Stofan | Imagine and Write Futures for Artists
Megan Auður and Hugo Llanes are members of the advocacy group AIVAG - Artists in Iceland Visa Action Group. They are setting up a new Stofan | A Public Living Room in the downtown library location Grófin, which opens on 19 March 2024. The living room is a monthly transformation of the spaces of the City Library in Grófin. Different individuals or groups are given access to the library to recreate the space they choose. We asked Megan and Hugo a few questions about their version of the public space and the workshop they are offering on 21st of March “Writing as World Building”.
Where will you place your public living room?
We will be in the center of the open space on the first floor. We wanted to be accessible and very visible.
When you think of community care – what is the first thing that comes to mind - who needs care?
For our advocacy group, care is integral in campaigning for the working rights of artists, especially those artists coming from outside of the EU and EEA. We draw inspiration from various histories and knowledge including Unions and activists.
What would you like people to share with others in your place?
We want to create a space to imagine and write the future we want for ourselves. Sharing our experiences and challenges to co-create what our reality has the potential to be for the working rights of artists.
Is there a specific book that is not in our collection, and you would like to have in your Stofan?
It’s hard to say, as our practice deals closely with legislation I would say the New Constitution of Iceland. We wrote the article "It should be desirable for artist to live in Reykjavík" in Art in Iceland. Both of these are available in the library.
Some books that we recommend are Liz Fekete's Europe's Fault Lines - Racism and the Rise of the Right" and "Mobility Justice: The politics of Movement in the Age of Extremes", as well as Grace Ndiritu's "Being Together Otherwise: A manual for living."
We thank Megan and Hugo for the collaboration. The public living room of AIVAG "Writing as World Building" is located on the 1st floor of Grófin and is open from 19th-26th March 2024. AIVAG invites the library users to write ideas about the future we want to see come alive for our community. They collect texts all week long that will be put together in zine once the space closes.
Stofan is an experimental project where the library works with different partners on placemaking at the library. This is a process where we temporarily transform a space into a place for meaningful interactions.The theme of Stofan 2023-2024 is Share the Care.
Further information on Stofan | A Public Living Room:
Dögg Sigmarsdóttir
Project Manager | Civic Participation
dogg.sigmarsdottir@reykjavik.is