Herring, Iron, Gunpowder, Humans & Sugar
Olando Whyte (JA) and Rut Karin Zettergren (SE)
As a part of project Herring, Iron, Gunpowder, Humans & Sugar the duo Olando Whyte (JA) and Rut Karin Zettergren (SE) had a one month residency at The Nordic Guest Studio in Jun-August 2019. The project examines how the triangle trading system (16th to early19th centuries), the economic system underpinning the transatlantic slave trade, still affects contemporary economic and cultural structures. The project consists of four parts; research, creation of sculptural objects, performances and the construction of a telephone app. At the NKF residency the work was focused on researching the role Stockholm played in the international trade and making the objects for the performances. The materials used is the same as the commodities that used to be traded with as sugar, salted herring, dried cod, iron, royal oak wood, gold, indigo and textile etc. Performances where we tell stories and dance with the objects and will be carried out at places that used to be part of the trade in Sweden, England, Ghana and Jamaica during 2019 and 2020. The project can be followed on instagram @herring_iron_humans_sugar.
Olando Whyte
Olando Whyte is a dancer and choreographer based in Kingston Jamaica. Olando has danced the street dance genre Dancehall since an early age and represented his community Drewsland in numerous performances and competitions around the island. He is the founder of the dancehall dance crew Real Konnection and has been its leader since 2008. The crew has won several awards as boom baderdan road dance competition, been official dancers for Magnum and Rum Bar Rum and toured with musicians as QQ, Spice, Demerco, Fambo, Mr.g, Cargo and RDX. 2013 Whyte won a study scholarship competition and attended courses in dance at the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston. Since 2018 he is holding a scholarship in traditional Jamaican dance at Edna Manley Colleges branch in Paupin. Olando recently formed a new dance company Recreation Squad that is experimenting with mixing traditional afro jamaican dances as Kumina, Myal and Dinki-mini with dancehall. www.cargocollective.com/whyte
Rut Karin Zettergren
Rut Karin Zettergren is an artist based in Stockholm Sweden, she works in various mediums such as video, performance, installations and internet-based art. In the recent years most of here works has been made collectively with other artist and she is a part of the artist gropes 0s+1s Collective, Crystal Beacon and Osäkerhets principen. Her work revolves around issues of technology development from a feminist and futuristic perspective, transformation of popular culture through internet and historical events that shaped contemporary culture. She has an MFA from the The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and have studied art at Makere University in Uganda and ISA in Cuba. Zettergren has shown works at institutions as Mänttä Festival, Sinne,Titanic (FI), Barbican Centre, FACT Centre , Arnolfini (UK) Oberhausen Int. Film Festival, Taiwan Int. Video Art Exhibition (TW), Impakt Festival, Rotterdam Int. Film Festival (NL), Havana Biennale (CU), West Space (AU), Göteborgs Konsthall, Tensta Konsthall and Gallery 54 (SE). www.rutkarinzettergren.se
