The very first beginning

Welcome to Dreamvalley.
The story of the place, where this web documentary takes place, can be traced back to centuries ago – long before it became the beautiful home it is today. Dreamvalley is located in the east of Norway near the small village of Sollia and surrounded by the mountains of Norway's oldest National Park, the Rondane National Park. In the late 18th century, the first farmers settled on the land alongside the river and secured it for farming and keeping animals. Back in the years so-called Nordre Finstad has been inherited by families ever since, longest from the Finstad family. Some of the present buildings are more than 150 years old and clearly show traces of stories from long ago – until the 21st century, when the German artist Tina Mareen Buddeberg bought the farm and wrote new stories there.

In 2009, Tina found a home for herself and her dreams in this little corner of the world. Soon afterwards a herd of wild horses followed. Dreamvalley, a new place was born and embodied Tina's vision of living art. She herself described the farm as “relational artwork” that focuses on the quiet, slow, and timeless interplay between humans, nature and animals. Sadly, Tina's journey with Dreamvalley was cut short when she died unexpectedly of cancer in late 2020. At this point, another story started.

Viviennes way to Dreamvalley

Vivienne first set foot at Dreamvalley in 2018, immediately falling in love with the place: "It felt like coming home." After her first summer as a volunteer, she returned every year to help Tina taking care of the animals and connect with nature and other creative people. Dreamvalley slowly turns into her second home – and soon into her real one. After Tina's death, she takes over the farm, along with all the buildings and animals. At first still indecisive whether she could fulfil this task, she bravely follows in the footsteps of a visionary woman. At the beginning of 2021, as the whole world falls into the first COVID-19 Lockdown, Vivienne starts her biggest adventure that would change her life forever. In March, she sets off alone in her car from Switzerland, all the way up to Norway. On this journey, she does not only bring her own belongings but also her own visions for the place. Under all the external pressure and high expectations she puts on herself, Vivienne tries to find her very unique way. Tina always has been dreaming big and that dream was passed on to Vivienne – who transformed it into her own eventually. Find out how Vivienne experienced this time and how she feels about her dream coming true.