Lobbyists by Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, 2009, 19'

CAMERA: Libia Castro e Ólafur Ólafsson   EDITING: Kristján Loðmfjörð, Libia Castro e Ólafur Ólafsson MUSIC: Hjálmar   SCRIPT: Tamasin Cave   LANGUAGES: olandese, inglese, polacco VOICE-OVER AND VOCALS: Caroline Dalton e Hjálmar   VOICE-OVER AND VOCAL LANGUAGE: inglese

Presented at The Screen of the Arts 2010 Among the works which won the Prix de Rome The Netherlands 2009, and recently shown within the context of the artists’ personal exhibition mounted at The Living Art Museum (Reykjavik, 2010), the video by Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson explores the role of lobbyists in the international framework of the offices of the European Parliament in Bruxelles and Strasbourg. To produce this complex work, the film-makers studied historic and current sources, linking them with interviews and film segments which portray a series of figures associated with lobbyist groups. The film’s purpose is to inform and engender reflection on an as yet little-known profession--following up on their previous work Caregivers (2008)--and is structured like a true documentary. The voice-over is a text written specifically for this project by the reporter Tamasin Cave, powerfully read by English actress Caroline Dalton. The soundtrack is performed by the Icelandic reggae group Hjálmar. Castro & Ólafsson will represent Iceland at the next Biennale di Venezia in 2011. Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson Libia Castro (Madrid, 1969) and Ólafur Ólafsson (Reykjavík, 1973), began as a duo in Holland in 1997. They live and work between Rotterdam and Berlin. From 2004 to 2009 they were members of the artists’ association HWW- Het Wilde Weten in Rotterdam, where they set up a studio to manage a program of events, conferences and shows in collaboration with the City of Rotterdam, the British Art’s Council, Birmingham and Sala Rekalde, Bilbao. Among their recent solo exhibitions: 2006 Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam (NL); 2007 Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, CAC Málaga, Málaga (ES); 2008 Recent Works, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (DE); Everybody is doing what they can, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík (IS); 2009 Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Galerie Opdahl, Berlin, (DE); Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milano; Caregivers, Suðsuðvestur, Keflavik (IS); 2010 Ligth, Camera, Action, abc art berlin contemporary with Gallery Opdahl, Berlin (DE); Lobbyists, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík (IS). www.libia-olafur.com

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