Ígildi / Equivalence
Becoming equivalent
In 2006 I participated in the International studio and curatorial program (ISCP) in New York City where I met Radmila Iva Jankovic, now curator at The Museum of Contemporary art in Zagreb. Jankovic gave a lecture at ISCP on her projects with Croatian artists and I was struck by similarities of Croatian and Icelandic art, mainly a strong tradition in conceptual approach and it came to my mind, after listening to Jankovic, that both nations were experiencing similar identity problems due to globalization or Americanization that both nations had been isolated from for some time, but for different reasons. After the lecture I approached Jankovic and told her these thoughts of mine. Few days later we decided to arrange an exchange of Croatian-Icelandic art exhibitions with globalization and heritage as guidelines. Jankovic got Slaven Tolj to collaborate with us and last May five Croatian artists opened a show at Gallery 100° as part of The Reykjavik arts festival. Now five Icelandic artists open at Art radionica Lazareti in Dubrovnik
I have both worked as artist and curator, but in this case I preferred the role of an artist. I therefore spoke to four other Icelandic artists that are experienced in space-specific and site-specific projects and decided to let the theme sharpen in a process between the five of us. At one point, when we laid down our plans or ideas of works for the show I noticed that we were all in some way approaching our idea of Croatian culture through our own culture looking for an equivalence of the two. Thus the title came into realization. Equivalence translates into Icelandic as “jafngildi” or “igildi”, which literally means “same value”. In globalization or Americanization cultures become more and more equivalent to each other, but at the same time globalization creates a need to identify with ones heritage in order not to get lost in a global equation. As I celebrated Iceland´s independence day in my hometown Kopavogur last June 17th, I noticed that most children in the crowd were carrying halogen balloons with American cartoon images like Spiderman, Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty. I then recalled Icelandic philosopher, Thorsteinn Gylfason´s, speculations about the identity of indiscernibles that appear in his book, “An experiment on the world” (1992), where he tells about the oldest shovel in Siglufjordur, a small town in the north of Iceland. The shovel is preserved for historical purposes as it is the oldest shovel in town, yet the shaft has been renewed three times and the blade renewed two times. Such is the way we identify with our heritage.
JBK Ransu
Works on the show For me browsing through the Internet, viewing Dubrovnik historical sites and ancient art online, I found equivalence in a geometric symbol that also refers to spiritual imagery that is known in most religions of the world. In Christian art it is an on going theme in icons, sculptures and paintings. The piece titled “Homage to the Proxy (Annunciation)”, was originally inspired by gestalt aesthetics and the film “The Hudsucker Proxy” made by the infamous Cohen brothers in 1994. Gudrun Vera Hjartardottir has long dealt with the idea that art looks back at us as we look through art, not at art, and towards our ourselves. She aims to enhance that quality of art and for this show she has produced a video, titled “Spectator”, that literally looks at you but at the same time she sets up a meeting between Icelandic and Croatian spectators. Gudrun Vera also shows a photograph of the entrance of The National museum of Iceland, where heritage is preserved, that she has digitally altered. The text within and next to the entrance door has been wiped out, leaving only the sentence “The making of a nation”, as an open interpretation. In Helgi Hjaltalin´s case the region around Dubrovnik has touched his family life. He owns a dog, a black giant Schnauzer, that traces his heritage to this region that is renowned for dog breeding. Helgi saw an opportunity for his dog to explore his roots but due to rules and regulations it is quite a bother to export a dog over the Atlantic ocean so Helgi decided to reconstruct the shape of his Schnauzer into plywood and take it as a surrogate to meet fellows of his race and document it for the show and his dog. Thorvaldur Thorsteinsson combines the past and present in his installation piece. Farm houses, made of stacked turf and rocks collected from the local area, embodies an important element of Icelandic history and the Icelandic way of life over the centuries. The few remaining traditional farmhouses rank with the handful of buildings in Iceland that can be deemed of global value. Yet this cultural heritage and its technique would be lost, if not for few dedicated artists who have kept the tradition alive in the last decades. Thorvaldur Thorsteinsson will show a video with one of those artists at work, combined with a stacked wall inside Lazareti, made of local material. Hlynur Hallsson concerns himself with globalized (or Americanized) culture using familiar rituals, like bouncing basketballs or chewing a gum, that most people can recognize as everyday acts. With Hlynur swimming is even a cultural event, and rightly so, since swimming in hot springs in Iceland warms the body in the cold northern climate while swimming in Croatia or around Dubrovnik is better for cooling off. At least during summertime.
AWL programs in 2008 are being supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia; National Foundation for Civil Socitey, The City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik- Neretva County, Heathcote Art Foundation FACE Croatia Program