Jaguars can’t be heard, and yet they sing

Two merry-go-rounds have been placed next to Lindängen’s central square in the Lindängen neighborhood, south of central Malmö. When in use, a polyphonic sound can be heard. Yet when the two merry-go-rounds turn in time with each other, starting at the exact same time, the melody of Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio’s Los dos gallos (“Red Rooster, Black Rooster”) is played in harmony, with the different verses divided between the merry-go-rounds like a dialogue. It becomes an interplay between following the rhythm and melody and trying to steer it.

The initiative for the work came from Gatukraft (which means “power of the streets”), a network of local citizens who are dedicated to making Lindängen’s central square into a more well-maintained and welcoming place, especially for children. It was very important to Gatukraft that they themselves would be allowed to ask their neighbors what their view of Lindängen’s future was and how they imagined an artwork in the neighborhood’s center could take shape. At the beginning of the collaboration, the artist Carla Zaccagnini gave a presentation of one of her early works, Museum of Views, in which she worked with a forensic artist in trying to draw places based on people’s dreams. Museum of Views became an inspiration for the drawing workshops that Gatukraft, the artist, and two illustrators held together with the citizens of Lindängen in 2017. Instead of talking of the place of their dreams, Gatukraft asked the question: “What would make you spend 30 more minutes in Lindängen’s center?”

Lindängen School’s third-graders were also given a drawing assignment—to draw the town square of their dreams. The drawings were part of a discussion with pupils about how our common spaces are created and they were submitted to the planning authorities of the City of Malmö ahead of their planning of the transformation of the square. The drawings have also been the basis of Carla Zaccagnini’s artwork.

Lindängen is faced with comprehensive urban development. Its central square will be a construction site for years to come, and already now the neighborhood’s new school is being built right next to the merry-go-rounds. The lack of public spaces for the neighborhood’s children and youths during the building phase was one of the reasons why the Public Art Agency initiated this collaboration with Lindängen. Jaguars can’t be heard, and yet they sing bridges the gap between current dreams in Lindängen and the upcoming renovation of Lindängen’s center. The work builds a part of the up-coming square in advance, like a full-scale test of a possible future.