Can you hear me?

Hello. Hej hej! Hello? Can you hear me?
Voices can be heard in the noise of the cities, behind the rustling treetops, over the seas and under the surface. If you listen carefully they might have something to tell you.

Within, necklace by Hanna Liljenberg made of paper, brass, acrylic paint, lacquer and steel.

The voices of journalists, writers and artists are silenced all over the world. Voices of those who stand for democracy, freedom, diversity, equality. Voices that care for the environment, the right to love who you want and the right to education. The voices of those who want to make the world a better place. These voices can be heard in the noise of the cities, behind the rustling treetops, over the seas and under the surface. Can you hear me?


Can you hear me? Curated by  Mats Jansson. Artists: Eva Hild, David Svensson, Anders Ljungberg, Annika Andersson, Karin Roy Andersson, Hanna Liljenberg, Jelizaveta Suska, Märta Mattsson, Kari Håkonsen, Lillan Eliassen, Linda Jansson Lothe, Marianne Nielsen, Helen Clara Hemsley, Maria Friberg.

I was invited to take part in the exhibition “Can you hear me?” by the curator Mats Jansson. The exhibition included work by 11 artists from Norway, Denmark and Sweden and was shown in conjunction with the Swedish Culture Week in Tirana in September 2022. Together with 6 of the other artists, Mats and Lena Nilsson (who is the other half of Nääs Konsthantverk), I came to Tirana to set up the exhibition at Galeria FAB – a big exhibition space connected to the university.

Hanna Liljenberg working with the set-up

Work in progress

Me placing Märta Mattsson’s pieces on one of the walls, the warm evening before the opening.

As always it was both challenging, frustrating, fun and rewarding to work with the display – concrete walls, finding the right compositions and dynamics, and communicating in different languages, but in the end we were all very happy with the result and with how the different pieces and expressions worked together – the big sculptures, the textile surfaces, the small details in the jewellery and the poetic motifs in the ceramic pieces.

Work by Linda Jansson Lothe

Bubblor, object by Annika Andersson

Work by Lillan Eliassen

 

You have me in stitches 1 and 2, pendants by Helen Clara Hemsley

Some of my pieces – a mix of older work made of recycled plastic
and newer pieces made of reindeer skin. 

 

At the opening the gallery was completely packed; the cultural minister and people from different tv-channels were there and also a lot of other visitors who asked a lot of questions and showed a lot of interest.

Swedish ambassador Elsa Håstad with the Minister of Culture Elva Margariti at the opening. 

 

We also got the chance to get a guided tour of the school by the head of the textile department and one of the teachers there, and we were quite impressed by the student’s work and the archive of student projects collected by the department.

Head of fashion and textile department Najada Hamza, Annika Andersson, Hanna Liljenberg and the painter and teacher Genc Permeti.



The trip to Albania was a wonderful experience. Meeting old and new friends/colleagues, getting to know a new country and culture, having nerdy conversations about art and creativity and also to run on new paths and swim in new waters!

 

The project and the trip was supported by IASPIS The Swedish Arts Grants Committee