Bjørn Melhus's Homesick Video Installation Opens in Former Umbrian Knitwear Factory
On September 27, 2025, the immersive video installation titled Homesick by German artist Bjørn Melhus, born in 1966 in Kirchheim unter Teck, was launched at Operanova in Umbria. This piece, which was developed during the pandemic and finalized while Melhus was battling COVID-19, explores feelings of isolation such as fear, loneliness, and mental stagnation. It incorporates audio and visual elements from films related to the pandemic and alludes to Albert Camus's The Plague, highlighting societal reactions to health emergencies. Operanova, established by artist Pietro Fortuna in 1950 in Padua, occupies the former Maglificio Vigna and includes Melhus's studio, a library, workshops, and exhibition spaces, fostering an immersive critique of media's influence on our perception of reality during the pandemic.
Key facts
- Bjørn Melhus's immersive video installation Homesick opened at Operanova in Umbria on September 27, 2025.
- The work was conceived during the pandemic and completed while Melhus was infected with COVID-19.
- Homesick is a looped video installation described as a 'psychogram' of lockdown emotions.
- Melhus researched pandemic and disaster films, incorporating sound and visual fragments as dissonant citations.
- The installation references Albert Camus's The Plague to underscore cyclical social responses to health crises.
- Operanova is a converted former knitwear factory (Maglificio Vigna) spanning 1,500 square meters.
- The space was founded by artist Pietro Fortuna and includes Melhus's studio, archive, library, workshop, and exhibition areas.
- Melhus studied at HBK Braunschweig and CalArts with a DAAD scholarship, and has worked in Japan, Mexico, and New York.
Entities
Artists
- Bjørn Melhus
- Pietro Fortuna
- Albert Camus
Institutions
- Operanova
- Maglificio Vigna
- HBK Braunschweig
- CalArts
- DAAD
Locations
- Umbria
- Lake Bolsena
- Orvieto
- Kirchheim unter Teck
- Germany
- California
- Japan
- Mexico
- New York