Rest/Waiting

Rest/Waiting is a bench that holds a love letter to a beloved wife. A place for rest and contemplation, but also a place for interruption and disorder. The ethnonationalist narrative contains layers of fiction steeped in ideology. In contrast to the diversity of images, stories, destinies, prayers and letters contained in historical writing, everything is minimized to a single-track saga about a bygone era of uniform bodies gathered around a small repertoire of songs, community and hard work. This is exactly where we should be and remember. Gone is all longing. All waiting. aghili/karlsson have made several works in an expression they describe as “queer allmoge” (allmoge as folk art). The duo is inspired by the craftsmanship of the folk tradition but chooses to include dreams of stories and idioms that have been erased by historical writing. Rest/Waiting is a bench and a love letter written in the 19th century, by a writer who never learned to write and who, through writing, sings her love for her partner and wife.

The duo aghili/karlsson is a collaboration between the artist, dramatist and director Nasim Aghili and the artist, gardener and scenographer Björn Karlsson. The duo, who are based in Stockholm and Hölö, Södertälje, have worked together for 15 years and make works in public space, larger artistic creations in connection with new buildings, exhibitions and performances – often in participatory processes. Based on an understanding of the diversity of experiences, languages and cultural references that exist in a contemporary reality, the duo investigates how these experiences interact with the relational aspects of public space. aghili/karlsson’s work is often based on experiences and manifestations of exile and marginalization. With great sensitivity on artworks potential to embody mourning and healing, often through collective rituals and memorial monuments. The duo has made public creations for the Swedish National Art Council, Göteborg Konst and Södertälje Municipality and has made solo exhibitions and performance works for Botkyrka konsthall, Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles, USA), Österängens konsthall, Unga Klara and Area (San Juan, Puerto Rico). In 2023 they started the international art-driven residency Reorientations based in the countryside outside Södertälje and New York, USA.