Artist on artist: Kalle Brolin on Monica Sjöö

Kalle Brolin is an artist based in Malmö. Brolin is involved in an ongoing multi-year project with the Baltic Art Center (BAC) in Visby, which includes portrayal of and activities together with the Gotland Peace Movement. Monica Sjöö is a source of inspiration through how she made her involvement in movements for feminism, the environment and peace a part of her artistry.

In his special guided tour, Brolin will reverse the perspective, to look at how a committed artistry can contribute to a movement. Brolin makes a comparison between artists who contribute to a movement with their images and a distinctive aesthetic, and artists who contribute to a movement with a distinctive working method.

Monica Sjöö was deeply involved in the peace movement. During the military escalation of the 1980s, Sjöö organized several political campaigns, and with women’s groups such as Women for Life on Earth, she participated in peace marches and the anti-nuclear camps at RAF Brawdy and Greenham Common.

Sjöö’s lifelong research into ancient, matriarchal cultures shaped her thinking and art. She used the knowledge to sketch the contours of another possible future, where spirituality and political change came together. Sjöö searched back in time to find voices and contexts that could echo loudly in the present and work for a total revolution