What do we remember so fondly? And what are we desperate to forget? How can art and the desire for a shared reality help us to resist the manipulation of memory and enforced misremembering, and learn from each other across borders, times, nations and cultures?

Olga Bubich, an exiled Belarusian essayist, visual artist, and memory researcher are exploring these questions of memory since 2021, in her artistic project, The Art of (Not) Forgetting. It focuses on the elusive nature of memory, as well as the emotions, imagery and language associated with it. The project also addresses the instrumentalisation of collective memory, a phenomenon that she has observed becoming increasingly prevalent in different parts of the world. These themes are presented in a new exhibition in Art Space.

At the heart of The Art of (Not) Forgetting project are portraits of several dozen Belarusian women and LGBTQ+ individuals, captured by Olga Bubich in individual interactive photographic moments. She photographed them during their attempt to recall of (1) what they would like to forget and (2) what they would like to always remember. The images present the participants while sharing their memories, reminding both themselves and the viewer that the sincerity of our memory shapes our collective future. Books can be burned and textbooks rewritten, but the memory of individuals, families, peoples and nations will endure.

The new exhibition The Art of (Not) Forgetting. Rebuilding Shared Realities in Art Space Södertörn, present for the visitors a selection of the intriguing portraits and texts shared by the subjects. Visitors to Art Space are also invited, if they wish, to contribute to the project at their own pace by leaving notes about their most meaningful and traumatic memories. These can be expressed as a short paragraph, an association, or any other word, sign or image that is personally meaningful to them, and will be added to the collective memory body. The exhibition also includes a small retro library box containing cards with handwritten memories from guests at an exhibition held at AFF Galerie in Berlin in summer 2022. Thus, the events during the Södertörn exhibition will add another layer to Olga Bubich’s fascinating project.

On the artist: Olga Bubich is a Berlin-based essayist, visual artist and lecturer with over 13 years' experience teaching at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences and the Institute of Journalism in Minsk. She has published over 300 essays on memory, art, culture and photography, and is the author of two photobooks and one book, which all address the issues of identity, language and memory in various ways. Her essays have been featured worldwide and have been translated into German, Swedish, Polish, French, Catalan and Welsh.

The Art of (Not) Forgetting: Rebuilding Shared Realities, is produced by Art Space in cooperation with Södertörn University's Memory Studies research platform.

The exhibition runs from January 22nd until March 13th, and is open each weekday 10.00-16.00. Welcome.