Past Residents Clelia Coussonnet
Clelia Coussonnet is an independent curator, art editor and writer. She is interested in creating interdisciplinary projects outside of traditional art circuits, particularly in contexts linked to craft or heritage and in spaces previously unused for cultural projects. Lately, her research has been revolving around botanical politics and power structures, resulting in the exhibitions Botany under Influence, apexart, New York, USA (2016) and Leave No Stone Unturned [Remuer la terre], Le Cube – independent art room, Rabat, Morocco (2019). Clelia likes to explore how visual cultures tackle political, social and spiritual issues in different, or complementary, ways than other disciplines.
The residency is realised in context of HICP – Helsinki International Curatorial Programme, a collaboration between Frame Contemporary Art Finland and HIAP.
During my time at HIAP, I am interested in meeting Finnish visual artists, designers and craftsmen working with textile, and would like to explore if, and, if so, how their practice is connected to storytelling, knowledge production and transmission. I am eager to understand how we produce, share and exchange knowledge between individuals, communities and generations; and what can be learned, and unlearned in contexts of cross-cultural dialogue. I wonder if the practice of textile art in Finland can inform us about specific political, economic and social conditions, and if it may reveal margins and overlooked social realities.