When and why did you start working with participatory art? Was it out of your own need, on your own initiative or through an invitation, assignment or other reason? *

I would say in 2010, with my MFA thesis, Why Do You Cook? What Would I Eat If I Did Not Cook? Comprising several in-situ raw and fired clay works, or rather a large scale tableware, inspired by food preparation and consumption. The installation was accompanied by a collection of interviews with people in my circle about their thoughts on food. The ideas about dining, food preparation, ceramic production, or use were mixed up in this body of work. It was based on my impression that when art is seen, it is consumed by the audience. It was a concept of how an exchange or dialogue via clay materials can be initiated with the exhibition audience.

Later on, in 2010, based on the MFA thesis, I was invited to the experimental art school Brunnsvik Konst in Dalarna by artist Jelena Rundqvist, a teacher at the school. I spent a month there as a resident and also led a workshop for students. During the residency, I created recycled porcelain tableware pieces; some were fired, then combined with raw clay sculptures and exhibited. During the DIY(Destroy It Yourself) workshop, participants were invited to transform the installation. They literally deconstructed the installation and built something new from it. The idea behind the workshop was not to destroy but to experience hands-on how we can, in a positive sense, transform the materials we interact with. 

When I started to teach ceramics at Folkuniversitetet in Stockholm in late 2016, I incorporated what I learned there as a teacher into my artistic practice and initiated more workshops outside of the art context. I regularly carry out art workshops where I apply my know-how of traditional craftsmanship. I experimentally use my knowledge, adjusted to the workshop equipment, conditions or local material resources such as wild clay. I always try to create an environment where collective learning and togetherness is supported. For example in Ett Samarbete Med Fittjas Jord, together with artist Juanma Gonzalez, at Botkyrka Konsthall & Mångkulturellt Centrum; Wild Clay at Tensta-Hjulsta Kvinnocentrum and Body and Health, Bredtveit Women s Prison, Norway.

What do you believe are the artistic qualities of working with others? * 

Besides producing a broader spectrum of creative expressions, working with others provides other benefits, such as experiencing something together gives a sense of a team or a community. My lived experience as a foreigner in Sweden may play a role in the urge to reach out and do things together with others. Working with others allows me to be a part of others' creative process. It is also sharing the power to alter the course of the production process. To be able to give or get a response. To narrate or articulate the thought processes loud so that it is clearly conveyed to others. To create together provides an opportunity to learn new techniques or problem-solving. 

Considering who OTHERS are? For example, I see potential in exploring the future through earth materials when approaching it as a matter we are dependent on and represented in so many areas of our lives, where units interact with each other, thus constantly changing. There is a whole spectrum of other actors out there. 

Therefore I am interested in the concept of neo environment. Geologist and Professor emeritus Peter K. Haff thinks about the neo environment as the total environment we live in: "It is the sum of the natural, human, and technological systems and processes that surround us. It includes, for example, forest ecosystems, animals and machines, nanotechnology, the internet, highways, medical systems, power grids, human populations, political parties, governments and bureaucracies, robots and religions and their interactions with each other. In an age in which both the level and acceleration of technology are high, understanding and living with our "environment" can only mean understanding and living with the neo environment. Technology cannot be factored out of the neo environment, leaving only natural processes. The neo environment must be understood as a whole." (2019) 

When you think of working with others, what are you thinking of? *

It depends on if it is joined work with other trained artists, culture workers, or people outside the art context. If I initiate the work or am in the role of a leader, I always want to see that the participants are enjoying the process and that it is interesting for them to be part of it. The dynamics should allow each participant to be a co-creator of an event or an experience. Everyone in the group gets equal attention. The best is when people can learn from each other or become educators to each other.

How do you experience the conditions for your work with participatory art? *

People or institutions in Sweden are open to collaboration. There are enough opportunities to initiate or to work with institutions. I usually aim to work for a longer period with the same institution or group of people. The work process is precious, groups have their own dynamics, and those are often missing in the final outcome of a participatory work. My impression is that institutions are usually interested in a product. Then it is challenging how to document participatory art in a way it is valuable not only for the participants.

Do you enjoy participating in other people's art projects as an active audience? How does it make you feel? *

I usually enjoy it a lot when I learn something new, such as some skill I can use later. It is valuable to learn something practical. 

Do you have a target group that you usually turn to or that you are more interested in working with? If you are addressing an inexperienced art audience, what is your drive to specifically work with them? *

As an example: since 2019, I have worked on an artistic research project Hej neighbour! (2019-present) in the local environment of Hjulsta in the outskirts of Stockholm. Partly in the allotment gardens, where I also have one allotment. An exciting aspect of these gardens is gardeners' activity that strengthens their community via exchanging seeds and plants and has plenty of intercultural social interaction. The integral part of the project is an exploration of local clay from a near by tunnel building site. We explored the material in a workshop frame, together with the members of the Women's Centre of Tensta-Hjulsta, we focused on the clay's therapeutic attributes. I approach this project from several perspectives: as a foreigner in Sweden, as a human, a woman, and a resident of Hjulsta, a district with many immigrants.

What would you like to get out of a network and a platform for participatory art? * 

Exchange of the experiences gained through working with participatory art with others and an easier access to institutions network in and outside of Stockholm. I would appreciate seeing a more significant engagement of cultural institutions in long term participatory projects with enough time for a community to be formed or a lasting impact in a particular area.

Reference/Bibliography:
Haff Peter K., introduction https://nicholas.duke.edu/people/faculty/haffpeter, downloaded 30.11.2020 

Interview conducted in May, 2021.

http://ivanakralikova.com