The Curator’s words

The map is not the territory

The world appears more complex than ever in the face of a recession, when environmental issues, religion, politics, economy and gender issues – as well as questions of a consumption society – are viewed as major challenges. The role of the artist and designer has been redefined in this world. New prerequisites have created a need for cooperation across borders and new ways of interpreting our times.

The old world is gone forever. The new seems to be a kind of Terra Incognita, where the need for experimentation, investigation, archives, research and information become tools with which new maps are drawn. In times of dissolution, the search for identity becomes extra important for the college as well as for its students.

In this era of change, Konstfack’s education has also changed to meet new needs. The first students are graduating from Konstfack’s new Master’s program this spring. Among the nine Master’s groups that make up the program, it is noted that the Experience Design and WIRE (write+interpret+research+exhibit) Master’s groups have originated from the need to redefine the significance of art, crafts, and design in a reality that is increasingly information-based.

The new way of communicating realities is something that also permeates the other Master’s groups. The Master’s group Art in the Public Realm, for example, is showing its work in a mobile archive.

Given this background, it has been interesting to follow the students’ work! It is now your turn to partake of the work over 160 new artists, designers, craftsmen, art teachers and curators and their image of an exciting time.

Welcome to Konstfack’s Degree Exhibition 2009!

Hans Isaksson
Curator