Beginning July 1, 2011 eighteen students from Russia, Columbia, Malaysia, Belarus, USA and Sweden arrived in Mariestad to participate in an intensive summer course called Shaping the City. Course lectures and discussions focused on Mariestad’s architectural and social history, geography, tourism, national identity, uses of public space, and socially engaged art practices. Students were asked to critically examine their role in the city while creating projects in or about Mariestad that use the themes of the course as inspiration. Their work was presented in an exhibition on July 21, 2011.
The course was led by artist Amanda Herman (USA) with assistance from Stadslabratoriet/CityArtLab director, Anna Viola Hallberg (SE). Celebrated artists from Sweden and abroad participated and led workshops. Mason Nye (NYC) worked with six students to paint a 45-meter long mural and Stewart Wilson (NYC) led a floating sculpture workshop for students and local residents.

The course is presented in collaboration with the following organizations: Valand School of Fine Arts in Gothenburg, Sweden, California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA. USA, and Stadslabratoriet/CityArtLab in Mariestad, Sweden.

16.7.11

July 1 & July 2


July 1, 2011
The students arrive!
From the train station, we walk to Gothenburg University for a delicious lunch hosted by the city. Maria Henriksson gives us an official welcome, explaining how excited the city officials are to have the students here and how they are looking forward to the projects they make during their stay. The group gets their calendar for the month and Amanda walks them through the expectations and requirements for the next week. Students are assigned a room and we walk up to their lodging in Johannesburg. The students head to ICA (the nearest grocery store) and settle into their temporary home.


July 2, 2011
This was the second day in Mariestad and the first day of classes. At 10 am we met at the Vadsbo Museum where we had a tour and got basic information about the city and its history. We found out that Mariestad had several really important industries: a fabric factory in the 19th century and then the paper factory, Electrolux and Unico production in the middle of the 20th century. We visited an art exhibition in the museum showing a collection of regional crafts. After lunch we had a discussion about Lucy Lippard’ s article “ On and Off the Map,” about mapping and geography. We were given an assignment to make our own maps charting something that couldn’ t be found on a map. There was also a short introduction to the upcoming mural project by Sophy Naess. In the evening we had our first picnic at the lake. Everyone brought delicious food, and Johan played the mandolin. That was really exiting!





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