Art talk on migration: Rebecca Thorburn Stern, Professor of Public International Law at Uppsala University

CHANGE OF DATE! Migration and displacement are core challenges in the world of today, affecting millions of people. We have two artworks at SSE commenting on migration, Green Light by Olafur Eliasson and SUEDI (Slow Wave Edit) by Santiago Mostyn. Art Initiative has invited Rebecca Thorburn Stern, Professor of Public International Law at Uppsala University, to do an art talk that takes these two artworks as its starting point. Welcome! January 19, 12-13, in The Cabinet Room.

Start time: 2023-01-19 at 12:00

End time: 2023-01-19 at 13:00

Location: The Cabinet Room

Rebecca Thorburn Stern will talk about current migration flows at the borders of Europe and how States act to govern, manage and curb migration.

Sign up here.

Olafur Eliasson´s artwork Green Light is part of the SSE permanent collection and is placed in the corridor outside the Presidents office. It´s an artwork that is a result of artistic workshops by Eliasson at the Venice biennale 2017, where refugees, asylum seekers and members of the public participated in a programme of creativity and shared learning. The programme included a workshop for the construction of Green light lamps, language courses, seminars, artist’s interventions and film screenings.

"Green light is an act of welcoming, addressed both to those who have fled hardship and instability in their home countries and to the residents of the cities receiving them." Olafur Eliasson

Santiago Mostyn´s videowork SUEDI (Slow Wave Edit) is screened in the corridor to the right when entering from Sveavägen 65. SUEDI is a pair of music videos created in response to Erik Lundin’s Suedi, a popular Swedish rap song that has become an anthem for Afro-Swedish youth. Both videos show bodies in motion. In one video, two Swedish wrestlers are filmed, and in the second video we see raw drone footage used by news outlets to depict the movement of asylum seekers from Syria in southern Europe.

"What does it mean when we mediate refugees, black and brown people, suffering on a screen with the watcher being on the other side of that screen. It produces a separation between `us and them." Santiago Mostyn

Rebecca Thorburn Stern is Professor of Public International Law and Research Director Uppsala Forum on Democracy, Peace and Justice. Her main research interests include human rights law with a particular focus on children's rights, asylum/migration law, and the relationship between international and national law.

Pic from a Green Light workshop by Olafur Eliasson at the Venice Biennale in 2917.

Pic from Santiago Mostyn´s SUEDI.

What does it mean when we mediate refugees, black and brown people, suffering on a screen with the watcher being on the other side of that screen. It produces a separation between “us and them”.

Art Initiative