There is a long list of things that require attention … and plenty of material that I want to play with … yet I find the need to write something here and now most urgent … most pressing … most distracting even!
It was my intention to post while I was in the UK, however this (evidently) did not happen. I had not figured that my time there with friends and family would be so very different from my time … or perhaps rather my way of spending time … here. How out of practice I am at being with other people … or at being at home with people with whom I want to make the most of every minute. We spoke late in to the nights and so my usual early mornings became later mornings and then there were things to do, places to be – together with people whom I have missed very much over the last five years. And even if some of those people have visited me since the pandemic travel restrictions were lifted I have not been at home or spent time with them in their spaces and places.
Now I find myself wondering if I should play catch-up – try to write one super post that covers … reports … accounts … recounts … my three week odyssey. This seems an unrealistic and perhaps even meaningless task … and who would I be doing it for. Probably better to let things seep out as and when relevant over the coming weeks and months. My time away was more intense … stimulating … inspiring … diverse … reflective … than I could have imagined. There were many unexpected and exciting encounters and experiences, and even those that I had arranged exceeded my expectations.
There was of course a certain familiarity in returning to the UK, and at the same time it felt rather different from the country that I lived in and that I last visited – no doubt the impact of both Covid and leaving the EU marking their mark … scar tissue?
While staying with my parents in the apartment that they moved to shortly before the pandemic broke out and therefore only known to me as the background of our regular Sunday afternoon tea Skype calls, I had an interview for the technician/curator position with the regional council. The day after my return to Uppsala I had a second and in-person interview. Both of these were good and pleasant experiences, and I have ’resolved’ to accept the job if it is offered. I am far from convinced that it will be offered, I am not sure that my personality and way of being (definitely more Tigger or Piglet than Eeyore or Owl) fits with the existing team who seems quite calm and placid. The job sounds interesting and it seems to offer opportunities to develop my curatorial skills as well as honing my technical abilities. In the bigger picture it seems a less than optimal time to prioritise the flexibility of being freelance over a secure and regular income. There is an almost palpable anxiety amongst the project and truly self-standing artists that I speak to at the studio. Hopefully these tough economic times will pass, as hopefully will the right wing (national) administration, and the more generous support for all the arts will be restored. It really cannot happen soon enough.
I have been asked to ’hop in’ for an artist friend who has had to withdraw from a school’s project. This afternoon I have to research four artists whose work will be the visual and conceptual inspiration for creative workshops to be run at the school. I will admit to being a little nervous about the gallery talks. I am far less used to these than I am with leading practical sessions. On my way to the studio this morning I started to see how I could present the work in a way that feels both comfortable for me and that is hopefully useful to the students in terms of the artworks that they will be making.
My sabbatical is already taking twist and turns that I could not have predicted. I am incredibly grateful that I have this opportunity to explore new ways of being.
