Swinda Oelke

Swinda Oelke (*1995) lives and works in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and Lisbon (Portugal). She studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Germany) and graduated in 2022 as Meisterschülerin of Prof. Franka Hörnschemeyer. Prior to this, she studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, DK, and is currently taking part in the Maumaus Independent Study Programme in Lisbon, PT.
Swinda Oelke was a scholar of the German National Academic Foundation, the Konrad Krieger Foundation, the Staff Foundation/City of Lemgo and the Metro Foundation. In 2022, her work was awarded the Graduation Prize by the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 2023, she was an artist-in-residence at Villa Filanda Antonini, Treviso (Italy). Most recently, her works have been exhibited at the RADAR Programme of the Westfälischer Kunstverein/LWL-Museums für Kunst und Kultur, the MMIII Kunstverein Mönchengladbach, the Museum Schloss Moyland, the Museum Insel Hombroich and the Friedberger Kunstverein, amongst others.

The term ‘periphery’ can be understood not only as a description of a location, but also as a description of phenomena situated on the margins of perception. It is precisely these peripheral areas that Swinda Oelke’s works engage with: central to her practice is an interest in structures of visibility, which may be of a physical, political or historical nature. The location and context of her exhibitions usually form the starting point for her works. In her videos and sculptures, she explores infrastructures, systems and processes, as well as historical events that exhibit a fragile structure of visibility and whose impact we tend to overlook, despite their often omnipresent nature, usually within the image of our immediate surroundings.
A few kilometres north of Eupen lies the former territory of Neutral Moresnet. It is neutral border region, which came into being at the start of the 19th century due to disputes over zinc deposits, can be understood not only as a geographical periphery but also as a legal and political one, where freedoms were possible that did not exist in the neighbouring countries. For example, the neutral state became a place of refuge for women with unwanted pregnancies or for people facing political or legal persecution for other reasons. Swinda Oelke has been researching the history of Neutral Moresnet for some time now and, during her residency, will engage with the site through her analytical video practice, using these recordings as a starting point for sculptural and installation-based works.