On Tuesday the 28 th of July from 5-7pm, Wiebke Pandikow's exhibition “Of Carrier Bags” opens in Laterna Magica's Book Gallery space.

The exhibition shows jewelry and sculptural pieces made from a very modern, ubiquitous material - discarded plastic bags - worked with techniques that have been used in Finland as well as the rest of the world already thousands of years ago. In many cases the makers utilizing them have been female and their labours have, in the course of written history, often been overlooked or seen as less important, less interesting, less demanding or just generally less valuable, especially by those who want to rule the world with power and force.

There can be no heroes, though, no genius inventors or great warlords, without the warmth and shelter of clothes and home, without baskets and pots containing food, without the slow, careful and dedicated work which creates and nurtures the foundations of life. One of the cornerstones of human culture are the nimble, patient hands which spin and weave the fabric of the every day that meets our needs and keeps us alive.

Renowned author Ursula K Le Guin put this into words brilliantly in her essay "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" (published in 1988), referring herself to the Carrier Bag Theory of human evolution by Elizabeth Fisher, which in the name of this exhibition also refers to. Le Guin's essay is available to read here throughout the exhibition, but can also easily be found online.

The pieces in the exhibition celebrate slow, quiet and dedicated craft in a world that easily only hears those who shout the loudest. They also encourage the visitor to see a waste material from a different viewpoint and realize how old traditions can still be a part of new possiblities.

‍