
FLASHCARDS
FLASHCARDS
FLASHCARDS
A collaborative, community-rooted art project that culminated in a two-city exhibition tour
first in Berlin at Kühlhaus and then in Bolzano at Kleine Galerie - Piccola Galleria.
2020–2022
“Intimate dialogue from the artists’ bedrooms resulted in an ongoing series of paintings, drawings, and short, GIF-like animations. Sort of flashcards retrieved from personal memory. There’s a story of a bird, a swimming pool, polished nails, and a sleepover. Small, often overlooked, moments that ultimately form the building blocks of our memory and identity.”
— Official statement by Ilona Sarkko, curator of the exhibition.
Flashcards was born out of friendship, shared frustration, and a deep desire for autonomy and care in artistic practice.
Andrea Honsberg and I had worked together before and have been long-time friends. During the pandemic, we decided to embark on a more ambitious collaboration and launched Flashcards — a multidisciplinary project developed with our chosen curator (and friend, and former classmate), Ilona Sarkko.
The project initially also involved the artist Aimilios Metaxas, whose contribution in the early stages was meaningful. Although he later stepped away due to commitments with other projects in Athens, his support during the foundational phase of Flashcards is something I deeply recognize and remain grateful for.
The project culminated in a mini-tour of two exhibitions in two European cities — Berlin and Bolzano — during the summer of 2022. We were supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign and, more importantly, by a generous and loving community of over 40 people: friends, family, fellow artists, designers, artisans, gallerists, printmakers, exhibition space owners, and even kind bureaucratic helpers. These people were with us at every step, making what at times felt like an impossible project not only doable but joyful.
The idea for Flashcards also stemmed from a sense of disillusionment with the art world as we had experienced it — especially during our BA years. We encountered systemic issues in many cultural spaces we worked with (especially in Milan): nepotism, sexism, favoritism, and tokenism. Often, our ethnic and gender identities were misused as marketing tools under the guise of diversity, rather than our actual work being acknowledged or respected.
In contrast, with Flashcards we wanted to establish our own rules. We moved at our pace, and the project took two full years — but it was worth it. What we created was more than an exhibition: it was a process, a safe space, and a radical form of care and resistance. We didn’t wait to be “chosen” by a curator. We chose our curator. We also honored every single person who supported us with a collaborative artwork listing all their names, and transformed our exhibition openings into celebratory gatherings in their honor.
While Flashcards may have appeared like a traditional exhibition, it was deeply radical. Our intention was to subvert the standard curator-artist hierarchy and replace it with collaboration, respect, and gratitude.
The project was powerful because the work Andrea and I make is relational. Much of it is based on stories, conversations, and emotional insight shared with us by others. Some of our references include Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but most of our content came from people in our lives — family, friends, colleagues, and others whose presence shaped us: teachers, housemates, neighbours, casual but meaningful encounters.
Many visitors at our exhibitions were deeply moved, especially when they recognised their own stories woven into the work. This wasn’t a passive audience — many of them actively contributed to the process: they helped fundraise (we raised over €3500 in just one month), helped us build and transport artworks (some of which were large and heavy), assisted in curation and installation (with the help of two Finnish retail designers who came all the way to Berlin), and later helped dismantle and ship the works to Italy (from Berlin, and earlier from Ghent). Even the drinks and snacks for the opening were donated by our supporters.
This was a labor of love — and a living, breathing example of what community-led art can look like.
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