Konstfest

Launching with four exhibitions, a new visual language, and spanning four days, the Konstfest at Kin Museum of Contemporary Art in Kiruna/Giron/Kieruna is a celebration of art, accompanied by presentations, lectures, and workshops. Founded in 2018 by the region of Norrbotten and the municipality of Kiruna, Kin is one of the northernmost art museums in the world, located in the heartland of Sápmi and the homeland of the Tornedalians.

The Observatory: Art and Life in the Critical Zone
February 15–September 15, 2024

The relationship between humans, animals, plants, and the earth’s natural resources is at the core of this exhibition. It brings together new and existing artworks by twenty-eight artists who in different and unique ways engage with aspects of the “critical zone.” The term “critical zone” was coined in the early 2000s and regards the multi-faceted, near surface environment on our planet, which is defined by a complex interplay between rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms. Acknowledging the rampant climate crisis, geoscientists, hydrologists, micro-biologists, and others move away from nature and culture as a dichotomy. Instead, they have developed a method that builds upon existing links, and interactions of all entities, within the critical zone. The exhibition is part of The Critical Zone, Kin’s multi-year inquiry addressing the climate crisis and mutual dependence within the “critical zone.”

With Alexander Ravskyi, Alexandra Ravskaya, Alma Heikkilä, Anastasia Bogomolova, Anastasya Kizilova, Apolonija Šušteršič, Bernd Krauß, Carin Ellberg, Erik Sjödin, Fernando García-Dory, Fredrik Prost, Ilmira Bolotyan & Olga Shirokostup, Inga-Wiktoria Påve, Ingela Ihrman, Ivan Novikov, Joar Nango & Ken Are Bongo, Katarina Pirak Sikku, Kirill Agafonov & Natalia Peredvigina, Kultivator, Mats Adelman & Ylva Westerlund, Nina Svensson, Pia Rönicke, Chudya Zheni, and Åsa Sonjasdotter

Textile Magic with Doris Wiklund, Kristina Pashkova, Maja Fredin, and Matilda Kenttä
February 15–May 26, 2024

The inspiration of this is exhibition is the legacy of Doris Wiklund, born in 1930 in Kiruna, a craftswoman, legendary weaving teacher, and textiles historian. Around thirty of her works are displayed together with the experimental textile works of three younger artists. The exhibition is part of Kin’s multi-year inquiry Hand, Heart, and Brain which engages with how artists today embrace older craft techniques and rework them for current and future usage.

Beauty in Form and Function: The Duodji of Jon Tomas Utsi
February 15–May 26, 2024

Porjus-based Jon Tomas Utsi will show fifty works made since 1990. He is a duojár, a Sámi craftsman that works with hard materials. Included in his repertoire of crafts are niibbit (knives), gárit (bowls), skáhput (boxes), giissát (chests), nállogoadit (needle cases), and sálkorat (salt bottles). These objects all have their origins in the Sámi lifestyle in Sápmi. As this way of life has often involved relocating from one place to another, the designs of the objects tend to favor a sparing economy of weight and volume. The exhibition is part of Kin’s multi-year inquiry Hand, Heart, and Brain which engages with how artists today embrace older craft techniques and rework them for current and future usage.

New acquisitions
A number of works recently acquired for the collection will be on display, by for example Britta Marakatt-Labba, Hans Ragnar Mathisen, Karin Keisu & Josse Thuresson, Sössa Jörgensen & Geir Tore Holm, Olof Marsja, Behzad Khosravi Noori and Luca Frei. 

New visual language
The new visual language of Kin, as well as the recurrent images at work in that, were developed by Sámi artists Inga-Wiktoria Påve and Fredrik Prost, in collaboration with graphic designers Johanna Lewengard and Benedetta Crippa.

The Konstfest is produced in collaboration with Konstfack’s CuratorLab course. Participants: Ana Victoria Bruno, Silvia Colombo, Karin Erixon, Aleksandra Kędziorek, Emma Pettersson Juntti, Kerstin Möller, Sixten Liu, Foteini Salvaridi, Liselotte Winka, and Fann Xu. Artistic director: Joanna Warsza; coordinator: Anastasia Shestak.

Kin Museum of Contemporay Art, Kiruna / Kin museum för samtidskonst, Kiruna / Kin Dáládáidaga dávvirvuorká, Giron / Kin Nykyaijantaitemyseymmi, Kieruna