INTO THE RABBIT HOLE

Nordic Pavilion, Dak'Art, Dakar Senegal 2012

Participating artists:

Hans Berg & Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden) 

Bjørn-Kowalski Hansen (Norway)

Jesper Just (Denmark)

Matti Kallioinen (Sweden)

Otto Karvonen (Finland)

Teemu Mäki (Finland)

Egill Sæbjönsson (Iceland)

Curators: Power Ekroth (Sweden/Norway) and Marita Muukkonen (Finland)

The first official Nordic Pavilion in the oldest African Art Biennial DakarｴArt is titled INTO THE RABBIT HOLE, a title that at first refers to the well known fairy tale Alice in Wonderland. Alice falls down a rabbit hole and discover a parallel world where she finds a lot of things very different from what she is used to. Going back to the normal world makes her see normality in a different light. The playful title suggests that art may be exactly such a rabbit hole. The exhibition will take place in the Gallery Espace VEMA in Dakar and is a part of the official programme of the biennial.

”Only imagination can show us what to be,said the poet André Breton. Part of the artists in the exhibition, such as Egill Sæbjönsson, Matti Kallionen and Hans Berg & Nathalie Djurberg are producing parallel universes, parallel cultures, which lead thoughts to both fairy tales and to surrealism, to dreams giving an intellectual and visual stimulation, kicking us through another world and then putting us back into the "real" world with a different perspective afterwards. Part of the artists are shaking realities more directly by creating alternative cultures driven by dreams, such as Bjørn-Kowalski Hansen and Otto Karvonen, by expanding, questioning and re-creating boundaries between economy, corporate ideas, utopia, society and art. There lies a strength and beauty of parallel universes and cultures; they can make us to see, feel, think, act, hear, smell, taste, and love differently. There is also the potential to change existing realities by making subtle changes or additions, like Teemu Mäki, or like Jesper Just, showing a world where some small changes that makes a large difference already exists.

The exhibition is preceded by a residency period of several of the Nordic artists in collaboration with the Raw Material Company, Dakar and the Senegalese artists and curator Diba Viyé and the National School of Arts, Dakar.

The exhibition is supported by KK Nord, IASPIS, FRAME, OCA and Finnish Art Council.

Artists' biographies:

Hans Berg & Nathalie Djurberg (1978, SV)

Nathalie Djurberg most often work with short stop-motion animation films with figures made by plasticine clay with soundtracks by musician Hans Berg. The story boards of the films sometimes cross over to the burlesque and even surreal, but portray some of the darkest fears or sinful desires of our human mind – but always with a great sense of humour. Djurberg has been included in many prestigious exhibitions including the Venice Biennial (2009).

Bjørn-Kowalski Hansen (1979, NO)

Bjørn-Kowalski Hansen may be best known for the project Haakki™ that made the cover of Contemporary Magazine in 2006, where the boundaries between economy, corporate ideas, utopia, society and art are expanded and explored. His works reflects his interests in consumer habits, behavioural economics and marketing strategies in the most ingenious ways – always in striking packages.The local market, Sandaga, is Bjørn-Kowalski Hansen's starting point for his work at the Nordic Pavilion in Dakar. Over a ten day period, he teamed up with a music producer and two local dealers,or rangoumen, as they are called at the Sandaga market, who make a living by finding customers on the street, and then guides them to whatever product they may or not need. For that they make a certain fee. After getting a thorough lesson on how business works at this market, These rangoumen, agreed to write some lyrics about their profession in the local language, wolof. The song was then performed by the artist. The recording can also be bought at the Sandaga Market, Dakar. Available on cassette and CD. www.kowalskiness.com & www.haakki.com

Jesper Just (1974, DK)

Jesper Just's short films deliberately plays with the spectator's expectations in surprising plots for the narratives. Accompanying the charachters' sometimes surreal actions are special made sound tracks that also plays important roles to the overall impressions of the films that seems to be aesthetically inspired by Film Noir. The relationships that occurs in the films pushes the limits of what society accepts as normal behaviour and hence makes us rethink what normal and abnormal can be or become. www.jesperjust.com

Matti Kallioinen (1974, SE)

Matti Kallioinen's performances, films and installations has an aesthetic of its own, borrowing from children's fairy tales, psychedelia, science fiction and research about artificial intelligence, creating a world of his own. Dark and dreamlike, yet childish in its playfulness, Kallioinen's art is not for the squeamish as his reality seems to stem from the back side of the moon, yet it is played out with ease and a light touch of something familiar to navit www.mattikallioinen.com

Otto Karvonen (1975, FI)

Otto Karvonen is specialized in temporary installations, interventions and sculptures in public spaces. His works can be described as situation-specific: they are developed in close interaction with their surroundings, taking into account their spatial and temporal dimensions. Karvonen has gained a reputation for modest, humorous and ironic interventions that mix and confuse our perception of everyday reality. His works often comment on urgent political, economic, social and religious topics, carefully avoiding obvious or forced statements.

Teemu Mäki (1968, FI)

Teemu Mäki works in the fields of art, philosophy and politics by whatever means necessary. The results are usually some kind of visual art, theater, literature or theory. For him art is the most flexible, versatile and comprehensive form of philosophy and politics. Mäki is an artist, Doctor of Fine Arts and Professor in Aalto University.

www.teemumaki.com

Egill Sæbjönsson (1973, ICE)

Egill Sæbjönsson works with video, installation and sound/music in an intricate manner. As he is a musician as much as a visual artist, music always plays a vital role in his works. Finding ways to incorporate himself in performative actions with his videos functioning as back-drops, he may sing a song, play a tune or incorporate every day objects that in combination with the films completesthe work in what can be experienced as a sort of theatre with an uncommon narrative structure.

http://www.eaglestuff.net/