Matter Matters
– Art, Buildings and Human Bodies as Carriers of Cultural Memory
On the 14th of June where Monica Sand will be presenting. The seminar is based on an art and research project around Gothenburg's first higher general educational institution for girls - Flickläroverket - from 1935, which was demolished at the beginning of 2023.
Tid: Fr 2024-06-14 kl 13.15 - 16.00
Plats: Conference Room 6th Floor of the Architecture School Room A608
Videolänk: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/67185547897
Abstract:
The seminar takes off from Gothenburg first higher public education for girls – Flickläroverket – founded in 1929 - and its building from 1935, that was demolished in 2023. Located in the most prestigious cultural area of the city, Götaplatsen, itpresented a changing female role in the public sphere. 1992 the building became part of Artisten, Academy for Music and Drama, HSM, at the Art Faculty, where its former celebration hall offered tremendous spaces for dance and performance training.
Monica Sand, artist and researcher at HSM, Gothenburg University, will present the art- and research process that included two public ‘memorial days’ in the building just a few weeks before the demolition. They contained performative rituals, a re-creation of a historical dance, new site-specific choreographies and music, exhibitions of collected objects, archival materials and art photography. The project together with an intense public debate exposed the importance of art, buildings and bodies as carriers of cultural meaning and memory through time and space.
Three questions informed the process:
Why are there no specific public rituals before important buildings are demolished?
What kind of memories are valued in contemporary urban regeneration?
Which artistic means and processes could involve the public to collect, perform and create memories?
An anthology includes 20 articles by artists and researchers, involved in the process, and a rich audio-visual artistic and archival material. Together with film documentation and a sound archive, the material establishes a time capsule, where art operate as a carrier of memories across time and space.
Monica Sand, artist/researcher with a PhD from the School of Architecture, KTH, holds a position as Research Adviser at the Artistic Faculty, University of Gothenburg, where she is also affiliated researcher to the Academy of Music and Drama. Sand runs public walk-shops, collective actions and lectures based on art and artistic research projects with a focus on the rhythms and resonance of public space.