As Told
December 10, 2016–March 5, 2017
Every day we are fed stories, observations, confessions, statements, anecdotes. Some of these pass us by, while others may prove decisive for how we view the world.
Modern art used to insist on the difference between things seen and things told. The autonomy of the visual arts was seen as emanating from a profound understanding of silence, a resistance against sequenced narration and ultimately against its dependence on time. Contemporary art offers another perspective. Visuality has become part of a larger toolbox, with various modes of expression that include the spoken and written word.
Indeed, today’s artists often use language as a tool for analysing and transforming everyday stories. In this exhibition, Lunds konsthall presents works by four artists from different countries, born in different decades. What unites them is their interest in personal stories and in probing the distinction between reality and fiction.
Ana Gallardo has met elderly women, now residing in Malmö and Lund, and listened to their stories of involuntary migration. Finding oneself in a new country may require changing one’s life completely. How did this affect Gallardo’s interlocutors? What insights can they offer us today, when we meet so many people who have experienced a similar disruption?
Tamar Guimarães scrutinises the inner workings of representation. Where does fiction begin? What can be said, about what, and when? We show a new piece where Guimarães explores this, as well as a co-production by Tamar Guimarães and Kasper Akhøj, a film demonstrating what history might look like when filtered through contemporary criticality.
Emily Wardill is interested in how differently we perceive and process actual events, but also how documentation may influence our understanding of reality. Her films demonstrate how efficiently the dream-like and the absurd may infiltrate the everyday.
A handful of works are presented in this exhibition, and it is no coincidence that they mostly rely on (and relay) stories told by women. They articulate views of reality that seldom reach a wider audience, thus challenging the traditionally male-dominated field of historiography.
