The civilian airport and military air base (which share a runway) have been central to Bodø’s development ever since World War II. In total, civilian and military aviation facilities have occupied approximately half of the Bodø Peninsula. At the same time, these areas have been almost hermetically sealed off from Bodø’s inhabitants for nearly three generations. The ‘Forbidden City’ of Hernes is thus an area that only a tiny number of Bodø’s inhabitants know from the inside. In addition to the airport and the NATO air base, there is a beautiful natural landscape that provides valuable natural habitats, including for a number of Red-Listed species. But there is little collective history associated with this landscape. In general, few people are aware of the existence of this natural landscape, with its staging sites for migratory birds, cloudberry bogs, reindeer pasture, 39 farms and beaches.

Now this enormous area, which has been shut off from the local community for several generations, will once again become accessible when the current airport closes in 2029. How do we create a sense of public enthusiasm and ownership in this new district, when this area has been forbidden territory for so long? How do we create visions for the future of an area that is unfamiliar and that has fallen out of our collective consciousness?

Through the Forbidden City project, local artists have been invited to explore relationships between culture and nature, planes and birds, and how these have changed during periods of wetland cultivation, grazing, arable farming, the building of an airport, and then military activity. The artists’ photographs, drawings, audio works, stories and perspectives will give Bodø’s residents a slightly different perspective on the new district of Hernes and the planning processes that are now powering ahead.

All the artists involved work in areas of overlap between artistic and documentary practices and will attract local and regional audiences. The artists have had opportunities to work on the project over a period of time, even though access to military zones has been restricted.