Narration in Contemporary Swedish Art

Norrköping Museum of Art and Riksutställningar (Swedish Travelling
Exhibitions) present Narration in Swedish Contemporary Art, an exhibition that displays work by ten artists whose common denominator is the telling of personal stories.

Narration is an art that serves our most basic need to pass on our experiences; it is also a tool that has been experimented with in all artistic fields - such as literature, music and film - as well as within art. All artists in the exhibition work with various kinds of biographical stories, either based on fact, fiction or a combination of the two. A strong interest in the culture one originates from or other cultures is also present in the artworks.

An audioguide was produced for the exhibition with the intention of giving the viewer a highly individual tour of the works, spinning on the theme of the exhibition of personal stories. The visitor has a choice of walking with one of three "guides". They are all public figures whose backgrounds are all within the arts - literature, music and performance. Sometimes they draw parallels to their field which gives insight into how these related practices also work with narration in various ways.

The "pick-up" as Dataton calls is hasslefree when it comes to which sound goes with what piece of art. The label for each artwork contains a so called transponder which at the push of a button gives an infra red signal which simply triggers the right track, so the viewer can walk any which way he or she pleases.

Stella d'Ailly
Exhibition coordinator
Riksutställningar (Swedish Travelling Exhibitions)