Sara Kaaman
Studio grant holder in Stockholm 5 May – 25 October 2022
Sara Kaaman is a graphic designer and art maker based in Stockholm. She uses performance, writing and drawing to investigate intersections of publishing technologies and world making. Alongside dancer and choreographer Klara Utke Acs, she works on performative investigations about the metaphors of digital and analogue publishing formats, most recently presented as The Book – An Interfacial Sitcom. As a graphic designer and member of the editorial team of Girls Like Us she has been involved with editing and shaping the magazine since 2012. Girls Like Us is a queer and feminist magazine that features art, writing, politics and pleasure. The magazine has published issues about Work, Play, Secrets, Body, Family, Future, Dance and Economy. Currently, the team is working on the next issue with the theme of DISAPPOINTMENT. The editorial board includes Yin Yin Wong, Dora García, Persis Bekkering, Dagmar Bosma, Jessica Gysel and Katja Mater. Together with Maryam Fanni and Matilda Flodmark she forms the research collective MMS, investigating labour histories of graphic design through feminist theory and practice. The book Natural Enemies of Books – A Messy History of Women in Printing and Typography was published in 2020.
Photo: Sara Kaaman
During her residency at IASPIS Sara will explore the relations between digital technologies, language and meaning-making. She will also work on Wake Up! No.2: On Breath and Breathing, a collective publishing process with Johnny Chang, Shaon Chakraborty, Makda Embaie, Louise Khadjeh-Nassiri, Tiny Karlsson Savci and Jenny Richards.
Sara Kaaman’s graphic design practice includes making publications, books and websites, often in close collaboration with artists. Some of them include Pontus Pettersson, Litó Walkey, Imri Sandström, Åsa Cederqvist, Ester Martin Bergsmark, Line Skywalker Karlström, Malin Arnell, Marie-Louise Ekman, OEI Magazine, and My Wild Flag Festival. Her work has been exhibited in numerous institutions worldwide, including Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation (Stockholm), Art in General (New York), Haus der Kunst (Munich), Göteborgs Konsthall (Gothenburg) and Västerås Konstmuseum (Västerås).