DISTANCIO Artists
Mark Rautenbach
based in Cape Town, South Africa, working with Tranås
Rui Mourão
based in Lisbon, Portugal, working with Gnosjö
Oscar de Carmen & Marinka Bobrikova
based in Cape Town, working with Mullsjö
Melissa Vandenberg
based in Richmond, KY USA, working with Värnamo
DISTANCIO Concept
Tranås,
Mullsjö, Gnosjö and Värnamo in Sweden are all part of the regional art
project Its co produced between the municipalities and Region
Jönköpingslän together with curator Anna Viola Hallberg. The project was
initiated in 2018 and has evolved in to a highly relevant topic due to
the pandemic time started globally in the spring of 2020. Each artist
has formed a town specific project from the curatorial concept of
DISTANCIO bringing forward
immersive and community-reflective processes. Through their
practices the artists evoke aspects of distance in and in-between
society and what possibly can create new forms of belonging. By
this it takes a stance in a socio-political art context.
DISTANCIO is
site, situation and dialogue dependent, it address layers in society
that goes beyond the four towns; Mullsjö, Gnosjö, Tranås and Värnamo. It 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.
- audience, the relation between public space and public sphere and embraces subaltern counter-publics towards social equality, cultural diversity, and participatory democracy.
"My artistic practice is being developed around the transformative power of art and reflects about the construction of identity and meaning in different cultural contexts. For this socially engaged art project, I'm interested in showing how the so-called "Spirit of Gnosjö" structures, and it's structured by, the people of Gnosjö.
Crossing conceptual perspectives and poetic video art with a participatory process involving the Gnosjö people (through visual anthropology and documented performative contributions), I want to reveal what is possible to find as a paradoxical link between what is particular and what is universal."
- Rui Mourãu
Framework The spirit of Gnosjö
If you have questions to the artist please use form below or email Rui Mourão by thespiritofgnosjo@distancio.se
With support from: Region Jönköpings län with Mullsjö, Gnosjö, Tranås and Värnamo municipalities. Curator: Anna Viola Hallberg Contact: curator @ distancio.se