Exhibition: On va au parc

The exhibition "On va au parc" ("We go to the Park") is a journey into the dreamworld of the eponymous book designed by two artists who take kids seriously: Sara Stridsberg, one of the greatest contemporary Swedish authors, and Beatrice Alemagna, a renowned Italian illustrator based in Paris.
Past event
Past event
15 Oct 2021
09 Jan 2022
Location:
Institut Suédois, Rue Payenne, Paris, France
Category:
At the Institut Suédois
Two children holding hand while walking to the park
Illustration Beatrice Alemagna. The format of the image has been modified.

“Some say that we come from stars.
We don’t really know.
But we go to the park.”*

This is how Beatrice Alemagna and Sara Stridsberg’s book begins. Their creative chemistry is applied to the exhibition, which features 26 original drawings and a site-specific mural, interspersed with poetic quotes from the book. We enter a world where huge landscapes form a backdrop for playground swings and sticky candyfloss…

We enter the exhibition over a hopscotch grid, a symbol of playground fun. Following the ants scuttling along the walls, we continue the visit in the garden. Whether we come with our friends or our family, we can lounge in big “cabin” armchairs or climb on the sports apparatus. Materials are available for small children to create their ideal playground. There are also reading areas where children and adults alike can discover Alemagna and Stridsberg’s world.

As Astrid Lindgren so rightly said: “Thanks to books, children create their own images in the secret depths of their soul, images that go beyond everything else”. Wanås Konst and the Institut Suédois have taken children’s literature, and in particular Vi går till parken (soon to be published in France under the title On va au parc) as the starting point for this exhibition. Beatrice Alemagna’s drawings of Paris playgrounds led to a conversation with Sara Stridsberg on the subject of freedom and dreams, from which a poetic story on the subject of play and friendship emerged.

The exhibition is about friendship – the theme of our 50th anniversary celebrations this year – not only between two artists but also between two institutions: it will be adapted and presented next year at Wanås Konst, an international sculpture park and art and education centre in Sweden run by the Wanås Utställningar Foundation.

In collaboration with Wanås Konst and in partnership with Éditions La Partie, Mirando Books and Paris Mômes.

*Free translation from the book in Swedish

Useful information:

  • Admission free, prior booking not required
  • Wednesday – Sunday / 12:00 – 18:00
  • To ensure that everybody is protected and that events run smoothly, our team is implementing a number of hygiene and safety measures. Please read the barrier gestures by clicking here.

Activities in parallel (more information soon)

Latest news about Sara Stridsberg and Beatrice Alemagna in France:

  • The book will be published in French by La Partie with the title On va au parc in autumn 2022, translated by Jean-Baptiste Coursaud.
  • Sara Stridsberg’s latest novel is published in French as L’Antarctique de l’amour on 4 November 2021 by Gallimard, translated by Jean-Baptiste Coursaud.
  • The play Dissection d’une chute de neige by Sara Stridsberg, translated by Marianne Segol-Samoy and published by L’Arche, will be performed at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre from 25 November to 18 December 2021, directed by Christophe Rauck.
  • Adieu Blanche-Neige by Beatrice Alemagna is being published by La Partie in November and is the subject of an exhibition at Galerie Arts Factory, from 24 November to 24 December.