Welcome to a conversation about cultural geographical and archaeological perspectives on place, spatiality and geopolitical shifts in the present. For this spring’s Art +Research programme, Accelerator invites artists, researchers and the public to reflect on the exhibitions Oedipus in Search of Colonus by Loukia Alavanou and the Kingdoms of Elgaland–Vargaland present World Expo 2023 by Leif Elggren and Carl-Michael von Hausswolff. The common theme is territories and who governs them. We move within and between physical, geographical, legal, mental and spiritual border areas in existing and imaginary places, in the present and the past, in life and in death – marked by rapid, irreversible change that demonstrates how certain stories repeat themselves – especially in times of crisis when the map is redrawn due to environmental change, occupation and the spread of infection. The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland comprise both physical and mental borders, and in Loukia Alavanou’s VR work an ancient drama is given new life in a Greek shanty town populated by Romani, who historically have always been on the move. Places we shape and places that shape us. The conversation will be held in Swedish and English and will be recorded for Accelerator’s podcast. 

3 May 18:00–19:30 at Accelerator. 

Free entry. No pre-booking required.

Participants

Mats Burström, Professor of Archeology at Stockholm University, whose research focuses on material culture, memory and historical perspectives in contemporary archaeology, with a special interest in archaeology’s connections to architecture, science and art.

Karin Dirke, Docent in the history of ideas at Stockholm University, who research in environmental humanities with a focus on encounters between places, people and other species.

Danielle Drozdzewski, Associate Professor of Human Geography at Stockholm University, who researches interactions between people and place with specific expertise in memory, identity and migration, examining the geographies of remembrance.

Vendela Grundell Gachoud, moderator and project leader of Art + Research.