Upcoming: The Place That Holds Its Breath

In the summer of 2026, Art Inside Out will visit Unnaryd Bonadsmuseum with the exhibition The Place That Holds Its Breath. The exhibition presents new works by Swedish-Chilean artist Valeria Montti Colque, which have emerged during her residency in Unnaryd in the spring of 2026.

Based on the bonads painting – one of Sweden’s oldest narrative visual traditions – Montti Colque creates a contemporary visual universe where different times, experiences and stories meet. In her work, a historical Swedish cultural tradition is brought into a contemporary context, where different visual worlds meet and merge.

Based on tapestry painting – one of Sweden’s oldest narrative visual traditions – Valeria Montti Colque creates a contemporary visual universe where different times, experiences and stories meet. In her work, a historical Swedish cultural tradition is brought into a contemporary context, where different visual worlds meet and merge.

The works feature characters who move between different worlds, where identity and belonging are in constant flux.

The exhibition spreads out in and around the museum’s buildings and moves between painting, textiles, ceramics, collage, video and installation. In several works, Montti Colque uses traditional techniques such as egg tempera on linen canvas, while at the same time allowing the materials to encounter contemporary expressions and experiences.

The images feature actions such as carrying, giving and holding – gestures that take on a ritual significance and unite the personal with the common. The gestures bear traces of care and community, and of what is passed on between people. Fire, animals, hands and celestial bodies form an image language where everyday life and myth, humor and seriousness are woven together.

By working with a historical Swedish tradition in a contemporary reality, Montti Colque creates new stories about life in Sweden today – about the suburbs, migration and the many layers of memories, belonging and experiences that shape our lives.

From mid-July, visitors will encounter a three-meter-high sculpture of the goddess Ekeka in Unnaryd’s Hembygdspark. Ekeka is a goddess created by Montti Colque based on the story of El Ekeko, the god who, according to folk beliefs in the Andes, symbolizes happiness and prosperity.

Ekeka is also a mother figure – a goddess who carries, protects and gathers. She holds both strength and care, and carries memories, dreams and what is needed to create a home and a life.

During the Silva Festival in Unnaryd on July 9–10, the audience and artists will decorate the sculpture with robes, flowers and decorations, filling it with magic, beauty and pride, and then carry out a collective performance ritual. After the festival, the sculpture will be installed in Unnaryd’s Hembygdspark as part of the exhibition.