Dark Light – Publication Release
The publication accompanying Cia Kanthi’s solo exhibition Dark Light is now available for purchase. With texts by Maj Hasager (artist and rector of Malmö Art Academy), Max Ockborn (artist), Linda Pistol (DJ and producer), and Ashik Zaman (editor-in-chief and founder of C-print).
Price: SEK 120
You can buy the publication at Skånes konstförening or by sending an e-mail to info@skaneskonst.se
Cia Kanthi is the 2020 recipient of the Sven and Ellida Hjort’s Exhibition Grant that is awarded annually by Skånes konstförening to an emerging artist based in Skåne. Curator for the exhibition and editor for the publication is Tawanda Appiah.
FOREWORD BY TAWANDA APPIAH:
There are artists you meet who leave a lasting impression and Cia Kanthi happens to be one of them. Her artworks are layered and textured, dynamic and expansive, pulsating with a life of their own. She leaves behind an itch on the viewer, something that I have experienced but also heard repeatedly from various visitors who came to see her exhibition at Skånes konstförening. Perhaps it is because of the emotional and physical locations she takes one to, combined with her grasp of technique as a professional artist. She creates moments of time and spatial travel that leave an uncanny feeling. In this publication, Cia Kanthi extends her exhibition Dark Light to the realm of private and intimate spaces.
My first encounter with Kanthi was infused with wonder and intrigue. I remember walking into her studio at Ateljéföreningen opposite Addo (the oldest and largest studio association in Malmö, located in a building that was once upon a time a calculator factory) and feeling a sense of reverence. When she pulled out a portable 1968 Sony Trinitron TV and played her film Frihamnen (2020) I knew we had found a strong contender for the annual Sven and Ellida Hjort’s Exhibition Grant. Her power as an artist is palpable and her work sings with the hours of labour she pours into it, every second of photographing, printing, filming, cutting, sculpting.
The breath of history is a red thread through the line of my curatorial work. It is an obsession, a restless way of making sense of the contemporary landscape. Kanthi shares this historical eye and it connected us and oiled the process of constructing Dark Light into a public exhibition. In her work, we see the place of people in history, and a vibrant appreciation for the everyday. This is made thrilling through Kanthi’s deft powers of precision, deciding what is shown and what is not in an image. It is her world to create, and ours to get lost in.
This publication starts off with Wandering in the gaps of memories: The work of Cia Kanthi by Danish artist and rector of the Malmö Art Academy, Maj Hasager. In this text, Hasager powerfully puts Kanthi’s work into context and also leads her into conversation with the late French writer Georges Perec (1936–1982) and the revolutionary Swedish photo-grapher Cecilia Nelson (1866–1939). Malmö-based artist Max Ockborn poetically reflects on restlessness and production of memory through the work of Kanthi in: Hur man lämnar längtan efter stillhet därför att den lika gärna kan bo i tanken eller i den stunden när man lyckas uppgå i något annat, med andra. We hear the voice of Linda Pistol on page 24 where she shares the process of making the soundscape for Kanthi’s film Night Travel (2020). Ashik Zaman, founder and editor-in-chief of C-print, concludes the publication with his compelling and in-depth review of Dark Light titled Like a chimney you some-times have to get through the dark before you see the light.
Special thanks to Kesiena Boom, Maj Hasager, Sixten Hatfield, Albin Hillervik, Hisham and Mahmoud, Hussein Obeid, Max Ockborn, Linda Pistol, Janneke Schoene, Linus Svensson, Ashik Zaman, Terje Östling, Svart & Witt, Lunds konsthall and the board of Skånes konstförening.
Cia Kanthi – Dark Light
Exhibition period Mar 27–Apr 25, 2021
Opening hours Wed–Fri, 13–17, Sat–Sun, 13–16
Curator Tawanda Appiah
Skånes konstförening
Bragegatan 15, Malmö
info@skaneskonst.se
www.skaneskonst.se
Skånes konstförening’s exhibitions and programs are supported by Malmö Stad, Region Skåne, The Swedish Arts Council, and ABF.