Umeå Academy of Fine Arts 2012 / Twenty Twelve (As We Know It), Bildmuseet, 2012.
Umeå Academy of Fine Arts 2012 / Twenty Twelve (As We Know It), Bildmuseet, 2012.
Umeå Academy of Fine Arts 2012 / Twenty Twelve (As We Know It), Bildmuseet, 2012.
Sara Alfredsson, Joakim Hansson, In Chul Jung, Sofia Karlström, Frida Krohn, Bahareh Mirhadi, Laura Piasta, John Söderberg, and Malin Tivenius.
This years master exhibition from Umeå Acadamy of Fine Arts is curated by Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh. This is their words about the exhibition:
"It's the End of the World as We Know It", sang R.E.M. on the radio and TV in the mid-1980's. Released a couple of years before the fall of the Iron Curtain and collapse of the U.S.S.R., it was a tumultuous time in world history. However, this end-of-days anthem does allow for some optimism as the words, "and I Feel Fine", close the chorus. With 2012 running across the tops of our calendars, and thoughts of the Mayan end of days on our minds, we are again facing complex upheaval around us.
Located on the banks of the Umeälven river in Umeå, a university town and center of trade activities, the Academy is the northernmost of all five Swedish Art Academy's and it operates in close connection with the new Bildmuseet, School of Architecture, and the Institute of Design. This year the Art Academy moved into a purpose-built facility right next door to the Bildmuseet, drawing much attention and excitement for this significant investment in education and the arts, in Sweden, Europe and internationally. However, 2012 is also the last year with free tuition for students from outside of the EU, marking an end for a progressive and internationalist Swedish educational policy. This year's MFA graduates offer some sense of what is at risk of disappearing when tuitions take effect.
For a moment, we all formed a temporary community, which connects historical trajectories with the present and the yet-to-come realities. This is twenty twelve, as we know it now.
Works by the MFA graduates will also be on display at Konsthall C, Stockholm 9-21 June 2012. The exhibitions are organised and catalogue edited by curators Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh in collaboration with the MFA candidates, who have worked under tutorship of Professor Florian Zeyfang. Contributions to the publication include conversations between the artists and curators, or another person they have chosen, as well as texts by Head of Department, Roland Spolander, and Florian Zeyfang. The catalogue also includes multiples by all the graduates.
Twenty Twelve (as we know it) catalogue and website designed by Leaky Studio, Berlin.
