Vanus Labor
Artist
Salad Hilowle
(Somalia, född 1986)
Date2021
MediumDigital video, color, stereo sound; wood, plaster, textile
DimensionsVarierande mått
ClassificationMoving Images, Sculptures, Installations
Credit LinePurchase 2021 (Swedish Acquisitions 2021)
Object NumberMOM/2021/100
CollectionsRecent Acquisitions, Svenska förvärv 2021
The artwork is not on display
About the artworkSalad Hilowle explores the historic roots of the African-Swedish diaspora in Sweden and links them to today. Vanus labor is Latin for labour in vain. Labor is also the etymological origin of the word laboratory, a place for experiments and the quest for knowledge. Hilowle processes materials from different eras and combines them in installations, where different traditions and genres are connected. With precise lighting, performance and spoken word meet other art forms. The installation is brought to a crescendo in the video work. A group of African Swedes regard the 17th-century painting Vanus Labor by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl in silence but with eloquent gazes. The painting shows six white children washing a black child. Hilowle chooses to see his predecessor’s allegorical painting as a tender welcoming of the black body. The song rings out: “I was always here!”