Utopier & visioner 1871 - 1981.

Stockholm.: Moderna Museet., 1971. 16-page broadsheet newspaper, printed in red and black, stapled. Some browning and spotting to sheets, with central horizontal fold causing tear across front cover.. (41.6 x 29.7 cm).. In the summer of 1971, an art exhibition was held on the old shooting range behind what had once been a Swedish Navy prison on Skeppsholmen island in Stockholm. The exhibition “Utopier och visioner 1871 - 1981” drew from a number of utopian scenarios, starting with the Paris Commune in 1871. In addition to an eclectic mix of materials relating to everyday life during the short duration of the commune, the exhibition also presented the architect Buckminster Fuller’s “World Game”, and discussed issues concerning the nature of future communications. The exhibition is remembered in part for the construction of a geodesic dome, where the artist Moki Cherry and the jazz musician Don Cherry, lived throughout the summer. It was here that they performed music, created set designs and costumes, and staged happenings together with the public. “Utopier och visioner” was one of the many initiatives and projects conceived by Pontus Hultén during his time as a curator and later as the director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm. All of these demonstrate his fundamental view of art as an integral part of the society in which it exists as well as his firm belief in the creative freedom of artists. This copy comes with the original large poster for the exhibition, designed by Erró. The poster is printed with a myriad of faces of the Paris Commune communards from 1871, surrounded by faces of cultural figures from the 19th and 20th centuries. The poster with handling creases and tears to edges, tape remnants on verso.