SUPERMARKET, the three day Stockholm Independent Art Fair, just drew to a close yesterday evening. Before the Berlin-based gallerists have even had a chance to step foot in Germany, we bring you the scoop from the north. Our first report comes from Anna Livia Löwendahl, the curator of Berlin’s M{}esum and the mastermind behind the space’s first art fair.

Not Your Typical Museum

Museums love lines — lines around the block for blockbuster shows, lines at the front desk for 20 Euro tickets, lines demarcating just how close you can get to the priceless works of art. Artists on the other hand are less fond of lines, unless they are blurring them, crossing them, or pushing them; and so, it is not surprising that in recent years artists have taken on the lines of the museum space and set to work blurring, crossing and pushing them to the brink. Projects such as The Museum of Jurassic Technology, The Manitoba Museum of Finds Art and Berlin’s own M{}esum have all taken on the space of the institution.

Anna Livia Löwendahl’s innovative M{}esum “can in many ways be seen as an universal depository for all our lost, ideals, selves, relationships, relatives, utopias, pens, lighters, memories, work, potential, directions, braincells and unrealised possibilities…However, do not be fooled into thinking that the m{ }esum is a fictive m{ }esum, or some kind of philosophical or esoteric joke…Rather the m{ }esum…is the world’s largest and most significant m{ }esum to specialise above all in absence, loss and unrealised possibilities, known as n∅bjects.” 

SUPERMARKET, the Stockholm Independent Art Fair, hosted works from the Berlin-based M{}seum. Photo: Simon Berg

This week M{}seum is in Stockholm, Sweden at the Stockholm Independent Art Fair; and with one of the most innovative artist/curators in the city at one of the world’s most avant-garde art fairs, we at BAPS couldn’t resist the temptation to catch up with Anna Livia about her time in Sweden and what it’s like to curate a conceptual booth that crosses, pushes and blurs nearly all the lines all the while running on no sleep and carrying around several very important screws.

BAPS: Could you tell me a little about the work you brought to Sweden and how and why you selected it?

ALL: There are many museums in the world but only one M{ }esum! The M{}esum collection is always complete even when things are missing, as it specializes in absence. But it would be a shame if it ended up in its own collection. So promoting the M{ }esum was an obvious choice, especially now that there is a public wing in Berlin. 

M{}seum’s booth at the Stockholm Independent Art Fair. Photo: Somei Chan

BAPS: Could you describe your experience in Sweden and how it compares to Berlin?

ALL: I don’t think many of the exhibitors here had much time to experience Sweden. We are stuck in an art fair from morning to evening. Did you know, I am actually Swedish? How much time have you got?

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