Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Today, 1996/97, 35 mm film installation, Courtesy of the artist
Since its inception in 1998, MOMENTUM has strived to present compelling works of art and outstanding artistic ventures in a Nordic context. The biennial has since become established as one of the most exciting platforms for contemporary art in the Nordic region and has taken important curatorial approaches that define the present moment in Nordic countries. Now after 20 years one of the oldest Nordic biennial celebrates its 10th edition with a program presenting 29 international artists. While rediscovering iconic works shown in previous editions, MOMENTUM 10 also presents relevant new positions. Having worked with the likes of Daniel Birnbaum and Olafur Eliasson, the biennial also gives space for continuous discussion on the notion of the “Nordic.”
Fanny Ollas, Mental Landscapes: Behind the Red Curtain, 2018, Courtesy of the artist
Annika Larson, 40-15, 1999, 13 minutes 30 second loop, Courtesy of the artist
MOMENTUM 10. THE EMOTIONAL EXHIBITION
One biennial to go back to emotion, one MOMENTUM to understand the need to stop and feel, to redefine the possibility of feeling. We must go beyond language, beyond comprehension to understand that it will be with emotions – and the physicality connected to emotions – that we will embrace complexity. It is not easy to feel; it is not easy to maintain connection to the world at an emotional level. It is not easy to accept that humanity is defined by love, fear, desire, panic, happiness and sadness altogether. In a technological world based on logical constructions, to re-encounter emotions offers us an escape from the linguistic approach, formalizing an attempt to deal with sincerity, accepting who we are and all the contradictions that define us.
Asa Cederqvist, Mama Dada Gaga, 2018 Courtesy of the artist
Anne de Vries, EX, 2017, Courtesy of the artist / André Alves, Dug Material, 2017, Courtesy of Mupi Gallery, Photo Daniel Ramos Pires
Gabriel Lester, Blank Stare, 2013 HD video, Courtesy of the artist, Photo Benito Strangio
Ten editions of MOMENTUM represent a notable gathering of complexity, expectations, desires and contradictions: things to remember, moments to rediscover, and reasons to celebrate. Works by 29 international artists, of which some were already on show in earlier editions, also give room to the desire to look back at some previous situations of MOMENTUM, to revisit them from an emotional point of view, and to think about the position of MOMENTUM during all these years. This exhibition happens now, but looks back at the nine previous editions, remembering or reconfiguring moments that can define the present time. The concepts and ideas behind The Emotional Exhibition offer a way to deal with formats, definitions, identities and emotions with a need to reformulate how to act and what to do, how to share and how to build something with a sort of new non-vocabulary – one that we share and that we can find within the complexity of emotions.
Francesc Ruiz, Edicola Mundo, 2015, Spanish Pavilion at 56th Biennale di Venezia, Courtesy of the artist
Knut Asdam, Video, Produced by Knut Asdam Studio and Pikene Pa Broen
Ilkka Halso, Kitka River, 2004 Courtesy of the artist
READER & VIEWER
MOMENTUM 10 is accompanied by two publications (the Reader and the Viewer). The Reader is focused on the history of MOMENTUM and includes interviews with former curators. The Reader was launched April 11 2019 at Iaspis in Stockholm. The event was in partnership with the 10th edition of Goteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, GIBCA. The Viewer will be about the artists presented at MOMENTUM 10. It will be launched after the opening. Publisher: Art&Theory, Stockholm.
Ragnar Kjartansson, Scandinavian Pain, 2006 Photograph, Installation commissioned for Momentum, Nordic Biennial for Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway, Photographer Terje Holm, courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Pauline Curnier Jardin, Cœurs de Silex (Hearts of Flint), 2012, HD video and sound © Pauline Curnier Jardin
Salla Tykka, Victoria, 2008 HD video, Courtesy of the artist
ARTISTS
André Alves (PT), Anne de Vries (NL), Annika Larsson (SE), Christodoulos Panayiotou (CY), Eija-Liisa Ahtila (FI), Eirik Senje (NO), Erik Öberg (SE), Fanny Ollas (SE), Francesc Ruiz (ES), Gabriel Lester (NL), Hannaleena Heiska (FI), Ilkka Halso (FI), Ina Hagen (NO), Johanna Billing (SE), Julieta Aranda (MX), Keren Cytter (IL), Knut Åsdam (NO), Olafur Eliasson (DK), Pauline Curnier Jardin (FR), Pauline Fondevila (FR), Pepo Salazar (ES), Ragnar Kjartansson (IS), Regina de Miguel (ES), Rosalind Nashashibi (UK), Salla Tykkä (FI), Saskia Holmkvist (SE), Sissel Tolaas (NO), Stine Marie Jacobsen (DK), Åsa Cederqvist (SE)
[via Punkt Ø]
MOMENTUM 10 / The Emotional Exhibition
June 8 – October 9, 2019 / Commissioner Punkt Ø
MOMENTUM Kunsthall & Galerie F 15
Curator Marti Manen / Assistant Curator Anne Klontz
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