IMS: Truth, Fiction, and the Return of the European Roller – Performance Lecture
The performance lecture Searching for the European Roller (The Return of the Blue Roller), which attracted an audience of 20 people at Växjö Konsthall on the 4 March 2026, drew participants into a compelling narrative that intertwined fact and fiction, spectacle and myth‑making.
Photo: Artists Emily Berry Mennerdahl, Jonas Böttern and researcher Beate Schirrmacher in a conversation after the Performance Lecture.
The event traced the disappearance of the European roller from Sweden, a bird that last bred in the country in 1967 before departing its nesting grounds on Fårö, passing over the forests of Småland, and continuing toward the Atlas Mountains — never to return.
Through a blend of humour, tragedy, and imaginative storytelling, the lecture examined the mystery behind the bird’s departure and invited participants to reflect on why the species left and why it has remained absent for decades.
Following the performance, the artists engaged in a conversation with Beate Schirrmacher, researcher at the Linnaeus University Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies (IMS). The discussion centered on how truth is constructed in media, research, and art, and how narratives shape our understanding of disappearance and memory.
The event was presented in collaboration with Bild och form Kronoberg and the Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies, Linnaeus University.
About Hillside Projects and the HULT Residency Programme
Hillside Projects (HP), comprising artists Emily Berry Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern, works within a conceptual framework exploring themes such as failure, transformation, and listening. Their artistic practice spans video, performance lectures, text, sound, performative walks, and transdisciplinary collaborations.
HP has been awarded a working grant within the HULT Residency Programme - run in collaboration between Bild och form Kronoberg, Växjö Konsthall, Linnaeus University and the Swedish Curators´ Association.