Concept

July 22nd Norway was exposed to terror, a young Norwegian native murdered 87 people. There was an immediate response after the attach that felt pure and authentic. We marched with roses, the expressions “more openness”, “more love” to fight terror were expressed repeatedly. After some time the response didn’t feel so authentic to me anymore, it felt more like we were “in love” with our own good reactions … I started to collect articles that scratched what I feel is a polished Norwegian surface. The process led me to the Norwegian philosopher and writer, Lars Fr. H. Svendsen, and his book The Philosophy of evil. I asked if he would be interested in collaborating with me. Cruelty Has a Human Heart began. 

Through text, colors, stitches, and dialogue we examined the theme of evil. The starting point was 84 quotes on the topic gathered by Svendsen from a wide variety of sources – philosophy, religion, litterateur, politics but also perpetrators and victims statements. We traveled to arrange workshops, meeting people of all ages, having conversations about cruelty, while writing the quotes on painted canvas patches.  Later the texts were embroidered.

Exhibitions

Cruelty Has a Human Heart was first shown in the constitutional anniversary exhibition 1814 Revisited in 2014. The embroidered quotes were installed in a free-standing 3 × 6.5 m iron structure that could be tilted. The tilt added a feeling of urgency. Imbalance. The public was invited to touch the work and come close to read the quotes. A pamphlet presented the quotes, their authors and sources, as well as the names of the participants who had written and embroidered them.

At Hå gamle Prestegard in 2015, I installed the quotes hanging freely throughout the room, resembling prayer flags.

After touring for several years, Cruelty Has a Human Heart rested in my studio until 2025, when I showed a selection of the quotes in Bevrende linjer og hjertene våre, my exhibition as festival artist at the Bjørnson Festival in Molde, Norway.

In 2026, Cruelty Has a Human Heart was invited to the Klingspor Museum in Offenbach, Germany. This time I wanted the quotes to form a space that people could walk into, with semi-transparent walls so that people inside and outside remained visible to one another.

Among my husband’s old film equipment, I found the material I was looking for: a black, semi-transparent fabric he had used many years ago to soften the light from his large film lamps. There was exactly enough to make the structure I had imagined: 290 × 240 × 250 cm. The quotes were attached to the fabric walls, on the inside and outside. This made both sides of the embroidery visible. Sometimes the chaos of threads on the reverse side tells a story too.

Two new quotes were added in 2026. One of them from Donald Trump. But I could not let him have the last word. The final quote embroidered for the work was by Václav Havel. About hope.

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Quotes and sources to the exhibition in Klingspor museum (pdf)

Dialogue tour

For two years Cruelty has a Human Heart went on a “dialogue tour” to a selection of public spaces, to reach people outside the art sphere and start conversations about the topic framed by the different venue’s context.  The theme was addressed through a program of conversations, talks, discussions, writing and drawing workshops. 

• Six public libraries 

• Oslo Cathedral

• Moss Church

• Oslo MET university

• Ullersmo and Ila High Security prison

• Hå asylum reception center.

The book: Cruelty has a Human Heart

The quotes and images of embroidered patches, process of making, reflections became a book. Published by Grapefruit publishing, 2014. Availabale on request to lisebjorne@mac.com

Support

The project, its dialogue tour and book have been generously supported by Akershus Art Center, Vederlagsfondet, Stiftelsen Fritt Ord (Freedom of speech), Art Council and Ministry of Culture, Norway.