Twilight Land

Artists: Isabelle Andriessen, Yael Bartana, Rose-Marie Huuva, Anna Ling, Aernout Mik, Sandra Mujinga, Ingrid Elsa Maria Ogenstedt, Ida Persson, Stina Siljing, Jonas Staal and Alberta Whittle.

Curator: Joa Ljungberg

Twilight Land explores the feeling of standing on the threshold of the unknown. Of realising that our lives cannot continue in the same way, but not knowing what is to come. Featuring eleven internationally acclaimed artists and several large-scale commissions, it is Moderna Museet Malmö’s major venture, extending from autumn 2022 to spring 2023.

The convergence of an ecological, geopolitical and democratic crisis worries and frightens. At the same time, there are numerous movements and initiatives pointing in the direction of positive paradigm shifts—towards more life-affirming ways of thinking and living. The referenced state of twilight—the transition from day to night—can thus be associated with a fear of the approaching darkness, but also with a certain form of creativity, fuelled by the dusky proximity between fantasy and reality.

Twilight Land tries to articulate the experience of living within a system that cannot last, while not yet perceiving any clear alternative. Through sculptural installations, film and painting, it moves beyond documentary and a mere collection of facts, and instead tries to give shape to this state of liminality. Several of the artworks have been created specifically for the exhibition and derive their nourishment from an undefined zone between destruction and creation, confusion and clarity, fear and hope.

“When the dominant narrative of the world is skewed, something else can become visible in the cracks. With strong works of art, several of which have been created specifically for the exhibition, Twilight Land offers a place for reflection, joint conversations and dialogue,” says curator Joa Ljungberg.

Twilight Land is realised within the framework of Moderna Museet’s focus on new artistic production and reduced transports in 2022. An important part of the project consists of lectures, reading circles and workshops. The programme features artists, writers and researchers, as well as representatives of transition movements and organisations that defend democracy.

The exhibition is supported by the Mondriaan Fund, the Netherlands.

Moderna Museet Malmö is a part of Moderna Museet, one of Europe’s leading museums of modern and contemporary art, with a collection of high international standing. Moderna Museet Malmö, inaugurated in 2009, provides a meeting place and offers an art experience unique to the Öresund region. With an independent exhibition programme, Moderna Museet Malmö shows contemporary art’s most interesting artists and modern classics in addition to curated selections from Moderna Museet’s rich collection. The exhibitions alternate regularly, and the museum also offers a varied learning programme all year round. Moderna Museet Malmö is supported by the Swedish government, City of Malmö and Region Skåne.