Karl-Erik Haar shows thirty photographs and hopes the ancestors of the Sahel will be remembered in history books – NRK Trøndelag

– This was a secret to myself. But now people can come and see what I dreamed of, what I thought and what I did to show the lives of heroes, says artist Carl Eric Haar.

Those he calls a heroic people are the ancestors of many Norwegians along the coast.

– I think this is a little too exposed. I have grandchildren, Har says, and they don’t know much about this here.

Drawing assistance by the author

Haar believes it is time that the daily lives of those who lived and struggled to survive along the Norwegian coast became better known.

The author Johann Boger is one of those who described in detail what the days could be for those who had to leave their wives and children for months, to search for happiness at sea.

From January to April, fishing for Lofoten cod in Nordland is a mainstay of many families’ lives all the way from central Norway to the north.

This has been the case in Norway for several hundred years.

And when the men left, the women had to look after the houses, the livestock, and the farms alone.

– It is the women who rule after the men’s departure, says Harr.

In the new panels, Harr spends a lot of time communicating this entire part of Norwegian history.

A security mission for hot

The Museum of Coastal Heritage in Trondelag contains one of the country’s largest collections of old traditional wooden boats.

Several boats were used on the long journey between Trøndelag and Lofoten.

This year, it’s been 150 years since Johann Boger’s birth, and last year the museum asked Haar if he wanted to display portraits in the museum on Boger’s anniversary.

I finally had the chance to achieve what I wanted most. And it’s the great drama about our past here and here and north. It’s simply a wish-thinking task, Har says.

The exhibition was called “People by the Sea – A Tribute to Johann Buger”.

The artist spent a lot of time making the pictures original. They agree with history and reality.

– He managed to create an understanding with what he expresses in his paintings that is difficult to achieve in another way. It’s not true, but they create a picture of life that makes us able to understand more of what it was like, says the Director of the Coastal Heritage Museum, Ambassador Lovely.

Born in Kafjord

Haar was born in Kefjord in Troms in 1940 and grew up in Harstad.

He is an illustrator, illustrator, graphic artist, illustrator, art writer and social critic.

He now lives both in Oslo and in Kjerringøy in Nordland.

Lovely thinks Har’s background has a lot to say because the photos are as expressive as they are.

– What we and Haar show us until 1920, when the canoe began to take over more. Not long. This is a hundred years ago. And the life they lived then, compared to what we have today, we can hardly comprehend. It’s an entirely different story, says Lovely.

He believes that it is important that the daily lives of ancestors along the coast be communicated and remembered.

– It’s not a matter of course per se. Coastal history in relation to peasant culture is probably not told in Norwegian history. It was a hard life, not just for those who were there. But also for those left at home.

Neighboring boats with paintings

Harr’s photographs are now displayed next to the museum’s boats.

The artist thinks this is like his pictures coming home.

The most beautiful museum I know is the house of Nikolai Astrop in the West. For example, the Espolin Johnson Museum in Lofoten. Small museums that you can enjoy and get close to things. And now I want to make this museum here in Risa an intimate museum where you can go and look at these pictures this summer, says Har.

Gunhild Reykstad is one of those who have visited and seen the exhibition of boats and paintings.

– I realized Bojer’s stories with The Last Viking, and I thought that was cool. The book somehow returned to the stories. It was fun to watch, and I feel like reading it again, says Reykstad.