OpenART on its way to heaven, Japanese artist Kawamata on his way to Örebro, Sweden

Why risk sitting in one chair your entire life when thousands can take you all the way to heaven! This year’s OpenART is putting that concept to the test.

Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata is a wizard with everyday, run-of-the-mill objects. Such as chairs, for example. Lots of chairs. Like, maybe ten thousand. A call is moving through Örebro like wildfire just now: a chair, a chair, an artwork for a chair!

The goal is to collect thousands of chairs for one of the year’s largest outdoor sculptures, which is being constructed in Järntorget. There is a large fountain in the square that this summer would have been dry. The water shortage here in central Sweden is forcing many communities to curtail all unnecessary use of water. So instead of water play, the square will instead become a fountain of furniture... An expansive mountain of chairs that will be, to say the least, impressive. Chairs are being gratefully accepted for the sculpture. To make this contribution to the arts especially memorable, donors are invited to bring their chairs on 26-27 May to Järntorget, where Kawamata himself will be starting construction of the work. He will be also available for interviews from the press between 1:00-3:00 pm on Friday 26 May.

Tadashi Kawamata, who divides his time between an art professorship in Paris and his work as an artist in his home country, is considered one of the great contemporary artists. Many of his works relate to architecture. He adds small wooden huts to war memorials and venerable institutions in the world’s metropolises, or forms sculptural exclamations of everyday objects and woodwork in classical urban spaces. The results are fantastic, flowing additions to classicism and modernism inthe architectural arts. A visual impression that is sure to raise some goose bumps...

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OpenART 2017 aims to create a distinct triangle of ideas between the three regions of the world spotlighted in the exhibition: Asia, Europe and Latin America.

OpenART Biennale in Örebro draws energy from the meeting between what might be depicted, with a few gentle brushstrokes, as the thoughtful wisdom of Asia and the colourful vitality of Latin America. A triangle of cultures that helps us let go of what we take for granted so that we can achieve something bigger here, together, in Örebro, in Northern Europe, in the world...

This summer, Örebro will once again be transformed into art’s urban playground. OpenART, Sweden’s largest biennial for contemporary art in the public space, celebrates its sixth exhibition this year. Once again, the city centre will open up for a public encounter with art, long awaited by many. For three months, the urban space will become a forum for exciting creativity, magical experiences, and exhilarating ideas. The special focus countries for 2017 are Japan and Colombia.

On 18 June 2017, OpenART Biennale will come into full bloom with more than a hundred works by sixty artists in Örebro’s city centre.In other words, anything can happen – and we promise it will!

OpenART runs until 10 September.

Contact information:
Nina Glimvall, Culture Division Manager, Municipality of Örebro
E-mail: nina.glimvall@orebro.se
Phone: +46(0)76 551 67 63

Elisabeth Magnusson, Marketing and Public Relations
elisabeth.magnusson@orebro.se
Phone +46 (0) 76-551 19 58