Gem Fletcher speaks with artist Vinca Petersen about her new body of work HULALA. Featuring photographs, text and personal ephemera, the project is a multivalent exploration of home and collectivity tracing four years of change and upheaval in which Vinca reimagined her life from scratch, becoming part of the small remote community of Crofters in Skye. HULALA is a sprawling diaristic window into the space between old traditions and new rituals, independence and community and strength and vulnerability. The work, which is on show at Peckham 24, builds upon some of the values in her cult work No System, but from a new perspective - thirty years on in a very different world.
Book your ticket here.
-
Vinca Petersen is an authentic voice of European counterculture, providing diaristic windows onto alternative spaces and lifestyles. A multidisciplinary artist who works in the area of social practice, Petersen's works emerge from a deep social and political engagement with underrepresented communities, giving them a voice and recognition. Her central work, No System, captures a period spanning 1990-2004, documenting the artist’s experiences as part of the free party and traveller community. The images juxtapose the sense of escapism and euphoria of this unique cultural moment with the oppressive political climate which outlawed the lifestyles of those responsible for Britain’s rave scene. As well as archiving thousands of photographic images, Petersen has attempted to document a way of life: its flyers, posters and clothes; her work constitutes an archive that records the techno-fuelled raves and lives of the travellers who organised them, but also a creative response to breaking barriers between individuals.
Gem Fletcher is a writer, cultural programmer and podcaster whose work explores photography, art and contemporary culture and how they shape and inform who we are and how we live. Her work has been published in Foam, Aperture, Dazed, It’s Nice That, Creative Review, 1000 Words and The British Journal of Photography. She also hosts The Messy Truth podcast, a series of candid conversations that unpack the future of visual culture and what it means to be a photographer today. Now in its tenth season, Gem explores reflections on criticism, starting out, mental health, politics and success with guests like Antwuan Sargent, Catherine Opie, Farah Al Qasimi, Carmen Winant and many more.
-
Vinca Peterson's HULALA will be on display in Rabbet Gallery as part of Peckham 24, 15-17 May.