Last month, my artist collective CLUSTER headed to Stockholm to exhibit our work at the Supermarket Independent Art Fair. Supermarket is the biggest Nordic Art Fair. This year, 66 booths showcased work by artists from Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the US.
It was a whirlwind week of hard work, delicious food, inspired conversations and deepening friendships that I’m still digesting a month later…which is why it’s taken me so long to condense this experience into a succinct blog post.
The Fair’s theme this year was Dream On, which we each interpreted in our own way. A few weeks before leaving, the nine of us met at my place to share the work we planned to exhibit. We were delighted to discover that, despite our varied interpretations, there was a narrative through line that wove our pieces together. So we left Seattle feeling confident that we could assemble a strong booth that was cohesive yet diverse.
Scandic Skärholmen doesn’t play when it comes to breakfast! Our morning meetings were deicious…
In Stockholm, we started each day enjoying the hotel’s deluxe breakfast buffet which powered us through to late afternoon. Our first day was installation day. June is a seasoned curator who’s highly capable of pulling together disparate works to tell a cohesive story. So we laid our pieces out in the booth, and gave her some time and space to figure out the flow. Once the layout was decided, we got down to work.
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We are all independent, hard working women who are quick to lend a hand. So the entire installation ~ from troubleshooting and devising grid hanging systems to reconfiguring the layout and wiring for electricity ~ was joyful and collaborative. We were just excited to be where we were, doing what we were doing, together.
LtoR: Marilyn Charlat Dix, Carolyn Autenrieth (back), Rosalie Frankel, Eliaichi Kimaro, Dawn Endean, Ellen Hochberg, June Sekiguchi
I believe the diversity of our work was our strength. Throughout the Fair, the CLUSTER booth drew a steady crowd. While everything wasn’t for everyone, if you walked through our booth, chances were high you would connect with someone’s work strongly enough to want to spend time with it.
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A few close-up shots:
Meanwhile, we scheduled our booth shifts so that everyone could have a couple days to explore Stockholm. I split my time between old town Gamla Stan and the museums of modern art (Moderna Museet) and photography (Fotografiska Museum). Stockholm’s public transportation made getting around easy, and the areas we visited were pedestrian friendly. What a delight to spend the day with friends exploring, shopping, dining, and feasting our eyes on beautiful architecture and art!
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There’s so much more to say…but this is enough to get started. I returned to Seattle a week later with a full heart. This adventure deepened both our individual friendships and our collective commitment to CLUSTER. Look forward to reuniting in June to debrief our trip and make plans for our next exhibit (we already have a gallery booked!) Stay tuned…
