Jenny Magnusson and Anna Öberg met in 2022 when both were residency holders at Iaspis, Stockholm. Despite the different mediums of our practices, we realized that we were interested in similar processes and decided to do a series of practical labs. Through Anna's exploration of passing on (Sw tradera) as a choreographic method and Jenny's interest in circular and spatial processes of recycling, we then explored how our practices in sculpture, dance, spatiality and corporeality could meet and collide. During our residency at NKF, we will continue to deepen that collaboration through an artistic format that we call DEPÅ. Through DEPÅ we will partly do a series of practical and public labs, and also investigate the possibility of making a spatial text together where our artistic dialogue becomes both performative and highly visible.
Jenny Magnusson (*1970) lives and works in Gothenburg (SE). She received her artistic training at HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design in Gothenburg. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Sweden and internationally, including at Galerie Jochen Hempel and Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum (San Antonio, Texas), MIEC Santo Tirso (Portugal), Galleri Rostrum (Malmö), Galleri Fagerstedt, the Academy of Fine Arts (Stockholm), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), WELD (Stockholm), and Ystad Konstmuseum. In 2020 she produced a public artwork, “Luta-Lägga-Stapla” (Lean-Lay-Stack), commissioned by Public Art Agency Sweden for Voksenåsen, Oslo. In 2021 she participated in the group exhibition “Towards Another World” at the Gothenburg Museum of Art. She is included in collections like the Gothenburg Museum of Art, The Swedish State Council, Sten A. Olsson’s grant Research and Culture.
At the moment Jenny Magnusson is presented in her solo exhibition at Dorothée Nilsson Gallery in Berlin. During the fall of 2024, she will be an artist-in-residence at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, supported by the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. She collaborates with photographer Patrik Elgström in the duo SKYMMER OCH SER, which is currently working on a public art comission in the Norrby area of Borås commissioned by the Borås Art Museum. Additionally, the duo is conducting an extended investigation to test their working methods and approaches in relation to the Skövde Art Museum as a location and collection, with the aim of creating a public artwork similar to that in Borås.
Anna Öberg is a dancer and choreographer who uses her background in Swedish folk dance as the starting point for both her artistic and research work. In 2015 she was awarded an MFA degree in Choreography at Stockholm University of Arts (Uniarts), as the first traditional dancer in its history. Annas works are characterized by the creation of multilayered performances with a strong physical approach, often using the interaction between music and movement as a central core. Her work is often described as innovative and with subtlety and perceptual acuity. The last years she has often returned to concepts of passing on (Sw tradera) as a choreographic method. An interest that has also effected the collaboration with Jenny Magnusson in DEPÅ.
Commissioned works in recent years include e.g Dalateatern, Stadsteatern, Scenkonst Sörmland, Riksteatern, Dancenet Sweden. Her stage works have been presented at e.g. Dansens Hus, MDT, Norrlandsoperan, Moderna museet, Dansstationen in Sweden, Dansehallerne in Denmark, Riksscenen Norway and Brut Imagetanz Vienna. During 2019 she created SOLITUDE as Dancenet Sweden's new co-production, and in 2024 she will premiere INCUS at Norrlandsoperan as a new Dancenet Sweden co-production.
Anna has also recurring commissions as a dramaturg, moderator and pedagogue in Sweden and abroad. During the years she has also initiated and curated platforms for stage art, pedagogical issues and research, latest FLOCK, a new festival för scenic art in Falun, Sweden in collaboration with Dalateatern and Folkmusikens Hus.