June 2024 / Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation

Vaginal Davis's HOFPFISTEREI continues...

The exhibition Vaginal Davis: HOFPFISTEREI continues at Index this summer, offering time and space to delve into the treasure trove of Ms. Davis’s text material. What’s more, we are pleased to invite visitors to join us to participate in a rich and varied public program that, together with invited guests, perceives the exhibition as a site for research.

Extending throughout the exhibition period, the program creates multiple public moments for conversation, collective investigation and building discourse, with Ms. Davis’s text production as the point of departure.

The first dates of the public program are 14 and 16 June – more information below! The public program continues all summer until the final event on Sunday 1 September with Simon Asencio, which is also the culmination of the summer course Text as an artistic medium.

The public program will be continually updated on Index’ website, with further details to be announced.
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Samuel’s Gay Bar visits HOFPFISTEREI
Friday 14 June, 18:00

Welcome to a special evening when Samuel’s iconic Gay Bar visits Index to spend time with, excavate and put HOFPFISTEREI in relation with Black queer cultural and intellectual production, past and present.

Since its inception, Samuel’s Gay Bar has carved space for Black queer re-existence and joy, albeit on rocky terrain. This text-based gathering-in-a-bar-that-is-an-exhibition-that-is-a-library is inspired by and acts very much in the spirit of Vaginal Davis’s multifaceted practice. Expect music, poetry, thoughts (aka lectures) and maybe sighting of a witch or two. Drink in hand, we’ll be privy to contributions by Black queer folks that centre Black queer resistance, re-existence and everything in between. As Davis herself has said: “Everything that is culturally fascinating and interesting in the world originated in the black queer demimonde[…]”.

With contributions by Ben Camara, Samuel Girma, Mmabatho Thobejane and more tba. For this occasion, expect a newly concocted special drink, courtesy of Samuel’s Gay Bar!
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Mela Dávila Freire: Cruising by the Book - Vaginal Cream Davis’s queer publishing
Sunday 16 June, 16:00

Fanzines and other forms of underground publishing have occupied an important place in the overflowing creative activity of Vaginal Cream Davis since her beginnings, in the 1970s. Between 1972 and 1975, almost before she was involved in music and performance, Davis was already publishing her first fanzine, Dowager.

This talk will review Davis’s publishing practice through its different stages, highlighting its links with other sides of her creative work as well as the different underground contexts in which they circulated, and analysing Davis’ different strategies for giving shape to an underground community through her fanzines, on the one hand, and subverting the standards of mainstream publishing production, on the other.

Mela Dávila Freire is a researcher, curator, writer and translator. Her research focuses on art archives and on the genre of artists’ publications.
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Marti Manen and Isabella Tjäder co-directors of Index Foundation from August 2024!

We are pleased to announce that, in conjunction with his new role as head of CuratorLab at Konstfack, Marti Manen will share the role of co-director of Index with Isabella Tjäder.

From August 2024, Marti Manen will divide his time between Index and Konstfack. From that point on, Isabella Tjäder (currently Curator of Learning and Producer) will take on the new role as co-director, in combination with continuing with curatorial and production work.

Index Foundation’s strength and flexibility is reinforced through its small team. Each person in the current staff is also professionally active as an art worker in another organization or institution – something that we know to be an advantage for the team as a whole. The complementary experiences feed Index Foundation with multiple perspectives, both in institutional ways of working and engaging with publics.

Congratulations to Isabella and Marti!
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Listen: Podcast with ITAB on sound, image, and art spaces, with Josefin Arnell

Index’ newly published podcast relives the conversation between ITAB members and artist Josefin Arnell about sound and image, artistic production, silence in museums and what it means to listen to Wagner while doing your dishes.

The members of Index Teen Advisory Board met Josefin Arnell in front of an audience at Index, amidst her exhibition CRYBABY. In their conversation, they talked about their own experiences relating to art, sharing thoughts and ideas regarding film production and the importance of sound and music in a multilayered reality.

This podcast was made possible through the support of Erasmus+ aktiv Ungdom.

The podcast is now available at Index’ website and on Spotify.
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Midsummer opening hours

Index will be closed over Midsummer, 20–23 June. We will re-open again as normal from Thursday 27 June. For updated opening hours throughout the summer, check the Index website.
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