Homeplace
16 maj–16 juni 2024

Opening Thursday 16 May at 16:00–18:00
Opening speech at 17.45, drinks and snacks on site
Location: David Helldéns torg, T-Hökarängen
Konsthall C, with its ongoing project Farsta Fotofest, is pleased to present Salad Hilowle's new exhibition Homeplace. The exhibition is curated by Ulrika Flink and is shown at Konstdax in the public space, on David Helldén's square in the center of Hökarängen.
Salad Hilowle was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and grew up in Gävle. With a strong foundation in her own biography and upbringing, Hilowle explores archival material from the African diaspora. His artistic practice focuses on making visible marginalized stories and forgotten stories from our common cultural history. In the works selected for this exhibition, the focus is on private and quiet moments in nature.

Historically, black people have not been associated with nature or rural environments but rather with cities for several reasons, including slavery and colonialism. During slavery, many black people were kidnapped from their original places to cities to work, which marked the black history and culture. In popular culture, black characters are often portrayed in urban contexts, which reinforces the image of blacks as urban individuals.
In Homeplace we encounter images where people relate to landscapes, lakes and vast forests in different ways. Swedish Muslims are inscribed in a Swedish landscape that is theirs. We encounter familiar surroundings, from city balconies to the deepest forest. Along a country road along the fields, a young woman stands and looks down the road in a bus shelter. A dying houseplant has been left out on the balcony next to a spade where an African worm is leaning. A woman in a floral dress and with blue shoes blends into nature, where the flowers of the dress unite two completely different landscapes and places. With his face turned towards two fading pale red facades in slow decay, a shirtless man stands in the greenery. A young woman wearing a green billowing shawl is caught in the middle of a powerful stride over imposing roots on her way into the deepest forest. In the stillness of a lake's mirror, a man prays, surrounded by the shadows of the trees and the surface of the water.
Why does the present paint a contradiction between being Swedish and Muslim? What happens to Swedish Muslims, regardless of age, when the public debate, political actors and media portray an entire group as "the others" - as foreign, deviant and potential threats? There are clear political efforts underway to increase the distance between the words "Swedish" and "Muslim". Defining Swedishness remains a never-ending and elusive task. Despite this, public voices compete for the right to define what is Swedish. Nothing happens in a political vacuum, today's dangerous "us and them" attitude leads to Islamophobic hate crimes in public places, on the internet, around the home, in the workplace and in schools.
Throughout history, art in its various forms has been a central force in highlighting and questioning social injustices. At the same time, art also creates space for subjective and personal depictions of everyday life, hopes and dreams, which gives a deeper understanding of people's feelings, experiences and living conditions.
The American writer and academic bell hooks introduced the concept of "homeplace" as a place with deep emotional and cultural connections for the individual. It is not only a physical place, but also a place where you feel a strong sense of belonging, security and togetherness. For many people, especially those belonging to marginalized groups, homeplace acts as a sanctuary where one's true subjective self can be embraced and expressed freely. It is a place where one's spiritual and cultural identity is anchored. By returning to their home place, individuals can draw strength and courage to face challenges and conflicts in the wider society.
We should all fight for and be part of building a society where structural racism and discrimination are fought together, we all bear responsibility for creating a society that carries a wealth of memories, traditions and community.
———
Farsta FotoFest is Konsthall C's exciting pop-up festival around Farsta! We can be seen in libraries, in construction fences and in parks near you. The project is about community and a quest for harmony with the world around us. We talk about our streets, self-chosen families and the need for closeness, joy and togetherness. Through art, we believe in the power of small actions and deep relationships to shape a more just and sustainable world. We celebrate a radical imagination, empathy and joy, despite the challenges we face. Farsta FotoFest is financed by the Culture Council.
The place for the exhibition is Konstdax, a street gallery consisting of four large frames on the facade of the Matdax shop at David Helldén's square in Hökarängen.
Biography
Salad Hilowle, born in 1986 in Mogadishu, Somalia, is an artist and filmmaker active in Stockholm. His practice is often based on archives, images, documents, montages, places and alternative histories. Hilowle is educated at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm. He was recently nominated for DN's Kulturpris, was also nominated for best photo book 2023 and has previously been awarded, among other things, the Hasselblad Foundation's photo book scholarship as well as the Art Academy's Bernadotte scholarship, Kurt Linder's film scholarship and has exhibited both nationally and internationally.
His exhibitions Vanus Labor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Publikt at Kulturhuset in Stockholm have been praised in unison in the press in recent years. In the fall of 2022, in addition to the book Halima om de sina, he is currently with a double exhibition in the Gävle where he grew up, exhibitions that were hailed by Dagens Nyheter as a "strong and grandiose homecoming" for the artist.

Farsta FotoFest is supported by the Swedish Arts Council.