Four unusual trees have appeared between two old trees at Drotninggatan 18, the place where all Malmöites apply for national ID. They are made of bits held together by metal rings. The bits belong to trees that were felled in another place, far from here. Those trees were providing shelter to illegal immigrants in a ferry terminal. That’s why they were felled. Now they have gotten a new identity in a new place.
A Country’s Landscape deals with tensions inherent to the notions of identity and citizenship. With increased migration flows and a heightened nationalistic rhetoric, a changing sense of nationhood has re-casted the universalistic aspirations of citizenship into a divisive and exclusive light. The idea of European diversity gives way to the notion of European homogeneity behind closely guarded frontiers.
Runo Lagomarsino’s work focuses on how today’s political and social environment has developed through historical processes, and how this creates metaphors and pictures from which we read history and society.
On Malmös leende
In Malmös Leende, a group of international and Swedish artists interact with the city and it’s public space. They try to deconstruct simplistic depictions and explore its complex reality. Their works deal with a broad aspect of issues pertaining to politics, religion, language, belonging and cityscape.
Malmös Leende is produced by Public Art Agency Sweden and realized in collaboration with the City of Malmö.