Mapping Praxis VI: Lindsey’s Itinerary

Lindsey Drury – dancer, writer, historian, researcher, and co-facilitator of the Praxis of Social Imaginaries study circle – became my second interviewee in Mapping Praxis. Born in Seattle (USA), her itinerary encompasses places in America, Asia, and Europe; the City and the Sea as well as the Desert. Lindsey’s travel pattern differs from Frank’s, yet there are similarities…

Lindsey’s Itinerary

The interviews I’ve carried out so far in Mapping Praxis hint at some common features; tentatively, I attribute particular colours and materials to shared experiences – such as danger, falsehood, connectedness, legacy, friendship, love, death, spiritual/intellectual development, clarity…

In addition, I try to find – or craft – visualizations of the uniqueness of certain places.

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As for Mapping Praxis as a whole, I wish to place this work in the tradition of critical mapping and counter-cartographies; I’ve been inspired by, among others, the German kollektiv orangotango and their project This Is Not An Atlas – which explicitly aims to “support /…/ actors who instigate social change by prefiguring social alternatives” and to “learn /…/ how to initiate emancipatory processes from below”. This resonates deeply with me. I also feel encouraged, and learn, from the results of many workshops presented on the Not An Atlas‘ website – especially the mappings titled Counter Cartographies of Exile, and Materiality Language of Cartography.

My next interlocutor will be Robertho Paredes – photographer and filmmaker from Puerto Maldonado (Peru), and fellow participant in Praxis of Social Imaginaries study circle. To be continued…

Mapping Praxis V: Frank’s Itinerary

This ongoing Mapping Praxis project springs from my long-time interest in how nomadism, travels and migration shape our lives and thinking; an urge to visualize dimensions – both spatial and non-spatial – of leaving, arriving, (re)settling, and (sometimes) returning. Following the Praxis of Social Imaginaries working sessions, I’ve had the benefit to reflect (on) emerging topics, as well as conducting workshops together with participants from oh! so many places and walks of life. During the latest gathering of the Praxis network in Oulu, I could also carry out three interviews for Mapping Praxis.

Here’s a rendering of the first interview: Frank’s Itinerary.

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Frank’s Itinerary

Frank’s Itinerary is made from various materials: paint-stained cloth framed in an embroidery hoop; mercerised cotton threads; acrylic, glass, umakite, rhinestone and lava pearls; whole nutmeg, fishbone fragment.

Frank Berger himself is a multi-gifted composer, singer and musician. His closest collaboration within the Praxis network is with Sámi/Swedish artist Emma Göransson; their mutual interest in ‘animated landscapes’ being transformed into music and textiles in their project Spirit Land/Vuoiŋŋalaš Eanadat.

Bonus: here’s Frank playing a traditional wedding march from Esse (Finland) on his hurdy-gurdy:

Mapping Praxis IV: Oulu Review

This winter session of the NSU Praxis circle was hosted by the Oulu Museum of Art. Here, we spent four days reading, writing and discussing; twenty persons from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some of us were ‘oldies’ in this group, other ‘newbies’; some were Christians, others Muslims, some from yet other religious/cultural backgrounds… Earlier Praxis sessions have been dedicated to the tales of monks and merchants,* but this time, we turned to the Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406); a highly learned jurist and historian, possessing extensive knowledge as well as a keen mind – and sometimes also named ‘the father of sociology’. For six centuries, the Muqaddimah has served as an introduction not only to history, but also to the methodologies of empiricism and critical thinking.

Obviously, a few days will be far from enough for the study of such a book . Circle facilitators Laura and Lindsey offer different approaches to help us along: reading aloud together, reading thematically from keywords, reading individually while making notes, reading in pairs while walking… One of the group reading sessions deals with Ibn Khaldun’s treatise on ‘the craft of midwifery’ – a short but extremely interesting portion of the text. Lindsey suggests that the women in the group take turns in reading, while the men listen in silence. Fareeda begins, followed by Justina, Tinka, Didi, myself, Puja, Dorcus, Emma…

“Midwifery is a craft that shows how to proceed in bringing the new-born child gently out of the womb of his mother and how to prepare the things that go with that.
/…/
This is as follows: When the embryo has gone through all its stages and is completely and perfectly formed in the womb /…/ it seeks to come out, because God implanted such a desire in (unborn children). But the opening is too narrow for it, and it is difficult for (the embryo to come out). It often splits one of the walls of the vagina by its pressure, and often the close connection and attachment of its covering membranes with the uterus are ruptured. All of this is painful and hurts very much. /…/ In this connection, the midwife may offer some succour by massaging the back, the buttocks and the lower extremities adjacent to the uterus. She thus stimulates the force pushing the embryo out /…/ She uses as much strength as she thinks is reqired by the difficulty (of the process).
/…/
[The] midwife undertakes to massage and correct (the new-born child) until every limb has resumed its natural shape and the position destined for it /…/ After that, she goes back to the woman in labour and massages and kneads her, so that the membranes of the embryo may come out.
/…/
She then returns to the child. She anoints its limbs with oils and dusts it with astringent powders, to strengthen it and to dry up the fluids of the uterus. /…/ She makes it swallow an electuary, in order to prevent its bowels from becoming obstructed and their walls from sticking together.
/…/
Then, she treats the woman in labour for the weakness caused by the labour pains and the pain that the separation causes her uterus. /…/ The midwife also treats the pain of the vagina that was torn and wounded by the pressure of (the child’s) coming out.
/…/
One can see that this craft is necessary to the human species in civilisation. Without it, the individuals of the species could not, as a rule, come into being…”

Clear voices transmitting substantial knowledge in a space of concentrated listening. When reading is finished, discussion begins. We note the qualities of the text; the care and factualness, the absence of misogyny. We wonder how Ibn Khaldun managed to collect this information? We compare the practices of Maghreb in the 14th century to our own – diverse – experiences. We keep listening, now to each other; male and female voices weaving invisible patterns of expanded understanding… A precious moment in time.

Apart from the reading sessions, we spend little time in the city. Our accommodation is located on one of the islands nearby, in three comfortable cabins close to the seashore. Each day, four or five from the group form a cooking team, to prepare and serve a ‘dinner keynote’: a Croatian pasta dish, a Peruvian dinner, a veggie curry… Communal cooking is another great way of getting together, and the significance of the evening meal goes even deeper as three of us are celebrating Ramadan.

After five intense days, we return home. The work continues.

Above: Oulu, city old and new;
Below:  Frank doing spontaneous parkour outside the museum

*namely, Gerald of Wales, William of Rubruck and Marco Polo.

Mapping Praxis IV: Winter Session in Oulu

New moon over the Old City of Stockholm, for the first time visible in this month of Ramadan. It’s Tuesday, March 12th, and I’m leaving with the overnight ferry to Finland – heading to the city of Oulu/Uleåborg.

In Åbo/Turku, Frank Berger meets me for the eight hours’ train ride due North. Among the things I’ve brought for the occasion, there’s a puzzle crafted from the Waterman version of a ‘butterfly map’. Having worked for some time with printed variations of the butterfly, I felt an urge to break  up that fixed form; and so, I painted the map on separate pieces of board, thinking that it would be interesting to see how people chose to combine them. Well, Frank doesn’t leave me disappointed…

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A musician’s hands, and an open mind, at work; photos HHW.

…as he carefully plots out a number of unknown continents, crowned by a white Terra Incognita.

In the afternoon, we finally arrive in Uleåborg/Oulu – a city of islands and bridges, situated where Oulujoki river meets the Baltic. Here, the Praxis group is gathering for yet another symposium. More to follow!

Mapping Praxis III: Butterfly Wings

Our precious planet, a fragile butterfly in space. Countless motley facets, an ever-changing kaleidoscope.

Our personal life stories, itineraries meandering through moments and places. How do we blend our voices together beautifully? How do we translate the sounds of winds and waves, birds and trees, humming insects, the singing fishes in the deep? And the animal screams from the slaughterhouses?

Here, some recent ‘work in progress’; watercolour renderings of the octants that together constitute the Waterman butterfly map projection.

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Eight watercolour paintings, each 18×26 cms; Helena Hildur W. (2024)

Suddenly, I remember Ukrainian artist Alexander Krolikowski, who taps the signals of passing satellites to portray the Earth’s surface… “When you love someone, you take pictures of them, right?”

Yes – in times of war, we do love’s labour.

Screenshot

Screenshot from short documentary Art in the Land of War, episode 7: Alexander Krolikowski by DocNoteFilms (2022)

Mapping Praxis II: complementary perspectives

Nordic winter days: sparse light, long nights. Preparing for upcoming symposium within the Praxis project at Oulu Art Museum in March. Today, I’m also very happy and grateful for the travel grant approved yesterday by Kulturfonden för Sverige och Finland – kiitos! Tack!!

Hours spent reading, painting, printing, stitching… my mind floating between the concept of (abstract) space – iconized in world maps of various projections – and individual itineraries, tales of personal experiences in specific places…

…representing two complementary perspectives on our lived and living world(s); both wondrously fused together in pictures sent from the crews of NASA’s Apollo space missions.* Here below, the very first photo of planet Earth as viewed from beyond orbit – captured from Apollo 8 on Dec. 21st 1968, by astronaut Bill Anders. Upon returning, Anders commented: “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”

Photo credit: NASA / restoration by Toby Ord

* Read more about the Apollo voyages, images and photo restoration project: BBC Sky at Night Magazine (published January 23, 2024)

Mapping Praxis I: threads and butterflies

Since the Sigtuna working retreat in November, mapping procedures are on my mind… and all over the place; in books, notes and various materials. Reading and making. Seeking ways, following paths.

One accessible course would be to track the development of map projections, meant to change certain aspects of representation; to advance geodetics, to aestheticize or challenge general understanding – or combinations thereof, such as the “butterfly projection” invented by Bernard Cahill (1909)  and improved  by Gene Keyes (1975), the Dymaxion map by Buckminster Fuller (1943) and the reconsidered butterfly map by Steve Waterman (1996).

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Three butterfly maps by Cahill and Keyes; Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map; 2013 Waterman butterfly map;
images credit to Wikipedia commons and Gene Keyes’ website

The butterfly map concept provides a starting point. As the Praxis group (and Nordic Summer University) gatherings generally take place in the Nordic-Baltic countries, I have chosen Waterman’s Europe-centered version (1996), reproducing it in varying sizes; A3, 1 x 2 metres and 2 x 2 metres. At the Sigtuna retreat, all participants were invited to mark their own places of special significance on the 1 x 2 metres map. Some persons pinned only one place, others many. Connecting the individual pins with embroidery yarn (remainders from the 2018 Star Roads project) casts a somewhat arbitrary net over the so far colourless cardboard…

Praxis “significant places’ map”; graphite drawing on cardboard, coloured map pins and mercerised cotton threads;
100 x  200 cms; (collaborative work in progress)

Connective threads and pinned places: silver grey: Purmo–Hosaina–Fiji; dark green: Puerto Maldonado (Amazonas)–Madrid–Tartu; greyish brown: København–Reykjavik–Vancouver–Lisboa–Stockholm–Post-Anthropocenic Speculative Diaspora; green: New York City; bright blue: Mariehamn–Lisboa–Åbo–Cottonwood–Kökar–Atupeva/Atupera?; brownish yellow: Herental / de Wimp; dark grey: Nakkila–Åbo–Haifa–North Namibia / Ovamboland; dark red: Alta; warm yellow: Seattle–Taos (New Mexico)–New York–Berlin; light yellow: Tejgadh–Frostviken–Melbourne–Stockholm; light violet: Örebro-Kåvi–Stockholm–Linnés Hammarby–Bern–Kailash–Helgum–Umeå–Lycksele–Visby–Dalhem (Småland).

Before the map, there were the tales of travellers. Before the concept of abstract space, there were a thousand and one places.

Helena Hildur W: two A3 size butterfly maps;
left: graphite pencil on paper; right: monoprint with graphite shading on paper

Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Working Retreat @ Sigtuna II

The Praxis of Social Imaginaries – an intriguing title* and an inspiring project, launched by Dr. Lindsey Drury and Dr. Laura Hellsten in 2022; still in its first year out of three, the initiative has managed to attract researchers, scholars and artists from six (!) continents, to gather around readings of mediaeval travellers’ tales. Like distant mirrors,** the written accounts of monks and merchants reflect shifting interests, gradually forming a worldview that impacts our lives deeply even today… And we ourselves, as a working group, are a diverse set of mirrors, framed in so many cultural contexts; from the Amazon forest to Berlin and New York City; from Kampala, Singapore and Adelaide to Sápmi… hopefully opening up for developing new modes of understanding; for social imaginaries more appropriate to our own world.

Views from Sigtunastiftelsen: dining room, garden and library

Our contributions to the Praxis project are partly realized within our respective professional settings – but, since the aim is to nurture genuinely transdisciplinary collaborations, ad hoc gatherings will be held over time as sub-projects emerge. So here we are, in the small mediaeval city of Sigtuna some 45 kms from Stockholm, to spend a weekend together in late November… The venue itself provides unique values; we’re hosted by the Sigtuna Foundation – a meeting ground dedicated to dialogue and openness ever since 1917. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nathan Söderblom, UN general secretary Dag Hammarskjöld and poet Gunnar Ekelöf are some of the notable Swedes historically connected to this place, which still offers a lively spot for cultural, scientific and interreligious exchange. Anders the librarian gives us a guided tour in his sanctuary of books; some of the items are of venerable age, others come fresh off the presses to spark debate or enhance knowledge in current topics. (Due to GDPR issues, you will neither see Anders in action, nor the amazement in our faces here.) Later, we also got the opportunity to attend an opening at artist-run space Slipvillan, where our fellow project contributor Emma Göransson was part of a group show.

Walking and talking in Sigtuna; Sigtuna Foundation and the ruin of S:t Per’s church

Was there any time for actual work during this working session, then? I think it’s fair to say that shared time, shared experiences and shared meals are meaningful elements in work processes like this one. Equally important, of course, are the moments of structured reflection – both individual and common… and yes, there was time for that, too. Even sleep may bring unforeseen revelations…

…to be continued…

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* “The imaginary (or social imaginary) is the set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols through which people imagine their social whole.” – Wikipedia: Imaginary (sociology)
**A distant mirror is the title of a renowned book by historian Barbara Tuchman. That specific work isn’t part of the Praxis project reading list; however, the title is too good not to be re-used – with due credit!

Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Working Retreat @ Sigtuna I

A few snaps from preparations, before joining the Praxis project group for a working retreat at Sigtunastiftelsen / Sigtuna Foundation…

More to come soon.

Art in the Land of War

What is the role of art when an entire country  is fighting for its life? How is it even possible to create under the conditions of war? The common denominator, I think, is the strive for freedom.

To my understanding, freedom is one and indivisible – just like Spaceship Earth is one for all of us. To paraphrase Caribbean-American poet Audre Lorde: I am not free while any being is unfree.* In February 2022, when Russia’s prior war crime aggression and annexation turned into a full scale invasion of Ukrainian territory, it wasn’t only an eye-opener, but also a compelling urge to take action. How could I, as an artist, support the defenders of our freedom?

Staying in touch (since 2011) with Kyiv-based filmmaker Oleg Chorny, in combination with having a volunteer-run cinema just across the street, finally sparked the idea of organizing a film screening. When I contacted Stadsgårdsterminalen – one of Stockholm’s most creative spaces – the project kind of doubled… In the first months of 2023, I turned to Region Stockholm for funding; in June, my application was granted, and I could start organizing the two screening events. Independent production company DocNoteFilms gave me full access to their short film series Art in the Land of War – documentaries made in 2022-2023, following Ukrainian artists in their studios and workshops; in front of the screen or the loom; in the basement shelter or in the city streets… To pick a choice from the 25 movies wasn’t easy, but in the end ten were chosen to mirror the diversity of Ukrainian art and artists.

Local cinema Mölnbo Bio by night

Örjan from ‘Caps and Candles for Ukraine’

Painter Matvei Vaisberg, from the documentary by Oleg Chorny

Inna, outstanding singer of the band ‘Ukraina’

Painter Matvei Vaisberg, from the documentary by Oleg Chorny

Pelle the cinema technician

Introducing a movie

On September 23rd, the first screening event took place in rural village Mölnbo. Long-time local residents mingled with more recently settled Ukrainian refugees; home-made borsch and nalysnyky pancakes were served, artworks by Angela Ursol were on display and the band named Ukraina played. Örjan – representing local volunteer organization Caps and Candles for Ukraine – told us about his recent journey to Eastern Ukraine, where much-needed supplies reached its destinations. And the documentaries took us all along to Mariupol, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Muzychi, Poltava, Charkiv… to a  number of artists at work – very diverse in personalities, age, genres and techniques, each one finding their own way in modalities of resistance.

During the following weeks, the next event was announced on walls in central Stockholm as well as online. Another batch of soup and nalysnyky were prepared, all details of the program were finally set, and planning proceeded with the super-helpful staff at Stadsgårdsterminalen. On Saturday, October 7th, volunteers and artists gathered in the morning to arrange everything… Visual artists Liubov Babichenko and Anastasiia Usenko contributed with their artworks, Tomas the technician got everything in order – and by noon, people began to drop in as the soundcheck of domra player Olga Kovalenko smoothly turned into a little concert.

‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ by Liubov Babichenko

The volunteer-run café attracted visitors

‘Les trois soeurs’ by Liubov Babichenko

Olga Kovalenko presenting her music

A glimpse of Anastasiia Usenko’s drawings

The screening program opened with two films that were made before 2022, and therefore weren’t part of the Art in the Land of War series: first, Derevo / The Tree  – a portrait of a woodcarver, originally created by amateur filmmaker Victor Kyzyma in the 1970s. The faded and damaged remains of Kyzyma’s film were rediscovered in 2017, and brought back to life by contemporary filmmakers Oleg Chorny and Gennadiy Khmaruk; a dreamlike memory, reimagined. Next, Proekt Doschu/Rain Project took us to the city of Mariupol in 2016, to follow the work of street artist Gamlet Zinkivskyi – also known as ‘Ukraine’s Banksy’.

Still from ‘Derevo’ (2019)

Still from ‘Proekt Doschu’ (2016)

The program proceeded with the recent DocNoteFilms/Babylon’13 documentaries, shown  two by two with a 30 minutes pause inbetween screenings. There were talks by artist Liubov Babichenko, and by Max Valentin – founder and producer at Fabel Kommunikation – who gave us insights from the Ukrainian cultural sector (especially, the changing role of public libraries). We also succeeded to make contact with director Hanna Iarosevych over link from Kyiv; a valuable exchange, as the audience could pose their questions directly to the filmmaker, who emphasized the blooming of contemporary Ukrainian cinema as a part of civil society.

Max Valentin on what to learn from Ukrainian civil society

Hanna Iarosevych live on screen

View from the backstage hangout

Our final treat was a work by Liubov Babichenko, produced especially for this event and with music by composer Roman Gens; archive documentary PAST SIMPLE – once more connecting with the past, speaking wordlessly about life in peace… projecting hope for the future.

Below, screenshots of some of the artists seen in the documentaries:

Street artist Gamlet Zinkivskyi


Conceptual artist Alevtina Kakidze

Conceptual artist Taras Polataiko


Artist and activist Oleksiy Sai


Anonymous art student


Nina Savenko, printmaker at print workshop Lithography30

Composer Alexander Shchetynsky with colleague at the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts


Tapestry weaver Olha Pilyuhina


Sculptor Svitlana Karunska

*original quote by Audre Lorde: “I am not free while any woman is unfree.”