What is a community? How can it be reconciled with contemporary pluralism? In an increasingly globalised world, where the coherence of the nation-state is challenged by migration, local organisational forms and changing perceptions of belonging, the concept of community is due for renewal.
In the international group exhibition Terms of Belonging, 8 artists and artist groups examine the current sense of community in an experimental and critical manner. Before and during the exhibition, through works that create social formations, the artists will enter into unexpected relations with local partners, the average Dane on the street, and the audience.
Thus in several of the works, temporary communities are established in which alternative modes of action and being together can be tested. Canadian artist Althea Thauberger, for example, has created a mothers’ group on the basis of statistical information about age, income and ethnicity, in which new mothers are invited to participate in the production of her work. Meanwhile, the project Your Country Doesn’t Exist by Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson challenges the very notion of the nation-state as a natural entity, and points to rethinking forms of society.
With these examinations and tests of the concept of community, the exhibition invites us to reflect on both existing and future social relationships; and, not least, to explore ways of being together in the world that are not defined by the nation-state or the existing legislation.
The project is curated by Aileen Burns (CA) and Johan Lundh (SE) and also includes a production residency, a website and a one-day seminar focusing on future communities. The website www.termsofbelonging.org will regularly be updated with information and texts about the project and related events.
Particiating artists:
Libia Castro (SP) & Ólafur Ólafsson (IS), Kajsa Dahlberg (SE), Luca Frei (CH), Gåafstand (Pia Rönicke (DK) & Nis Rømer (DK)), Olivia Plender (UK), Superflex (DK), Althea Thauberger (CA) and Johan Tirén (SE).
Installation view
Gåafstand (Pia Rönicke & Nis Rømer), documentation of past walks, ongoing. Detail
Installation view
Superflex, Corruption Contract, 2011, laser-jet print on paper, legal consultation by Daniel McLean.
Luca Frei, DK-1414, 2011
Installation view
Olivia Plender, Machine Shall be the Slave of Man, but We Will Not Slave for the Machine, 2008. Duration: 31 min.
Kajsa Dahlberg, Femø Woman’s Camp 2008: Film and Agreement, 2008/2010