Ten art projects in Småland this summer

For Konstfrämjandet Småland, which is the main organizer of the Småland Triennale, it is of great importance that more professional artists can and want to live and work in Småland and contribute to a vibrant, experimental, and close-knit art scene. In preparation for summer 2024, we announced an Open Call for site-specific and public projects, works, exhibitions, and residencies. Art projects that have an outward-looking and knowledge-sharing focus, as well as local collaboration and/or a public program, were prioritized.

Within the framework of the Open Call summer 2024, the following projects/events will take place:

The Cradle of Fire Rami Khoury
The Mirror Institution
The project includes a production residency for artist Rami Khoury during July-August, where he will carry out a local production with public workshops for local artists and families with children.
Public event: Workshop The Clay Tells for all ages on July 20, at Silon on The Mirror Institution's courtyard on Öland.

Sketch Walks on Animal Trails
Helena Wikestam and Sofia Sundberg
with guest artist Linda Bergman
The project explores the possibility of including animal trails in an artistic process where sketching and abstract thinking are a collective endeavor. On August 3, the public is invited to participate in this unique art experience where participants and artists together will explore animal trails through the landscape of Slottsalvaret, Öland. Participants will engage in a thought process about change, movement, spatiality, time, history, and transience.
The sketch walks will be documented in a simpler printed material. Additionally, the project will have a longer life and reach a larger audience through a pop-up art gallery during Öland’s Harvest Festival (more information about this will come).Public event: Sketch Walks on Animal Trails will take place on August 3 at 2:00 PM, in the parking lot outside Solliden. No prior knowledge required, the event is free. Registration: s(at)sofiaart.com

The Path
Magnus Wassborg
A public artwork will be installed in urban environments and along hiking trails at various locations in Småland. The work consists of two QR codes linked to two sound works, about birds in their habitat or that have passed the singularity. The singularity described in fiction is primarily found in the SciFi genre. Here, one passes through a black hole with a vessel or hides in what science calls the event horizon, where no information can be detected or transported out. What happens when the birds pass the event horizon and are compressed to nanoscale? Wassborg's sound work might give us an impression of what occurs. Wassborg's infinite compression of bird sounds recorded in their natural habitat will, of course, become something else and unidentifiable as natural sounds from nature.
Public event: QR codes will be placed from Saturday, August 10 and for four weeks onward. Here you can find them: Eksjö Södra Storgatan, Eksjö Museum (Österlånggatan 31), Eksjö Västerlånggatan (Bryggeritomten), Nässjö Stora Torget, Nässjö Konsthall, Jönköping Östra Storgatan 6, Jönköping Borgmästargränd, Vetlanda Museum, Södra Karstorp 4, Ekenässjön Hantverkargatan 5, Björköby Björköbyvägen/Hängbjörksvägen.

Nature Culture Reserve Marhult (publication)
Timo Menke
The publication includes a deepening anthology rooted in the art project Nature Culture Reserve Marhult which took place in 2023; the book is set for release in summer 2025. Through the Open Call summer 2024, a deepening text and image production will be made. As a conclusion to the production period in summer 2024, a public opportunity for a staged reading in the form of a work-in-progress “Wasteshop” will be organized, featuring reading and presentation from a selection of writers residing/active in Småland (Omran Garazhian, Leila Papoli-Yazdi, Liv Nilsson Stutz, Zeenath Hasan, Åsa Ståhl, Timo Menke).
The book is produced in collaboration with Linné University (The Cultural University) and the publisher Arvinius + Orfeus.
Public event: Staged reading “Wasteshop” on August 23 from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Växjö Art Hall, lab.

The Outcast & The Shifting Work (A Groping for the Identical)
Anne Hamrin Simonsson and Johanna Karlin
In an exploratory process where the artists have found a common perspective on issues such as time in the form of growth and dissolution, cyclical processes of birth-life-death and the value of objects, the artists now (again) turn their attention to Öland and specifically to the old small-scale farming at Kläppinge 1:18, Karlin's farm which has become both home, production site, and exhibition space, as well as an ongoing artwork in itself. At two locations on the farm, an artistic project room and part of the barn, the artists will conduct transitions in their respective site-specific installations. This artistic dialogue and method were used by both artists in the exhibition Ear to the Ground and Eye Outward at Kalmar Art Museum during the Småland Biennale 2023.
Public event: Vernissage on Saturday August 24 at 2:00 PM at UNDANTAGET & STALLET, Kläppinge 1:18, Kläppingevägen 29, 387 95 Köpingsvik
Open on weekends 24/8 - 29/9 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM or by agreement
Finissage on Sunday, 29/9 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Film Screening and Follow-up Discussion About the Film Strandudden
Sara Guldmyr
The film Strandudden tells the story of building a gated community in Nissafors, Småland. The film is 21 minutes long and addresses themes such as trust and mistrust, belonging and place. The project Strandudden has been ongoing for 20 years and no houses have yet been built in the area. The film therefore also raises the question: What happens when what we dream of does not come to fruition?
In conjunction with the open film screening, local residents are invited to a conversation together with freelance journalist Kolbjörn Guwallious, who wrote the book Grindstaden.
Public event: Film screening followed by a conversation at Torghuset, Smålandsstenar on Sunday, August 25, 2024 at 2:30 PM.

1200 Million Years
Julia Sandwall, Jan Carleklev and Yohanna Eek
A music and art project that will have two intertwined themes: climate and nature versus cultural heritage, this in a cohesive film, sound, music, and art experience lasting about 45 minutes, drawing inspiration from the environment around Tabergsdalen and Norrahammar's mill.
Public event: Concert to be held in Tabergsådalens Kulturhus in conjunction with a larger vernissage on August 31. More information will follow.

Be a Farmer for a Day
Zeenath Hasan
A site-specific performance exploring the relationship between humans and landscape. The project follows a thesis; that people change internally when they develop a love for the earth, and this love motivates and energizes them to take actions such as defending, protecting, and celebrating the natural world.
On September 27, the public is welcome to visit TheDirt, a patch of land that houses many different species and ages. Dancer Boaz Barkan and design pedagogue Zeenath Hasan, along with students from the Department of Design at Linné University, will lead the performance.
Public event: Be a Farmer for a Day on September 27, 2024 from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
TheDirt, Tingsrydsvägen 10, Next to Brände Udde preschool, Växjö
Be prepared to engage for 1 to 2 hours. Dress for outdoor use. Gloves, tools, boots, and work clothes will be provided if needed. Bring your own drinking water. Registration: thedirt(at)lnu.se

In the Light of the Crusher
Anna-Linda Gabriel
The project includes the production, documentation, and dissemination of the exhibition In the Light of the Crusher. Through workshops (which are conducted and start from Algutsboda Hembygdsförening) and the exhibition, the creative power that exists in an intergenerational and creative meeting is made visible. At the same time, the historical objects of the local heritage associations' function and value as a contemporary knowledge bank for the locality they belong to (small-scale farmers/growers, curiously interested individuals, and craftsmen) are highlighted. The project also explores contemporary artistic exploration within glass in sustainable and circular perspectives.
Public event: Vernissage at Gallery Magic Photo, Kalmar on September 28. More information will come. In the autumn of 2024, the exhibition will also be shown at Emmaboda Library.The Lifecycle of the Mill Woods (a publication)

Martha Kristensen

Public event: Release party open to the public on September 28 at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM in Kulturvagnen at TADAH Coffee Roastery, Romarliden 2, 36441 Lenhovda. The presentation of the publication hopes to be part of Linné University's public program in the autumn of 2024.

Photo above: Helena Wikestam and Sofia Sundberg Sketch Walks on Animal Trails

Foto ovan: Helena Wikestam och Sofia Sundberg Skissvandringar på djurens stigar