From removal box to showcase – the archive as principle of arrangement

Authors

  • Johanne Løgstrup University of Aarhus

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.9606

Abstract

This article is a critical reading of the retrospective exhibition with the Danish-French artist Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (1911-1984) at The National Gallery of Denmark in 2019. The article focuses on the various principles of arrangement that the exhibition uses in its curatorial approaches, such as the archive and the studio. This brings forward specific concerns about the artist, the biography and the working process, which relates to broader perspectives on how to reread female artists in a contemporary condition. The article discusses how the exhibition fails to combine the different arrangement principles, and as a result of this, the exhibition rather tells the relation between the works, the artistic process and the influence on the artist rather than shows it. This happens despite a rich archive that shows Ferlov Mancobas concern about her environment and how the time affected her work. The article draws on theories of the archive and feminism.

Author Biography

Johanne Løgstrup, University of Aarhus

School of Communication and Culture

Curator

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Published

2022-03-23

Issue

Section

Articles