Peripheral Visions

The periphery is always someone else’s centre, and the distinctions constructed in our field between the local and the international have always been rather awkward. Furthermore, rural or urban conditions of production don’t necessarily contradict those we find in the big city or in the centre. They are not better, nor worse but, perhaps, driven by a somewhat different logic. Departing from a couple of international interregional projects over the years, initiating dialogues between contemporary art and local knowledge, Jonatan Habib Engqvist will give examples of some conversations, gatherings, collaborations, residences, workshops, a hostage drama, exhibitions – and a subsequent book. Hopefully there will also be time to speak about a few things that have developed from this, many of which are still in process.

Jonatan Habib Engqvist is a curator, author, and occasional teacher. Chairperson of the Swedish Curator’s Association and co-editor of the Swedish culture journal Ord&Bild. Curator of experimental projects and exhibitions on 4 continents, including international biennales and festivals Art D-0 ARK Underground, VR Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, Cycle Music & Art Berlin/Reykjavík, Survival Kit Riga, Sinopale Turkey, Momentum Norway. Founding director of Curatorial Residency in Stockholm, previously manager of visual art at Iaspis, curator at Moderna Museet, and employed at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm. His writing has been published widely in several languages in publications around the world.