Skup Palet: from the Polish phrase ”We buy pallets”

A historical narrative is written along an axis where key points can be created on purpose or happen at random.

The emergence of the pallet in Europe can be traced back to the Allied landfall on Normandy during the Second World War. It proved to be such an effective way of getting materials to the front line that even after the war it was adapted for civilian purposes. Initially the dimensions were decided upon based on those of a train cart, a measurement dictated by the width of the train tracks, historically based on horse-drawn carriages. This measurement dates back to Roman times, when the width of a a single road equalled that of two horses side by side. Today the pallet is used more commonly for transportation allowing movement from place to place.

Skup Palet is an idea; an idea that art should provide alternative thought, as a tool to articulate knowledge from a specialist field. Skup Palet can be a place, a one person initiative or a group collaboration. Skup Palet provides a context to investigate something without constraints and without the limiting framework of reaching a finished product or tangible result. It can also be a conversation, a piece of music, a drawing, a resistance or a fleeting thought. Skup Palet aims to facilitate opportunities for practioners to assume other identities and access other communities and forums to engage in dialogue to inspire new perspectives.

Skup Palet believe that art doesn’t have to be dictated by a commission with a finished product in mind. They believe in adopting a more experimental process that permeates and shapes ideas and works as much as any commission. Contemporary art attempts to mimic or assimilate itself into a pre-existing Western mode of production, as if by necessity. But are there are other ways to do this? An answer could be to create an unassailable space for unnecessary things. Creative thinking doesn’t necessarily need consensus, but relies on collective action.

Skup Palet isn’t a gallery but has a gallery space. They are currently based at Hey, It’s Enrico Pallazzo, in Gothenburg, Sweden, contributing to a network of commercial creators and clients, both private and public.