October 16, 2021 11:00 am CDT

Cheryl Pope, Michael x. Ryan, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, Laura Mott, Brendan Fernandes

Day two of THE SYMPOSIUM: ART AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE, featuring the programs WORKING WITH AND WITHIN ENVIRONMENTS (NORDIC TALK SESSION), SCREENING: PLEASE REST IN PEACE FOR WE SHALL NOT REPEAT THE ERROR (2021), CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL (NORDIC TALK SESSION) and SCREENING: 72 SEASONS. View full program list below, and register via the form at the bottom of this page: https://program.expochicago.com/the-symposium-art-as-a-catalyst-for-change-october-16/

Following the exhibition, related symposiums, and publication at the Malmö Art Museum entitled Sustainable Societies for the Future, this two-part exhibition and program as an extension of the EXPO CHICAGO Curatorial Exchange with Denmark brings together artists, scholars, organizations, and curators committed to perceiving contemporary art as a catalyst for change. The project, which involves artists from the Nordic countries and Chicago context, is presented in alignment with ART 2030—an organization that adopts the lens of the United Nations’ 17 Global Goals to achieve a sustainable world within our next decade. The artworks and concepts approached within both the exhibition and the book engage with issues surrounding biodiversity, racial equity, housing, health and safety, and environmental justice, among other areas of economic, social, and political interest.

The Symposium aligns with Sustainable Societies for the Future: The Chicago Edit (October 15–17, 2021), a curated exhibition program throughout the city organized by the Floating Museum with participating artists Christian Falsnaes (DK), Max Guy (US), Minna Henriksson (FI), Hesselholdt & Mejlvang (DK), Ingela Ihrman (SE), Toril Johannessen (NO) & Marjolijn Dijkman (NL), Cheryl Pope (US), Sean Raspet (US), Wang & Söderström (SE/DK), Amanda Williams (US), and Michael x. Ryan (US) uses an LED truck as its platform and will move through the city over a period of three days. For locations and schedule, please visit: https://sustainablesocieties.art/

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16

11:00am CST / 6:00pm CET
WORKING WITH AND WITHIN ENVIRONMENTS (NORDIC TALK SESSION)
Cheryl Pope, Michael x. Ryan, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, and Laura Mott

Join three of the artists involved in both the Sustainable Societies for the Future exhibition at the Malmö Art Museum and The Chicago Edit for this talk on their relationships to the natural world and the built environment alongside one of the publication contributors. Each of the artists’ works begins in outdoor spaces before being translated into presentations meant for an institutional context.

12:00pm CST / 7:00pm CET
SCREENING: PLEASE REST IN PEACE FOR WE SHALL NOT REPEAT THE ERROR (2021)
Hesselholdt & Mejlvang

View the film that resulted from the work Please rest in peace for we shall not repeat the error (2021), a 4.5-hour durational performance and land artwork installation on the moat embankment of the Malmö Art Museum, housed in a former castle. The phrase, spelled in largescale text by placing bricks upon the grass, is borrowed from the memorial monument Flame of Peace in Hiroshima, Japan, constructed in remembrance of the victims of the 1945 nuclear bomb. The Flensburg brick used in the performance has a long tradition and history in the construction of Danish society: from building train stations to ballast for ships that sailed to the West Indies during the colonial era.

Film / Editing: Ene Bissenbakker
Photo: Helene Toresdotter/Malmö Konstmuseum
Drone photo: Stefan Ohlsson

1:00pm CST / 8:00pm CET
CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL (NORDIC TALK SESSION) 

In partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, this panel will focus on the recently opened SO—IL Lab project in North Lawndale. Building upon the remaining foundation of a former building that sits amongst six other vacant lots, the site will be discussed in relation to social sustainability. Presented in partnership with the Danish Arts Foundation.

2:00pm CST / 9:00pm CET
SCREENING: 72 SEASONS
Brendan Fernandes

Catch a first glimpse at the film by Brendan Fernandes that took place within Millennium Park’s Lurie Garden. The movement-based piece, featuring dancers outfitted with custom costumes by Rad Hourani, engages with ballet history and Chicago’s prairie landscape to envision passages of time demarcated by the Japanese calendar. The final performance is scheduled for Saturday, October 23, 2021.

Film / Editing: Dominic del Carmine
Sound: Alex Ingzelian

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Tags: Brendan Fernandes, Cheryl Pope, EXPO CHGO ONLINE, EXPO Chicago, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, Laura Mott, Michael X. Ryan