Minna Henriksson - Art, Labour and International Struggle
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
No booking required
In 1970 Polaroid corporation was the first multinational company to become the target of an international boycott due to trading with apartheid South Africa. In Finland, the Transport Workers' Union, frustrated by the hypocrisy of the Finnish government and its incapacity to divest from South Africa, initiated a boycott of handling goods between South Africa and Finland in 1985. It was joined by other trade unions in Finland and other Nordic countries. Minna Henriksson's artistic practice deals with these historical cases of international workers' struggles. Photographic work 'Sensitometric Experiment with Polaroid' (2012) and a series of linocuts, 'Works on Paper' (2015-17) bring these historical struggles back into our awareness, aiming to relate to discussions about the solidarity movements and the trade unions today, and what could be the role of art in them.
All welcome! Booking not required.
Biography:
Minna Henriksson (b. 1976, Oulu) is a visual artist living in Helsinki. She has studied art in Brighton, Helsinki and Malmö. Her work is research-based and includes a disparate range of tools including text, drawing, linocut and photography. Her work is often collaborative, and aims to relate to discussions arising from anti-racist, leftist and feminist struggles. Since 2006, she's had an ongoing theoretical engagement on nationalism together with Sezgin Boynik. Henriksson co-edited the book Art Workers - Material Conditions and Labour Struggles in Contemporary Art Practice focusing on art workers' labour conditions in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. Henriksson is a member of the group Helsingin Nuorisofestivaali 1962 Muistityöryhmä, which produced the radio play 'Festival 62' which examines mechanisms of silencing. Henriksson is active in Helsinki in the collective study group Night Schoolers and leftist artists' association Kiila.
Contact name:
Esther Leslie