Natalia Rebelo, 21-22 December 2015

From growing up with a historical narrative that is linear, patricarchal, colonial, racist and that excludes the voices that are for me the most relevant, I am now over and over trying to rearrange hierarchies and dissolve masculine celebrations, colonial fantasies, mysoginistic libraries and murderer figures becoming statues and naming main squares. We all know them very well. They might change little from one context to the other, but it is time for an end to the boring prince sucker getting aclaimed. I am aiming for a place where a giant Leila K sculpture would be publicly funded, where a library has bell hooks as essential readings, a place where the norm gets to experience and embrace some self doubt. I work with texts, film, performance, sound, prints and objects.

ABOUT THIS PIECE
Since I moved to Stockholm, I daily greet these 4 female statues. They are around 3 meter high standing in the backyard of the Royal Institute of Art as old garden trolls. I do not know who they are but the fact that they are dirty, being put on a line and trying to be forgotten is not an unknown position for female in history.I asked the school’s janitor, the story was that they used to be placed on the roof of Konstakademien and about 8 years ago, with the risk of them falling, they were taken down.Having grown up with so many random male statues around me, former dictators and colonial figures, mostly male, I do like to observe statues and search for one that would make sense from my perspective. Video recorded the 10th December 2015 at the Royal Institute of Art.Thanks to Neila Kiosk (Maria) for the performance playlist, the performers Adam, Adrian, Eugene and Mattias.

“Natalia Rebelo is a Brazilian artist living and working in Stockholm and Amsterdam. She is a currently doing a guest program at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and holds a BFA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam”.

ARTIST STATEMENT AND WORK DESCRIPTION BY NATALIA REBOLO, 2015