Lunds konsthall, Lund, Sweden
10 Sep 2022 - 29 Jan 2023
BEHOLD, WE ARE HERE is shaped around artistic practices that reflect on the position of the subject in contemporary society through a critical rereading of historical narratives. Artists: Ikram Abdulkadir, Aftenskole, Meriç Algün, Arkiv S, Rebeca Carapiá, Madubuko Diakité, Susanna Jablonski, Vincent Meessen, Roberto N Peyre
Opening on Friday, 9 September at 6–8pm
Performance during the opening by Roberto N Peyre, in collaboration with choreographer/musician/dancer Marcus Doverud, at 6.30pm.
Artist talk on Saturday, 10 September at 1pm with Susanna Jablonski and Hanni Kamaly.
A billboard by Arkiv S will be installed at Domkyrkoforum during the exhibition period.
The participating artists offer us complexities from the point of view of the political subject in relation to histories that are both intimate and global. Their work questions public and collective memory and examines the past as it continues to impact the present. Whose stories are forgotten? What role do history and memory play in the formation of the Self? In which way are current structures and economies entangled with collective and individual pasts?
The exhibition speaks of transgressing borders as a foundation of desire, juxtaposing political narratives with images of beauty and grace. It highlights the political subject, as framed through power structures and boundaries, while also questioning its definition. It also brings together local and geographically distant perspectives on the construction of historical narratives that shape our political landscape.
BEHOLD, WE ARE HERE is curated by artist Hanni Kamaly, whose practice and research form the affective and theoretical basis of the exhibition. Kamaly searches archives and collections for traces of bodies which were, throughout history, deprived of a name and a voice. The resulting work weaves together historical and anthropological fragments. It exposes structures of patriarchal and colonial power, racism and nationalism that extend into the present.