Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2020, Blaðsíða 26

Workin# Class
Artist
Wiola Ujazdowska uses her voice to level criticism
at the treatment of immigrants in Iceland
Words: Sam O’Donnell Photo: Provided by subject
Wiola Ujazdowska was born in the
Polish city of Toru#, where she
studied art history and painting.
In 2014, she accepted an intern-
ship with the Living Art Museum
and moved to Iceland. Since then,
she has been active in the art scene
here, engaging in a number of dif-
ferent projects.
These days she focuses on vid-
eo, performance and installation
rather than painting. Her inspi-
rations and mentors are perfor-
mance artists, namely Joseph
Beuys and Mierle Laderman Uke-
les.
Inspirations
Joseph Beuys was a firm believer
that everyone is an artist. He said
his greatest work as an artist was
education, and Wiola sees him as a
mentor. “His works definitely had
a huge impact on me,” she says.
Mierle Laderman Ukeles was
a New York based artist who cre-
ated the idea of maintenance art.
She worked as a janitor, cleaning
museums in New York City. As a
working wife and mother, she
didn’t have time to create art in a
conventional sense, so she made
these household actions an art.
“Her works have influenced me
to focus on working-class immi-
grants and people who are usually
invisible for art and society in gen-
eral,” Wiola says.
Perhaps the biggest impact
Mierle’s work has had on Wiola is
‘Touch Sanitation,’ a milestone
of performance art in which she
met over 8,500 employees of the
New York Sanitation department,
shaking hands with each of them
and saying “Thank you for keeping
New York City alive.”
The Scandinavian Dream
This focus on the working class
spoke directly to Wiola, and in-
spired her to make performance
art. In June, she did
a performance at
the Reykjavík City
Library where she
vacuumed up the
words “Scandina-
vian Dream.” She
says that this is a
com ment a r y on
how Iceland treats
the working class.
“There is this idea
that Scandinavia
is seen as this egalitarian kind of
utopia for many people,” she says.
“But the truth is that it’s not so col-
ourful and it’s not a dream. There
is a lot of xenophobia and inequal-
ity.”
Her own history is something
that draws her to this topic. “I’m
actually the first person in my
family to have a higher education,”
she says. Her parents and the
people she grew up with were all
working class. She has experience
as a housekeeper, which she feels
is integral to the tone of her art.
“Often the voice of other groups is
not heard, and very often the art
world doesn’t want to hear it.”
Recent and upcoming
stuff
In September, she will be involved
in an exhibition called Common
Ground, which features Icelan-
dic artists, as well as Polish and
Lithuanian artists living in Ice-
land. She will be displaying art-
work that is inspired by the fire
on Bræ!raborgarstígur. “It shows
that there are some spots in the
system that allow for people to be
used, especially foreign and tem-
porary workers,” she says.
From now until the 24th of
August, she is in the eastern part
of t he cou nt r y,
working as a pro-
ducer-slash-cura-
tor-slash-artist of
the VOR/WIOSNA
festival featuring
ar t from Polish
people l iv ing in
Iceland. The festi-
val doesn’t feature
art from Poles in
Poland. “We pres-
ent and promote
and talk about Polish minorities
here because I think it’s different
circumstances.”
Find today's events
in Iceland!
Download our free
listings app - APPENING
on the Apple and
Android storesArt
“Often the voice
of other groups
is not heard,
and very often
the art world
doesn’t want to
hear it.”
"There is this idea that Scandinavia is seen as this egalitarian kind of utopia..."
i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
www.i8.is
Editions
& Multiples
@i8gallery
VISIT !ÓPAVO"#$
C#LT#$E HO#SES
AND EXPERIENCE
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

% ART MUSEUM
% PUBLIC LIBRARY
% CONCERT HALL
% MORE
CULTUREHOUSES.IS
Hamraborg 4–6&Kópavogur Bus 1,'2,'4,'28,'35 & 36