THE MIRROR

Artist: MFK - MFK - Malmö fria kvinnouniversitet  (Johanna Gustavsson and Lisa Nyberg)

Dimensions and material: 15x3 meters, plastic

Location: In the ceiling of the exhibition hall.

Date: Created 2011. Officially declared permanent 2022.

« I am not sure of the title of the work, as it began without a title. It can either be just "The Mirror", or borrow the title from the exhibition (Insists on being part of this moment/movement) to make the combination «mirror/moment/movement».»

- Lisa Nyberg, 2021

The mirror in the ceiling is a work of Malmö Fria Kvinnouniversitet. The piece was made for MFK's project at Konsthall C in 2011 in connection with the release of their handbook - Do the Right Thing. MFK asked to use Konsthall C to make an interpretation of the book, in whatever form and in whatever way they wanted. A series of meetings, ceremonies, lock-ins, tea seminars, terrorist icons, primal cries, actions, demonstrations, processes and discussions were activated in response to their request.

When Malmö Fria Kvinnouniversitet (Malmö Free Women's College) was proclaimed in 2006, they promised to fight for political action in a certain time, in a specific place. Now here they are, six years later, with a decision to end MFK but to transform practice and theory into collective action. They have summarized our knowledge and experiences in a handbook - Do the Right Thing - which they sent to Roya Hakimnia, Stina Nyberg, Gothenburg's Queer Institute, the ÖFA collective, Annika Eriksson, the staff at Konsthall C, Malin Arnell and Maria Lind.

Quote from MFK's publication Do the right Thing - a manual from MFK: 

“Our work on the project Insist on being a part of this moment/movement (convinced of our greatness) (convinced of our greatness) 1 April – 29 May 2011 at Konsthall C (a non-profit art organization and exhibition space) started under the working title "We won! staging a feminist utopia". We discussed, analyzed, twisted and reversed our own and other people's ideas about both utopia and the exhibition space. We thought of those who would visit Art Gallery C in the hope of being introduced to a feminist utopia. .. whatever we did, we would disappoint them. One idea we had about the showroom was to build a perfect meeting place where many people could participate on equal terms, where everyone could communicate with each other and where space was created. for different perspectives 

The utopian building construction was translated into the idea of ​​putting mirrors on the ceiling and in this way doubling both the space and the collective and at the same time giving an overview and the opportunity to see oneself as part of something bigger. Instead of staging the utopia as an exhibition, we realized that the utopia is based on the presence of people, the utopia is created when people activate it, therefore we chose to open up the space for different collaborations and activities. 

 When we first became interested in feminist utopias, we had an idea that we could produce a place, an image - something concrete, but the more we tried, the more difficult it became. Utopia cannot be defined as a static, perfect place; it is the ongoing attempts, the fiction, the theory and the pursuit of the perfect existence. Through our persistent work, we began to discern a common thread. It was all those situations when we met with others who had the same need and desire to shape the future, that together we made utopia. 

We claimed the space we needed and created temporary places where we set the agenda. For us, utopia became a way of acting politically in our everyday life."

Link:

http://mfkuniversitet.blogspot.com/2011/04/oppningsceremonin-och-talet.html