Cecilia Parsberg has chosen action as her method and her means of expression. In her artistic practice, she develops documentary techniques, materials and art within a social context. The exhibition presents three artistic actions that Parsberg carried out recently in South Africa.
In The World’s Smallest Bible Thrown in the Biggest Man-Made Hole, the artist has had a copy made of the world’s smallest Bible (the original is in Stensele Church in Västerbotten, Sweden) and dropped it from an aeroplane into the world’s largest hole, a mine in Kimberley, South Africa. The video work with photographs documents this action.
In Postcards of South Africa, Parsberg has worked with South Africa’s Madoda Fly Msibi to produce postcards depicting the townships of Soweto, Alexandra and Thokoza outside Johannesburg. The postcards depict houses and huts in the colours of the South African flag, and are sold from a street stall in Soweto.
The video To All Queens is an interview with a woman from Cape Town who calls herself the Queen of the Homeless. This video was then sent to all the queens in the world. Still images from the video are presented in the exhibition together with the responses she received.
Cecilia Parsberg is a professor at Umeå Academy of Fine Arts. Her stay in South Africa was part of the project Dialogue between visual cultures.
