Networks and Alliances
November 14–16, 2018
Sweden
November 13: Pre-summit visit to the city of Kiruna
November 14-16: Samtidskonstdagarna 2018 in the city of Boden
November 16: Preview Luleå Biennial 2018 in the city of Luleå
Tickets and program available in Swedish www.samtidskonstdagarna.se and in English statenskonstrad.se.
Contemporary Art Days Summit 2018: Networks and Alliances
Organizers: Public Art Agency Sweden in collaboration with Havremagasinet länskonsthall and Konstfrämjandet.
Main venue: Folkets Hus, Boden
“Samtidskonstdagarna”—The Contemporary Art Days—is the annual contemporary art summit that brings together art professionals from across Sweden and other countries to discuss current issues for art organizations. In 2018, for the first time, the summit is organized under the aegis of the Public Art Agency Sweden.
The summit will focus on building networks and alliances as strategies for action in contemporary art organizations today. The last few years have witnessed a large increase in organizational networks across the art field in Sweden. Whether formal or informal, on a more local or national scale, with Nordic or international counterparts, alliances are formed in a variety of constellations between art institutions, self-organized initiatives and other organizations. Are these networks signs of the signature strategy of the neoliberal working world? Or are they responses of mutual support and solidarity by small and medium size art organizations in the changing political landscape and precarious economic conditions? Or are today’s networks merely new forms of age old tools for building assemblies around mutual concerns?
Samtidskonstdagarna 2018 will present a diverse program with guest speakers, performances, site visits and participative workshops that will look into the role and the meaning of networks. Special attention will be given to different ways of operating which can facilitate strengthening these networks today.
Among the contributors:
Grégory Castéra Council, Paris
Sandi Hilal Al Madhafah/The Living Room, Boden
Maria Lind Tensta konsthall, Stockholm
Sarah Munro BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle
Amund Sjølie Sveen NORDTING – The Northern Assembly – Boden
The summit will be held in the region of Norrbotten in the north of Sweden. A preview to the Luleå Biennial 2018 will be included in the program, as well as a site visit to Kiruna, a mining city that is being relocated and rebuilt. On the occasion of the summit and the biennial, Public Art Agency Sweden will also reactivate The blood of stars by Raqs Media Collective, a site-specific installation located inside the abandoned subterranean military facility Mjölkuddsberget in Luleå.
Samtidskonstdagarna 2018 is organized with the financial support of the Norrbotten County Council.
About Public Art Agency Sweden
Public Art Agency Sweden explores and develops the interaction between contemporary art and public spaces. Through site-specific art, temporary interventions, urban development projects as well as discussions and publications, we strive to contribute to the development of both contemporary art and public spaces. In addition, the agency also runs a knowledge hub for public art on a national scale, as well as facilitating the development of organisations for contemporary art in Sweden.
