Dear friends of Galerie Arnarson & Sehmer,
It’s been quite some time since you read from us here and we know you missed us dearly.
Here’s a report of how we got through 2020 and the COVID-craziness.
Following the success of the Winterfest and the Christmas Bazaar we hosted in 2019, we planned a joint exhibition for April 2020 with works of Berliner painter, sculptor and graphic artist Skip Pahler and photographers Ólafur Örn Arnarson and Eymelt Sehmer.
“Botschaften” was due to be opened on April 25, 2020.
Eymelt went on a Transsiberian-trip to Mongolia on February 15, 2020.
In Mongolia, she visited and photographed a nomadic reindeer tribe living close to the Mongolian-Russian border in Siberia. But her journey had to be extended due to the outbreak and the worldwide spread of the Coronavirus.
She did not return to Berlin until May 2, ten weeks later than planned, bringing a trunk filled with analogue photographs that we can’t wait to show.
In April, Mariagrazia lost her office job, which allowed her to work as a volunteer in the gallery this whole time. It was sudden but probably bound to happen. She started looking for a new one right away, but at least she had more time to spend in the gallery.
In the meantime, things were all prepared for our new exhibition to start on April 25, the biggest we had so far. But things didn’t go as planned. The exhibition “Botschaften” never saw a proper vernissage with talks, red wine and finger food.
Instead, we found ourselves dealing with new and unexpected circumstances. For days, we tried to find a solution about how we could cope with the situation. We discussed, we fought and then we made up. Eventually, we decided to offer intimate guided tours for max. 5 people, that our guests could book online through our website. Who could have guessed that what seemed like a temporary measure would reveal itself to be the best way to make our gallery live again? It was inspiring to discuss and reflect on art with people in ways we wouldn’t if we had a normal vernissage.
As so often, when humans find themselves in situations out of their routine, it made us more flexible, creative and gave us inspiration for new ideas.
In June, Ólafur went to his home country Iceland to visit his family. During the time he was there, he suffered the loss of his younger brother. This tragic event pulled the rug out from under Ólafur and his family’s feet. We kept our breath in shock. For months, we were uncertain whether Óli would ever return to Berlin and whether keeping the gallery business up was a good idea at all.
But he came back in October, and we couldn’t be happier.
In autumn, Mariagrazia started a new job at Cradle to Cradle NGO in Berlin. Their objective is to connect the economy, science, politics and society through the Cradle to Cradle school of thought and design concept. Instead of merely reducing our negative footprint, human beings can leave a positive one. Instead of just trying to be “less bad”, we should all engage in doing “more good”.
It is nice to see how Mariagrazia rises to the challenges. She inspires us and brings in new and fresh ideas to the gallery.
2020 was a challenging year for most of us. The pandemic forced us to look inside ourselves and get to know who we are. Yet, we are still very much in it, and it’s not clear when things can get back to normal. Although as artists, we often asked ourselves whether “back to normal” is worth looking forward to anyway.
However, what we long for is to see you in person again, dear art lovers. And to host openings, readings, screenings.
Interaction.
If the pandemic taught us something, it is to be flexible and to stay creative. Embrace change.
Stay healthy – body and soul.
We hope to see you soon.
Yours, Galerie Arnarson & Sehmer and Riccio.