Subjective Maps / Disappearances
Bookworks and Fanzines from the geo-cultural micro-areas and small States of Europe
Until 30 June 2013
National Gallery of Iceland
Fríkirkjuvegur, 7
101 Reykjavík
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm
www.littleconstellation.org
www.listasafn.is
Daniel Arellano Mesina, Eve Ariza, Sigurður Atli Sigurðsson, Katerina Attalidou, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, Justine Blau, Rita Canarezza & Pier Paolo Coro, Dustin Cauchi, Jóhan Martin Christiansen, Nina Danino, Oppy De Bernardo, Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir, Doris Drescher, Barbara Geyer, Helena Guàrdia, Unn Joensen, Irena Lagator, Victoria Leonidou, Simon Le Ruez, Ingibjörg Magnadóttir, Mark Mangion, Lorella Mussoni & Pier Giorgio Albani, Teodora Nikcević, Minna Öberg, Bjargey Ólafsdóttir, Maria Petursdóttir, Pierre Portelli, Agnès Roux, Eric Snell, Miki Tallone, Jelena Tomašević, Pauliina Turakka Purhonen, Natalija Vujošević, Martin Walch, Trixi Weis
Curated by Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Alessandro Castiglioni, Rita Canarezza, Pier Paolo Coro
Catalogue edited by Mousse Publishing
Little Constellation - Contemporary Art in the geo-cultural micro-areas and small states of Europe presents a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Iceland, Subjective Maps / Disappearances, scheduled to June 30, 2013.
Little Constellation is an international network for contemporary art. It was founded for the creation and dissemination of research projects especially attentive to the present in Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino, and in some micro geo-cultural areas of Europe including Ticino, Ceuta, Gibraltar, Kaliningrad, the Aland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Jersey and Guernsey. The network is proposed as an international cognitive platform for the dissemination of information, exhibitions, meetings and residencies for artists and to encourage the creation of co-productions and collaborations for new projects with artists, associations, museums, art centres, public and private institutions and international foundations.
The 37 artists in the exhibition produced a series of artist’s book and fanzine, inspired by the “disappearance” theme, expressing a condition suspended between geopolitical reasons and a more private and existential dimension. The works have been designed with an idea of creating a narrative, both visual and textual, capable of recounting different identities, anthropological and cultural, belonging to the territories involved in the network.
The exhibition, curated by Halldór Björn Runólfsson, director of the National Gallery of Iceland, Alessandro Castiglioni, Rita Canarezza & Pier Paolo Coro, curators and artists of Little Constellation, maps the great variety found in the expressive approach of artists from the small nations of Europe; nations with less than one million inhabitants, irrespective of geographical situation or territorial size. By producing fanzines and artist’s books for the exhibition the artists pay tribute to a long tradition of unique publications as means of creative communication.
The small nations of Europe are either confined to limited areas encircled by other countries or surrounded by the sea. Their distribution throughout the continent makes them the perfect guardians of the different aspects of European culture, stretching from the southernmost point in the Mediterranean to the northernmost point in the Atlantic, crossing an axis drawn from the westernmost country to the easternmost island.
Works are exhibited in an installation specifically designed for the central hall of the museum by the Swiss artist Oppy De Bernardo, with the idea of making visible and tangible, through the use of simple construction materials, the size of the network, characteristic of Little Constellation.
An integral part of the exhibition is the volume issued by Mousse Publishing, designed as an artist’s book, an anthology of all the work produced for the occasion by artists.
The exhibition forms part of the Reykjavik Arts Festival 2013, Iceland’s first international cultural festival.
The Little Constellation project, started in 2004 as art research by the two artists Rita Canarezza & Pier Paolo Coro, with the support of the best institutions of their country, San Marino.
The exhibition Subjective Maps / Disappearances enjoys the patronage of theirExcellencies the Captains Regent, it is supported by the Ministries for Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture, Territory and Youth Policy, Tourism, Health and Social Security – Social and Cultural Activities Office of the Republic of San Marino.
Main sponsors: Fondazione San Marino, Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino SUMS, Ente Cassa di Faetano, Fondazione della Banca di San Marino
In partnership with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture of Iceland, Embassy of Iceland in Brussels, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik Arts Festival.
With the support of the:Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus, Cultural Services; Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Justice and Cultural Affairs of Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein Cultural Fund; Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg; Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture and Local Government of the Republic of Malta, Malta Council for Culture and the Arts; Ministry of Culture of Montenegro; the Republic and Canton Ticino, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Foundation for Culture; Ministry for Sports, Culture, Heritage and Youth Policy of Gibraltar, UK, Garrison Library, Gibraltar, UK; Åland Islands Government, FIN, Art Museum of the Åland Islands, FIN, Fund for Swedish Culture; Ministry of Education and Culture of the Faroe Islands, FO, Nordic House, Faroe Islands, FO; Department for Leisure and Culture of Guernsey, UK, Commission for the Art of Guernsey, UK; Jersey Arts Trust, UK.
Bibliography:
Subjective Maps / Disappearances, National Gallery of Iceland, Mousse Publishing, 2013; The Land Seen From the Sea, Museum of Contemporary Art Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy, Mousse Publishing, 2012; Little Constellation, small States on un-certain stereotypes, Box DVDs Video Collection, Mousse Publishing 2012; Little Constellation fanzine 2010; Little Constellation – Contemporary art in geo-cultural micro-areas and small States of Europe, Mousse Publishing, 2010.
Little Constellation Network and Library Archive
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National Gallery of Iceland
Fríkirkjuvegur, 7
101 Reykjavík, Iceland
T +354 515 9600 / list [at] listasafn.is
