In 1949, a strange archaeological find was made at Kvarntorp outside Kumla. The pieces of bone found together came from different species. The skull appears to have belonged to a middle-aged woman, but the jaw of a dog, a piece of bone came from a horse, a pig’s foot, a cow’s shoulder, and ribs of unidentified origin. The find rested in the History Museum’s archives, but has still not been displayed at the museum because the story behind it is unclear.
In Signe Johannessen’s new solo exhibition Upständelsen i Kvarntorp, the puzzling find becomes a propeller for a polyphony of unicorns, werewolves and other hybrid and cross-border bodies. Among large-scale sculptures and new video works, we encounter the smoking slag heap Kvarntorpshögen, as a speculative cultural monument and starting point for a story about the 20th century’s accelerating quest for new energy. What understanding of the world has been lost? What happens if the find is returned? What can the find and the mound tell us about the future?
The young girl runs like a red thread through the exhibition. She is a portal to the enchanted worlds, and through her gaze rational Enlightenment ideals, the rigid structure of the archive and the contemporary mania for measuring are defied. All with a confidence in the enchanting play, and in what we do not yet know.
Curator: Caroline Malmström
Stillbild ur videoverket Prey/Pray © Signe Johannessen
