Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani
Yeki Bood Yeki Nabood يكي بود يكي نبود – One was there, One was not there
March 22 – May 4
Opening Saturday, March 22nd at 13-16pm
Please note the opening date has been changed to Saturday, March 22!
Due to ongoing renovations, we have had to move the opening date for this exhibition forward. The new date coincides with Malmö Konsthall's big 50th anniversary, a celebration we highly recommend you take part in!
We also hope that you will also want to visit us in Lund and experience our exhibition.
Our colleague in Lund, Galleri Cozmo, is also holding an opening for its upcoming exhibition on both Thursday, March 20th and Friday, March 21st.
Although renovation work is ongoing, we are open as usual. Follow the signs and go around the fence to enter.
Welcome!
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In the exhibition Yeki bood Yeki nabood – One was there, One was not there, artist Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani explores the matter of language and death. The title, a Persian phrase that corresponds to “Once upon a time”, carries a duality: the beginning of a story that at the same time suggests an absence, something that may never have existed or happened. This ambivalence permeates the exhibition, where language, memory and loss are woven together and shape the conditions of existence. Language plays a central role, where Persian acts as an anchor to the Swedish language. At the same time, English and French are woven in, creating a movement. Multilingualism enables a shift, a state of sliding between different images.
Anoushirvani's artwork approaches death, not as an end point but as a continuous process. The philosopher Derrida believes that learning to live also means being in the borderland between life and death, an idea that the philosopher Hans Ruin interprets and develops in the book Living with the Dead. The exhibition partly touches on this theme: understanding life also means relating to death.
Through matter such as dust, soil, ash and green moss, but also through bodily matter such as hair, Anoushirvani investigates time. The presence of a past life is particularly palpable, where her deceased sister's saved hair rests on a moss-covered stone in the forest. Here, hair is actualized as part of a body that survives the individual, a remnant of a person who no longer exists. When the hair is placed in the forest's cycle, an existential consideration emerges. The hair becomes a link between personal loss and a wider, ecological dimension of time. The artist has chosen to name the series of images Ecotones by Roya. The word ecotone is a concept in biology and describes when two different ecological systems meet and influence each other. Roya is a female name that occurs in Iran and India, among others, with the meaning "a dream that is often positive". Multilingualism is also visible in the titles.
In the basement of Krognoshuset, the visitor is greeted by a black circle of polished wood, an installation that was previously part of Anoushirvani's work Om O. The work is part of a performance and is part of the artist's previous research project at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. Here, the shiny, black circle has been partially covered in ash. The installation is also reproduced in the exhibition in a photographic work where a child blows on the ash lying in the circle.
The child's perspective has been central to several works, such as Haters and Horses and The Tame and the White, where power structures and colonial narratives are portrayed through the world of horses. Anoushirvani has also worked with child actors in the performance piece Wonder Wander, which dealt with the climate crisis, in which children conversed with adults. In some of the new works on display at Krognoshuset, childhood's encounter with the ephemeral is staged, where children play with ashes and interact with the annual rings on trees. The ashes, a recurring motif in funeral rituals and notions of cyclical time, become both a material remnant and a symbol of historical and personal layers of transformation. The act of spreading ashes and letting them meet the annual rings of the tree invites a dialogue between memory and play, between what has been and what still is.
Dust, both that which accumulates in the home and that which we ourselves are reduced to after death, becomes a metaphor for our relationship to time and transience. In the exhibition, dust is collected from clothes, homes and bodies and spread throughout the historic rooms of Krognoshuset, becoming a reminder of what we carry with us.
In one of the photographic series, where the horses’ hooves meet the moon, a symbolic relationship between movement, life cycles and the vulnerability of the body emerges. The horse’s hoof, called its “second heart”, functions as a pulsating motor for blood circulation. The parallel to the artist’s own biographical experience, the death of his sister in connection with a heart transplant, gives the work a deeply personal and at the same time universal reflection on the heart as both a life-sustaining organ and an existential metaphor. By placing the movement of the hoof in relation to the moon, a poetic dialogue is created between the individual body and the cosmic, rhythmic forces that govern life and death.
What happens when language, memory and matter meet? Anoushirvani's exhibition invites you to explore the traces of time and what lingers.
About the artist
Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani, born in 1979 in Tehran, is active in Stockholm. She is educated in fine arts at Goldsmiths University in London. Her work has previously been shown in the South London Gallery, Kalmar Art Museum, Gislaveds Konsthall and is included in the collections of the Swedish National Art Council, Botkyrka Konsthall and several municipal institutions. She has been noted in Dagens Nyheter, SVT Kulturnyheterna and Kobra, among others for the photographic series Positionering and the film Det tama och det vita.
For more info
www.shivaanoushirvani.com
Image: Shiva Niiko Anous hirvani, Untitled, photograph
For information about availability, see website. www.krognoshuset.se
Krognoshuset is run with the support of Lund Municipality and the Culture Council
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ENGLISH
Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani
March 22 – May 4
Opening: March 22, 1–4 PM
In the exhibition Yeki bood Yeki nabood One was there One was not there, artist Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani explores the materiality of language and death. The title, a Persian phrase equivalent to "Once upon a time," carries a duality: an opening to a story that simultaneously suggests an absence, something that may never have existed or happened. This ambivalence permeates the exhibition, where language, memory, and loss intertwine to depict the conditions of existence. Language plays a central role, with Persian serving as an anchor to Swedish. Meanwhile, English and French are interwoven, creating movement. Multilingualism enables a shift, a state of transition between different images.
Anoushirvani's artworks approach death not as an endpoint but as an ongoing process. Philosopher Jacques Derrida suggests that learning to live also means existing in the borderland between life and death, an idea further interpreted and developed by philosopher Hans Ruin in his book To Live with the Dead. The exhibition partially touches on this theme: understanding life also involves relating to death.
Through materials such as dust, soil, ash, and green moss, as well as bodily matter like hair, Anoushirvani explores time. The presence of a past life is particularly palpable, as her late sister's preserved hair rests on a moss-covered stone in the forest. Here, hair is actualized as a part of a body that outlives the individual, a remnant of a person who is no longer present. When placed within the forest's cycle, the hair becomes an existential reflection. It forms a link between personal loss and a broader ecological time dimension. The artist has chosen to name the series of images Ecotones of Roya. The word ecotone is a biological term describing the meeting and interaction of two different ecological systems. Roya is a female name found in Iran and India, meaning "a dream that is often positive." The multilingual aspect is also evident in the titles.
In the basement of Krognoshuset, visitors encounter a black circle of polished wood, an installation previously part of Anoushirvani's work Om O. The piece was included in a performance and was part of the artist's earlier research project at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Here, the glossy black circle is partially covered with ash. The installation is also represented in the exhibition through a photographic work depicting a child blowing on the ash within the circle.
The child's perspective has been central to several works, such as Haters and Horses and The Tame and the White, where power structures and colonial narratives are explored through the world of horses. Anoushirvani has also worked with child actors in the performance Wonder Wander, which addressed the climate crisis through conversations between children and adults. In some of the new works displayed at Krognoshuset, childhood encounters with the ephemeral are staged, where children play with ash and interact with tree rings. Ash, a recurring motif in burial rituals and notions of cyclical time, becomes both a material remnant and a symbol of historical and personal layers of transformation. The act of scattering ash and allowing it to meet the tree's rings encourages a dialogue between memory and play, between what has been and what still remains.
Dust—both the kind that accumulates in homes and the kind we ourselves are reduced to after death—becomes a metaphor for our relationship to time and transience. In the exhibition, dust from clothing, homes, and bodies is collected and dispersed within the historical spaces of Krognoshuset, serving as a reminder of what we carry with us.
In one of the photographic series, where horses' hooves meet the moon, a symbolic relationship emerges between movement, life cycles and the vulnerability of the body. The horse's hoof, known as its "second heart," functions as a pulsating motor for blood circulation. The parallel to the artist's own biographical experience her sister's passing following a heart transplant lends the work a deeply personal yet universally reflective meditation on the heart as both a life sustaining organ and an existential metaphor. By connecting the movement of the hoof to the moon, a poetic dialogue unfolds between the individual body and the cosmic, rhythmic forces governing life and death.
What happens when language, memory and matter meet? Anoushirvani's exhibition invites an exploration of the traces of time and what lingers on.
About the Artist
Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani, born in 1979 in Tehran, is based in Stockholm. She studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work has previously been exhibited at South London Gallery, Kalmar Art Museum, Gislaved Art Hall and is included in the collections of the Public Art Agency Sweden, Botkyrka Art Hall and several municipal institutions. She has been featured in Dagens Nyheter, SVT Kulturnyheterna and Kobra, among others, for her photographic series Positioning and the film The Tame and the White.
For more information:
www.shivaanoushirvani.com
Image: Shiva Niiko Anoushirvani, Untitled, photograph
For accessibility information, please visit our website: www.krognoshuset.se
Krognoshuset is supported by Lund Municipality and the Swedish Arts Council.
(Translated into English by Krognoshuset)