Catalogue > At random

“The light and shade of the ornaments – a rehearsal” is a micro biography of the glass workers from the Sudetenland that were given employment in the glass industry, Sweden, after the 2WW. Two actors are taking turns facing each other reading an extensive amount of text, and two hands are leafing through photos. The 1st chapter tells the story of the voyage and dislocation of the Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia to Sweden. The narrative elucidates how, and why, this workforce was brought over, and the effect of the migration on both a personal and industrial level, including how the labour movement organized the new arrivals. The 2nd chapter is turned towards the local context, how Swedish glassworks were inspired by the traditions of the Sudeten Germans, in Bohemia. We are told about what happened to one of the world’s last kingdoms of crystal, Bohemia, during and after the Nazi occupation and under Communism. How centuries of migrations from central Europe has influenced the Swedish glass industry, a vital element for understanding how the Sudeten Germans were regarded as craftsmen. The narrative highlights how the destinies of the glass workers were shaped by war and different political systems.

Ingela Johansson, is an artist that lives and works in Stockholm. Johansson’s research-based artistic practice often responds to site-specific issues with an interest in social history and collective memory. Her interdisciplinary approach combines various aesthetic strategies and media to create an engaging body of work. She was part of the Kirunatopia project presented at Bildmuseet, Umeå (2012) and Kunsthaus Dresden (2014). Her book project The art of the strike, voices on cultural and political work during and after the mining strike in the north of Sweden in 1969–70 (Glänta, 2013). Her most recent exhibitions and projects include; Damage and Loss, Alternativa Gdansk, 2016, Moving mass, Kalmar Konstmuseum, 2015–16 and Die Ästhetik des Widerstands, Galerie im Turm, Berlin, 2014. She is the Reserch in Residence at BAC Baltic Art Center, Visby.