MALTFABRIKKEN

Malt Air

The modern residency facilities are situated in an old factory that has been transformed into a multidisciplinary cultural centre in beautiful surroundings in the small town of Ebeltoft. The residency buildings offer apartments, studios and workshop facilities and the residents have access to a wide variety of functions and activities in Maltfabrikken.

Maltfabrikken is quickly becoming the area's cultural heart, and the residents will have a quiet space for research and production of their work, as well as access to a thriving community with a focus on gastronomy, entrepreneurship, music, art, culture and events.

Since 2019 Maltfabrikken has been hosting the international artist residency Malt AIR.

My new studio in Malt Air residency - Ebeltoft Denmark

My new studio in Malt Air residency - Ebeltoft Denmark

The three institutions: Maltfabrikken, Kunsthal Aarhus and The Danish Art Workshops have collaborated to create a high-quality residency for professional international artists with attractive living and working facilities, and promoting development of a broad network within the Danish art scene.

The aim of MALT AIR is to help support and develop artists’ practice and research, and to encourage an exchange between Danish and international visual artists. We offer three-month residencies for two artists at a time. Each residency programme will be individually tailored in a professional artistic manner and involve networking activities.

Ongoing project part 3

Although my parents would try to make a calm and secure atmosphere every night, nightmares made good sleep impossible. One of my common nightmares was destruction of our home by a sizeable giant white origami rocket; the paper origami rockets that my father made for us moved from reality to dream. Fear shivered the whole of my body. I was nervous and hid under the blanket. In my childish imagination, I thought the white rocket was real. How could the blanket protect my family and our home? Childhood reminiscences, these experiences, have never left me and have strong effects on my adulthood.

Following stories of anxiety in refugees across several wars, the World Wars, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria and Iran war, having to watch the innocent children's immaculate faces were very painful. In my researches I also reviewed memories of children in holocaust to figure out remembrances to make a map of the same emotions. Analyzing destroyed buildings, ruined schools, covered windows, bullet holes on half-dead walls, life underground and fear of loss narrate a familiar story.

Untitled 03, 202058x58 in

Untitled 03, 2020

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Ongoing project part 2

The process of creating an art project begins in the past. The consequences of my first impression of sympathy or empathy, the old memories rise up like a flag. During the bombing in wartime, we spent all night with the lights low, windows painted with black and gray colors. People installed signs on the windows like a giant X using tape. All the windows were covered by thick curtains. Five-year-old me was curious, questioning “why we should live in the dark and silence during the nights. Why should the lights not be seen from outside? Why should we not be seen? What is behind the protected windows and walls?” I thought perhaps beyond my neighborhood children were playing, but if they were, would the voice of their joy and their laughter rise to heaven? Sometimes, I scraped the color off the windows with my nail to see what was going on beyond the window. Some nights were terrible with continuous loud sounds and bombing. We ran to the stairs, as a way to try and protect ourselves, as we had no other way of defending our home. My mother put her hands on my ears and hugged me tightly. My father with a strong voice prayed, “God preserve the kids, please.” In those circumstances, I felt I had to hold my heart firmly to stay in place.

Untitled 02, 201958x58 in

Untitled 02, 2019

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