Katrine Helmerson, Jardin Musée Thédore Monod, 11 May- 17 May Place Soweto, Dakar, Senegal. by craniv boyd

Katrine Helmerson, Jardin Musée Thédore Monod,  11 May- 17 May Place Soweto, Dakar, Senegal. by craniv boyd 

Tucked, in a corner behind the university museum for African Art, facing the museums garden, on the Plateaux district in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, for the occasion of the 10th edition of the Dak'art Biennial for Contemporary African Art; and hanging from black woven cords, at regular intervals, pleated round black paper circles, that were the components of an installation by Stockholm based Swedish artist Katherine Helmerson. Her artwork, Sombres Courants; was located close to the In programming of the Dak'art Biennial, it was across from the 1920s era museum building in impeccable condition, in an indeterminate space, a room with high ceilings that could have been undergoing renovation, or simply slow tropical deterioration.   

The dangling forms of round hand made black paper made in Nepal, shaped gently, and  the rope, of the same color that supported each unit of round paper were trussed up to crossbeams of the ceiling. inside the room, there was a field of hanging black paper circles, none of the supportive lines touched the ground and the hanging works were able to sway in which ever wind or breeze that might set them in motion. The black paper was of a deep, rich pigment, it was very dark and the fibers and texture of the paper was burly. The stocky paper had a matt sheen to it, absorbing light, retaining warmth, preserving heat. The paper bodies, were unique, each on the rope was differently pleated, in a similar fashion, the appearance of uniformity, or monotony was given. This sameness of unique paper figures, beaded, threaded on woven black bun-gees, provides friction, between individual paper units; and collective beaded units; and total additive members of: cords plus discreet folded black paper discs, with solitary chains bearing several of such paper discs together with the room that housed the hanging artwork, and in turn provided a framing for the work. This tension rests throughout the completed art installation, back down to the strings loaded with many units, which can be partitioned into the singular paper items and the cords. A serial artwork made with light materials. by craniv boyd.