Birgitta Muhr Tung (1992)

Interview

How would you describe the work you were doing when you received the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Scholarship, and what did the scholarship mean to you?

At the time, I worked with video, sculpture, installation, and painting. Many years have passed since then, and a great deal has changed. I do not know exactly what the scholarship meant in a broader sense, but it was encouraging to receive it.

What discussions characterized the art scene at the time, and what was particularly important to you?

At the time, there were ongoing discussions between modernist and postmodernist positions within the Swedish art scene. Questions about the concept of art itself were widely debated, along with ideas related to identity, representation, contextuality, feminism, relativism, and kitsch.

I was interested in artists such as Ad Reinhardt, Diego Velázquez, Joseph Beuys, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Arte Povera artists, and video artists, as well as Francisco de Goya, Auguste Rodin, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Vincent van Gogh, Carl Fredrik Hill, and Hieronymus Bosch.

I also traveled frequently and visited major international exhibitions.

What exhibitions, films, and books were important to you, and what music did you listen to?

I do not remember that period in detail.

If you were to identify a person who was particularly influential in Swedish art at the time, who would it be and why?

Perhaps Marcel Duchamp.

How would you describe the social and political climate at the time, and were there any questions or events that particularly affected your work?

Like everyone, I was affected by what happened around me, especially by events beyond my control. Circumstances continuously change, and impressions from society inevitably shape one’s perspective and work.

When you look back and compare the art world then and now, what changes stand out the most?

There are now more art schools, artists, curators, galleries, museums, and public art commissions.

What are you working on today?

Today, I work mainly with public art.

This text is an excerpt from Samlade stipendiater!: 30 år med Maria Bonnier Dahlins stiftelse, edited by Niclas Östlind (2016). Stockholm: Bonnier Fakta.