A seminar and book launch event has been programmed to accompany the current exhibition by Pia Arke at John Hansard Gallery.
The exhibition Pia Arke: Silences and Stories has been organised in collaboration with KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, and is the first major survey outside of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), and the Nordic countries.
Seldom exhibited outside the Scandinavian context, Pia Arke was a Greenlandic Inuk and Danish artist (1958-2007) who strove to make visible the colonial and complex relationship between Denmark and Greenland, and to address significant questions of identity and representation. Arke remains a significant international figure within both artistic practice and post-colonial discourse, who spoke of an identity outside of being defined as either Danish or Greenlandic; a ‘third place’ that allowed for hybridity and resisted polarisation. By working closely with the Pia Arke Estate, and numerous lenders across Scandinavia, the exhibition includes photography, film, sculpture, performance and rare archival material.
The partner exhibition, Pia Arke: Arctic Hysteria will be shown at KW in Berlin from 6 July – 20 October 2024.
Seminar event, 2 – 5.30pm
To mark the publication of the book, Pia Arke, John Hansard Gallery are hosting a seminar event which will include, amongst others, some of the publication’s contributors.
2 – 3.30pm – Session 1: Practice
Speakers: Ros Carter (John Hansard Gallery), Alice Maude-Roxby (Artist and Fine Art Programme Leader, Middlesex University), Mette Sandbye (Professor of Photography Studies, University of Copenhagen), including 30 mins panel discussion and questions. Chaired by Dr Alexandra Anikina (Senior Lecturer in Media Practices, Winchester School of Art).
(3.30 – 3.50pm – break)
3.50 – 5.20pm – Session 2: Legacy
Speakers: Sofie Krogh-Christensen (KW, Berlin), Siri Paulsen (independent researcher and creative producer, Copenhagen), Lise Autogena (Artist and Professor of Cross-Disciplinary Art, Sheffield Hallam University and Director, Narsaq International Research Station), including 30 mins panel discussion and questions. Chaired by Jelena Sofronijevic (EMPIRE LINES).
Book Launch, 5.30 – 7pm
Reception and drinks, with a chance to view the exhibition
The book, Pia Arke, has been co-published by John Hansard Gallery and KW and will be available from 4 May. The publication has been edited by the curators of the two respective exhibitions at John Hansard Gallery and KW – Ros Carter and Sofie Krogh Christensen.
It examines the work of Pia Arke and discusses it within the contemporary context. It also positions Arke within a wider international framework and explores connections with other significant artists working internationally during the same period. It introduces significant new voices to the dialogue surrounding Arke’s work, including contributions by Alice Maude-Roxby, Tiara Roxanne, Mette Sandbye, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Nivi Christensen, Siri Paulsen, Sofie Krogh Christensen and Ros Carter.
128pp, illustrated throughout. Designed by Daly & Lyon.