ART WITH AND IN COMMUNITIES

With Miriam Andersson Blecher, Johanna Gustafsson Fürst, Sonia Sagan, in conversation with Axel Wieder (Index)

This discussion, taking place in the context of the current exhibition The Promise, will look into the relationship between art institutions and political activism. Drawing on recent examples, the event will discuss projects that elevate the interests and stories of communities, create visibility for social conflicts, and change in some instance the practice of institutions.

Miriam Andersson Blecher is the director of Botkyrka konsthall, where she has been a curator since 2007. As a curator for program and education, her work has focused on topics of contemporary art, pedagogical strategies and participation. Today she also engages with public art in relation to city planning, urban development and local participation. Miriam teaches at the International curatorial program at Stockholm University.

Johanna Gustafsson Fürst is an artist and works in-between self-organized platforms, performances, text, sculptures and site-specific works. Her practice focuses on how everyday life meets political and social systems, and how these merge in objects and spaces. She is currently working on a public assignment in Karlskrona for the Public Art Agency Sweden, where part of the process is to develop methods for working with art in public space in close collaboration with civil society.

Sonia Sagan is an upcoming artist and activist. In 2016 she curated and participated in the exhibition DIN, a norm-breaking collaboration between Orten i Fokus and Botkyrka Konsthall. In The Promise, she has contributed with the installation “SEGA AINA”, a piece custom made for DIN. She is currently studying at Gerlesborgsskolan Stockholm, and creating site-specific installations within the multifaceted art project Satans Demkorati.