The Jubilee Fund of the First Nordic St John's Lodge Foundation was established in 1867 with the purpose of supporting promising young people in their education in science, art or crafts.
This year's grant recipients from Malmö Art Academy are alumnis Juju Bento, Kristyan Nicholson and Irene Kaltenborn. Congratulations!
Read more about the Jubilee Fund and see all of this year's grantees
Motivations*
Juju Bento masters many disciplines with precision. Her artistic practice spans sculpture, text, sound, light and the staging of space. In ambitious and immersive installations, the viewer often becomes part of the work, using techniques that amplify the sounds of the surroundings, so that everyone in the room affects the work through their presence. The work Aero-Light over Dark-Round is anchored in the elements, the water inside and outside the body, the rotation of the earth, breathing - they all contribute to a spatial landscape that resonates with something familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, creating friction in the choreographed total installation.
Kristyan Nicholson sees the soul of existence. Inspired by Sufi poetry and using small means, he makes the viewer perceive the world anew. In his graduation exhibition, he focussed on light, the light that the sun shines on sunflowers and the street lamp that lights up the night for the lonely.
Irene Kaltenborn's cinematic world revolves around the poetic and the political, which pose questions and raise philosophical and existential issues, which she illuminates. She is interested in how the eye and gaze of the camera can create alternative ways of seeing the world, and how we can interact with the non-human around us through a deeper understanding and empathy. Her artistic and cinematic work is based on thorough research and a deep engagement with history, phenomena or contemporary discourses that often explore the relationship between man and nature. In her latest film, choreographies of loss, she dives deep into the story of the extinct tanager, and through this study she focuses on species extinction, biodiversity and climate issues. She does so through personal, painterly and poetic imagery that straddles the line between documentary and fiction. Her film practice contains something as rare as a deep form of care.
*Translations courtesy of article author
