Press release Sick Text 01/21/2025

CRIP - Sick Text

Konstfrämjandet Västmanland and the artist Diktgymnasiet present the exhibition program CRIP, that focuses on what it means for an artist to become chronically ill, artistically and practically. The program starts with the exhibition Sick Text, at Klaipėda Cultural Communication Center in Lithuania on January 31, 2025.

Press release 01/21/2025

CRIP is based on the artist Diktgymnasiet's experiences of living with the chronic, physically and cognitively disabling neurological disease M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). Crip is an abbreviation for the derogatory term cripple, which patient groups with neurological and/or physical disabilities have reclaimed and collectively filled with positive value. In this work, we look at how disabilities can work as an artistic starting point, and how the term crip can be used as a prefix in artistic work. Diktgymnasiet is a pseudonym, the artist behind it has chosen to remain anonymous, as a part of the project's strategy of stress management.

The program, which runs throughout 2025, starts on January 31 with Diktgymnasiet's solo exhibition Sick Text at the Klaipėda Cultural Communication Center (KKKC) in Klaipėda, Lithuania. Konstfrämjandet Västmanland participates in the project in the role of professional assistant and producer, to enable Diktgymnasiet's artistic production. In this way, Konstfrämjandet Västmanland can guarantee that the practical and representative work around the exhibition works in relation to health, the art institutions and the audience.

Key points for the exhibition Sick Text at KKKC
Opening: January 31
Opening starts at: 5.30 pm
Exhibition is open between: January 31 and March 2
Address: Bažnyčių str. 4, LT-91246, Klaipėda, Lithuania
Opening hours: Monday–thursday 8 am–5 pm, friday 8.15 am–3.45 pm
Closed for lunch: 12.15 pm–12.45 pm
https://www.kkkc.lt/en/

Press contact: Patrick Kretschek patrick.kretschek@konstframjandet.se
Press contact KKKC: Justina Trapokaite justina.trapokaite@kkkc.lt

The professional assistant on site in Lithuania is Kalle Nordström, who has many years of experience of working with art installations, for the Luleå Biennial and the Public Art Agency Sweden, among others. The exhibition text is written by Jenny Richards, PhD student in art at Konstfack and KTH. The project manager and producer is Patrick Kretschek, artistic director of Konstfrämjandet Västmanland.

Excerpt from the exhibition text:

“Sick Text meditates on the world Diktgymnasiet now inhabits and the whole scale change they have gone through since living with chronic health problems. In sickness, language, the foundation of their art practice became unknowable, lost, out of reach. As Diktgymnasiet describes it, ‘my writing was sick, just as I was’. They had to ask themselves, ‘if reading and writing isn’t a cognitive possibility, what does this mean for the artist-writer?’ Sick Text invites us on a journey to unearth the foundational frameworks of language; exploring and creating other ways for our senses and neurological circuits to be nourished and communicated.”

– Jenny Richards

In addition to the exhibition in Lithuania, the CRIP art program includes exhibitions at Köping Museum and Folkrörelsernas Konstfrämjande in Stockholm, which also includes the release of a digital publication and an artist book. An art education workshop with children will be held in Konstlek in Råby, an art activity for children run by Konstfrämjandet Västmanland in collaboration with Västerås Art Museum and the Resurscentrum för konst i Västmanland. More information about the program will be published continuously during 2025.

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In parallel with the exhibitions and publications, CRIP is also an experiment in how an art institution can work with artists with disabilities, in the hope of creating guidance, and setting a precedent.

The project is gathering knowledge about the opportunities and limitations a chronically ill artist faces when creating and exhibiting art. What does the art institution do when the artist cannot physically participate in the work, or work against deadlines, for health reasons?

An important aspect of the project is that Diktgymnasiet has become a part-time employee of Konstfrämjandet Västmanland. This makes CRIP a concrete example for the employer Konstfrämjandet Västmanland, giving them the opportunity to pay attention to issues around the working environment, and to develop methods for internal stress management. This in turn provides important knowledge that can be used and disseminated outside of the project.

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Diktgymnasiet is an artist and poet who lives and works in Stockholm. Their work, which is mostly done from the sickbed, addresses self-care, chronic illness and disability justice. Their work is currently being shown in an online-exhibition at Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, in Ludwigshafen. Previous exhibitions include Konsthall C in Stockholm, Alta Art Space in Malmö and The National Poetry Library at the Southbank Center in London. Their work has been published in the magazine Addenda in Copenhagen, the online magazine Scrypth(.com) in Oslo and Furre Förlag in Malmö.

diktgymnasiet.com

Instagram @diktgymnasiet

Konstfrämjandet Västmanland is an artist-driven regional art institution, operating throughout the county of Västmanland in Sweden. Since 2016, we have developed the art scene in the county in accordance with the motto the organization has held since 1947: "Art for All", where by “all” we mean anyone who believes in equality and democracy. We work for the artists, and together with them we work to make art a natural part of the everyday lives of children, young people and adults. We believe in art as a tool for social development, and we are an organization that always collaborates. Since 2022, the artistic director of Konstfrämjandet Västmanland is Patrick Kretschek.

Link to Konstfrämjandet Västmanland's project page for the CRIP project:

https://vastmanland.konstframjandet.se/projekt/crip

Instagram: @konstframjandet.vastmanland

CRIP is done with the support from Kulturbryggan.