Moving Mass

Moving Mass is carried out as an artistic enquiry with a point of departure in the concept of The Kingdom of Crystal and the material glass as well as in dialogue with that which is currently going on in the region, through on-site investigations and portrayal of the history, context and conditions of the Swedish glass industry, in exchange with the people who were and still are dependent on this industry. The project Moving Mass is a collaboration between six Swedish artists: Eva Arnqvist, Johanna Gustavsson Fürst, Ingela Johansson, Åsa Jungnelius, Caroline Mårtensson and Malin Pettersson Öberg. All the artists share the ambition to relate their artistic practices regarding aesthetics, methods and materials to questions about the local and global community development.

The national identity connected to glass has its roots in an area described as ”The Kingdom of Crystal” in Småland in southern Sweden. The Kingdom of Crystal is marketed as a living industrial region. However, both the Åfors and Orrefors Glassworks has recently been closed and much of the production today takes place abroad. What will be the new sense of community in the region when the glassworks are closed down? Is it possible to gather around a concept that has not yet received a content grounded in reality? How is it to continue living in the glassworks environment when most of the activity is over and the production has been moved abroad? How does this affect the individual human being and what does it do to the regional identity? To discuss issues such as these on site in the Kingdom of Crystal is the most important aim of the project, an aim implemented by the project itself creating forums for exchange of ideas and thoughts on glass as a cultural heritage and the history thereof.

Moving Mass enables residencies and workshops at various locations in the region, seminars, an exhibition at Kalmar konstmuseum in December 2015 -February 2016 and an adjoining conference organized by Lisa Rosendahl on the theme of site-specific projects with a point of departure in the different issues of rural and de-industrialised regions. The project is carried out in dialogue with Kalmar konstmuseum, The Glass Factory and The Design Archive Pukeberg and is supported by the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee and Nybro Municipality.