Opening: S-I-L-I-C-A-0-2 by Hulda Rós Gudnadóttir
Schedule
Fri Apr 04 2025 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm
Location
Joachimstr.17, Berlin, Germany | Berlin, BE
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Through a research-driven and interdisciplinary practice, Hulda Rós Guðnadóttir examines the unseen forces shaping our global systems—economic, environmental, and social. Her latest project, S-I-L-I-C-A, unearths the material and ideological entanglements of extractive industries, revealing the complex relationships between resource extraction, colonial capitalism, and energy production. In this installation, pigment prints, documentary work, and sculptures converge to question the hidden costs of so-called “clean” energy and the ongoing transformations of our natural and geopolitical landscapes.Her installations bring together pigment prints, documentary work, and sculptures that examine the extractive industries that underpin the global energy economy. Guðnadóttir explores how coal mining, monoculture farming, and solar cell production are deeply intertwined with both historical and contemporary realities of colonial capitalism. Focusing on material transformation, she allows the physical materials themselves to take center stage and exposes the hidden costs behind the promise of “clean” energy. By drawing parallels between the Arctic and the Global South, Guðnadóttir reveals how 21st century colonial expansion is no longer only driven by nation-states but by private enterprises and multinational economic forces, particularly in resource extraction and ocean-based industries. Guðnadóttir invites a reconsideration of the Arctic’s role in global extraction, showing how the region has long been embedded in systems of resource circulation while also gaining increasing geopolitical significance today. Guðnadóttir’s practice demonstrates how artistic processes can reveal the interwoven networks of labor, landscape, and economy that continue to shape our world.
Hulda Rós Gudnadóttir (b. 1973) is a Berlin-based artist rooted in Reykjavik, seamlessly blending contemporary visual art and film. Notable solo exhibitions include the Berlinische Galerie (12 x 12, 2018), Reykjavik Art Museum (2021), and Künstlerhaus Bethanien (2019), Berlin. Residencies at the International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York (2023) and Künstlerhaus Bethanien (2018) showcase her global impact. Gudnadóttir’s accolades include the 2019 Gudmundu Award and the 2016 Skjaldborg Award. Renowned for her critical and thought-provoking approach, she delves into the intersection of philosophical ideas, social systems, and human perception through immersive research, interdisciplinary collaborations, and social engagement. Her work, spanning documentaries, installations, videos, performances, sculptures, and photography, is characterized by its poetic and insightful perspectives. With an MA in interactive design (Middlesex University, 2001), a BA in visual art (Iceland University of the Arts, 2007), and a BA in cultural anthropology (University of Iceland, 1997), Gudnadóttir has exhibited globally, from PROGRAM (Berlin, 2010) to Gerdarsafn Art Museum (Kopavogur, 2015) to Meetfactory (Prague, 2019) to UFO Art Gallery (Krakow, 2022). Participating in group exhibitions and film festivals worldwide, she extends her artistic reach across continents, from India to Romania.
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Where is it happening?
Joachimstr.17, Berlin, GermanyEvent Location & Nearby Stays: