DISTANCIO

CONCEPT

In DISTANCIO, the artists Martinka Bobrikova & Oscar de Carmen, Mark Rautenbach, Melissa Vandenberg, Rui Mouraou will work in each locality for a week, starting in fall of 2019.

DISTANCIO provides space, time, and concentration for making art, doing research and for reflection. The involved towns becomes nodes in the international art scene and invaluable exchange with the artists producing critical thinking, artistic experimentation, cross-cultural collaboration, site-specific research, interdisciplinary knowledge production and community reassessments.

Beginning with a research week leading up to a proposal of an artistic work. The artists are present in public space and interact with the locals. The stay ends with an artist presentation within the framework of ArtTalks. A few months later, the artists will present proposals for the design of an artwork for the specific locations and public spheres. Together the municipalities, the curator and the region will review funding possibilities towards realisations of the artists proposals.
In DISTANCIO, the artist is a researcher with the social body and its inhabitants as objects. Central is the public space, the place that we all share but have different access to.

DISTANCIO is the continuation of SIDE-SHOW raising questions on responsibillty, sharing, communit, and voice. Performative and temporary artworks were presented during 2016 in Nässjö, Eksjö, Gisslaved and Vetlanda. Curators Therese Kellner and Nina Øverli in collaboration with Mike Bode commissioned by Region Jönköpings län/Jönköping County.
The curator for DISTANCIO 2019/2020 is Anna Viola Hallberg. >>>

DISTANCIO
- Brings forward immersive and community-reflective processes. Through their practices the artists evoke community, reflection, and belonging. By this it takes a stance in a socio-political art context. DISTANCIO is site, situation and dialogue dependent but address layers in society that goes beyond the four towns; Mullsjö, Gnosjö, Tranås and Värnamo.

- Explores the dynamics and unforeseen relationships within and between different groups in society as well as the concepts of public art and audience. The artist embark upon the crossroads of social art and its potential to interact with and detect political and social contingencies and structures.

- Explores audience, the relation between public space and public sphere and embraces subaltern counter-publics towards social equality, cultural diversity, and participatory democracy.  

Mullsjö, Gnosjö, Tranås and Värnamo are all located with in Jönköping county in Sweden and supported by the county and the four municipalities together with the local scenes.