The Conference of the Birds exhibition at Österängens konsthall, Jönköping.

Österängens konsthall and Jönköpings Fågelmuseum

1 June — 1 September 2024

The exhibition at Österängens konsthall and Jönköpings Fågelmuseum featured a collection of artworks produced during the five-year long project with The Conference of the Birds. Here art and science have joined forces to focus on our relationship with the birds and their destiny. From a bird’s eye perspective the artists examine how tactile, emotional and social values can cultivate empathy and strengthen our connection to our environment and to the birds. The show also included an interactive program with public events including talks and workshops during the opening 1-2 June and the closing weekend 31 August -1 September.

The core of the project are site-specific collaborations called Nests, located in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In Österängens konsthall and at Jönköpings Fågelmuseum, several of these artworks and activities created in the different Nests were presented for the first time in a joint exhibition and public program.

In the Finnish archipelago, curated by Ulla Taipele, an audio visual work and a choir piece for the hated great cormorant has been made by sound artist LauNau and video artist Jan Eerala.
On the island of Selvær in northern Norway the close relationship between eider ducks and humans has become a film, a series of photographs and a performative sculpture through the hands of curator and artist Eva Bakkeslett and the artist duo Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen.
In Copenhagen, curator and action philosopher Oleg Koefoed invited a group of artists exploring the encounters between people and birds in the city with participatory walks, listening sessions and relational art forms.
In Frihamnen, Göteborg, curator and artist Ulrika Jansson, together with other artists, specialists and the public, has explored through physical and sensory experiences possibilities for coexistence between species in urban planning.
On Koster islands in Sweden, a ritual video work has been made by the artist group Gylleboverket together with the local people who live in a landscape close to birds and fish.