemppe Johansen

www.vardorestored.com

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Komafest:
Komafest was initiated and organised by street artist Pøbel and the North Norwegian Art Center, with support from the Art Center and KORO (Public Art Norway), ROM for kunst og arkitektur, Vardø Innovasjon, Varanger Museum and Vardø Restored.
Participating artists in 2012:
Pøbel (NO)
Horfe (FR)
Remed (FR)
Ken Sortais (FR)
Ethos (BR)
Roa (BE)
Vhils (PO)
E.B Itso (DK)
Stephen Powers (USA)
Atle Østrem (NO)
Husk Mit Navn (DK)
Conor Harrington (IE)

www.komafest.com

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