Writing by Avantelier, Photo|Video by Wen.H
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. We know the specific day is yesterday, but Avantelier is planning to continue promoting Young and successful female professionals who follow our ethos in protecting our world to our viewers in March. We named mission #Aの38.
Avantelier team is humble to learn from Their manifesto, the growth process of creating a brand/ a project / practising professionals, how to solve problems, current projects and so on.
” Last Feb the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the three artists were encircled together by anger and sadness caused by the war. “
It was a normal beautiful and peaceful day in Reykjavík, Iceland. The artist, Ariane Lugeon, prepared her solo performance exhibition at SIM gallery. However, The war started, the beautiful day got a scar, and the residents and international people spontaneously participate in the demonstration for world peace in front of the Russian Embassy. It was a peaceful event and clearly expressed the idea of world peace.
Back to the SIM gallery in the evening, the performance was sensitive and touched. Ariane Lugeon encircled the audience with a long yarn, curling by curling and repeat and repeat. It means we are all in one, strong connection to each other. The one special circle of all circles was for Kristina Kapeljuh, a Ukrainian artist. She lost her home and contact with her family on that day. The scare and worry were surrounding her. Ariane tried to hug Kristina in her artic way.
Wen, a visual artist, was holding her camera and recording the friendship/family ship blooming and the performance.
Since that day, three artists are working on the project, A.K.W, for promoting world peace. The short documentary has launched at Ateliers-Ouverts Art Exhibition.
Below is the Q&A with the three artists.
A brief about Ariane Lugeon (b. 1974, Switzerland, Biel) is a textile and performance artist from the planet Earth with a Swiss passport. She likes to bring traditional handcrafts together with contemporary themes, for example, by combining knitting with provocative statements. With her art, Ariane manages to materialise emotional states with textile fibres and, therefore, let them interact with the environment so that the observer recognises it, invoking the feeling of looking into a mirror. Ariane weaves together the art of textile and performance.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for you at the moment? How did you solve the issues?
A: The biggest challenge was for me to find the balance between my own work and the collective work. To feel that we regenerate so much power was amazing & then to feel confused I loose the power and feel I was too fast on my way. And I’m still trying hard to solve them.
Q: What’s your plan for this year?
A: I had too many exhibitions and performances last year. I feel my productivity level was/is high. I want to go back on a slower level & will be in Sweden from June to the end of this year and there I will be focusing on a big embroidery.
However, A.K.W. Collective is still important to me – I just feel it is difficult for working online together- because I prefer face-to-face work. I have been trying to find some funds for A.K.W., but unfortunately, no feedback at the moment. It will not stop us. At the moment I really try to bundle my energy & find some clarity.
A brief about Kristina Kapeljuh (b. 1997, Ukraine) graduated from the Master‘s program in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art (UK), studied Illustration at the Edinburgh College of Art (UK) and was an exchange student at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Switzerland). She participated in residency programs in Ukraine, Austria, Slovenia, and Iceland (where She met the AKW team). Currently, She is a printmaking teacher and artist in residence at the building, School of Art and Architecture in Innsbruck (Austria).
Q: What are the biggest challenges for you on this project? How did you solve the issues?
K: For me, the challenge is the emotional connection to the project’s subject matter. My parents are in Ukraine, it’s my home and my country of birth. Artistic communication and a professional approach to work are sometimes difficult to distinguish from personal experiences. Yet, this is also the reason why I am so keen to keep working on it.
Q: What’s your plan for this year?
K:The plan for this year is to continue developing my career while creating social design projects. Now I collaborate with an institute in Austria, office Ukraine, to spread justified information about the war in Austria.
Q: Could you please share your advice with our viewers in a sentence, they might be experiencing the challenges you had.
K: It is tough, but “In a career, it’s not a matter of “if” but “how” and “when” ” I’d say.
Wen (b.1984, Taiwan) is a junior fashion video director and editor. Her image creations were published in some digital magazines/ print magazines and the fashion festive around Europe these years. Furthermore, she had a group photography exhibition in London in 2021. Wen’s experiences of being a fashion womenswear designer and a stylist in the films and television industry and a filmmaker for fashion brands nourish her horizon and shape the style of her visual delivery, being highly sensitive to the balance between showcasing garments and storytelling. She commits to contributing her ability on delivering profound messages of sustainable fashion and designers’ eco-friendly ethos through her direction.
Q: What are the biggest challenges for you on this project? How did you solve the issues?
W: For this project, catching Ariane’s motion and emotion was quite a challenge to me. Because you will never know where was she going to and whom would she encircle. No script was behind this performance, 100% honestness and true connection which was surrounded by the eagerness of world peace vibe. Encircling Kristina with the yarn was a very touching moment. Saw the young girl was so lost and helpless and have to accept the troubling news. Trying to imagine if the war non-stop, her suffering could happen to every one of us.
In the documentary, we also are able to closer Kristina’s pain and loss through her drawing. Using by frame by frame technique in order to strengthen her emotion.
How did I solve the challenge of catching a special moment as a camerawoman? I think have to learn how to feel, block your brain from working (have a pint if it helps) and open your eyes wildly. Practice and observation defo work.
Q: What’s your plan for this year? Does the plan (project) relate to sustainability?
This Year, I expand my career, not only focusing on visual production but also dedicated to bringing eco-friendly goods to viewers. Promoting talents that follow our ethos in protecting our earth.
Overall, A.K.W is continuing to work on this project for promoting the importance of world peace, also they work individually on their projects for doing good for our world.
