Be part of the process of raising an anti-racist monument in Malmö, Sweden
Application deadline: August 9, 2023
Anti-racist monument
The Culture Department of Malmö seeks artists and artist groups to express interests to be part of the procurement process for the commission of an anti-racist monument in Malmö, Sweden. The commission primarily seeks artists who work with process-oriented, participatory, and/or exploratory methods. Relevant to the commission is an artistic practice that addresses topics pertinent to the Anti-Racist Monument project, such as anti-racism, resistance, and memorial work.
Background
On May 1, 2019, a call was published in the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan for an anti-racist monument to commemorate those who were victims of serial killer Peter Mangs’ acts of violence in Malmö between 2003-2010. Through this call, the initiators sought a monument that extends the conversation about anti-racism into the public sphere while acknowledging racism as a societal problem that requires collective efforts.
The public space in Malmö has been shaped without testimonies and experiences of racism. Discussions about racism are often marginalized from public contexts, forcing conversations to take place in spaces created by those who themselves experience racism. Raising a monument becomes a part of creating conditions for engaging in these discourses.
About the commission
The artistic commission aims to creating a site-specific public artwork—an anti-racist monument—with high artistic value located in a specific site in Malmö.
The monument should serve as a gathering place in a public space that resonates with the people of Malmö, encompassing their history and reflecting their sense of belonging within the city. The commission aims for a multifaceted representation that may consist of several artistic layers, interpreting and considering both the site and the various aspects of the anti-racist monument project. The monument should serve as an active reminder—today, historically, and into the future.
Complete information about the project can be found here.
Eligibility
You must be a professional artist or artistic group. By professional, in this context, it means that you have either completed an artistic higher education program or engaged in documented artistic activities for at least five years.
Complete information about the commission process can be found here.
Compensation for the commission
Significant emphasis is placed on the artist’s practice and working process to create a work that becomes part of an ongoing memorial work, where the people of Malmö can have agency in the process. The commission primarily seeks artists who work with process-oriented, participatory, and/or exploratory methods in combination with physical representation. Relevant to the commission is an artistic practice that addresses topics pertinent to the anti-racist monument project, such as anti-racism, resistance, and memorial work.
About the site
The location for the permanent artwork is Falsterboplan, also known colloquially as Jesusparken, one of the most popular meeting places in the Möllevången district. Although Möllevången is not specifically marked by Mangs’ crimes, it carries a history of social and anti-racist organizing. Möllevången can be understood as an iconic place in Sweden where the most prominent narrative about the place today revolves around multiculturalism, community, and anti-racism. The future monument will coexist in the urban space with several layers of history and contribute to the already multifaceted character of the site. It has the potential to become a place that reflects the city and the collective efforts of civil society against racism.
–No compensation is paid for expression of interest
–A sketching fee of 100,000 SEK (excluding VAT) is paid to the three (3) Artists who are selected for sketch assignments.
–The total budget for the artistic process is 2,500,000 SEK (excluding VAT).
Key dates
–Deadline for applications: August 9 2023, 12pm
–Three artists/artists group will be assigned sketch assignments, preliminary end of August 2023
–Sketch period is mid-September to the end of February
–Deadline for sketch proposal is February 29 2024, 12pm
–Decision of Artist preliminary in March 2024
–The public artwork will preliminary be inaugurated in September/October 2025
Application
Please find the application here.
For further inquiries please contact: anna.wahlstedt [at] malmo.se or rena.baledi [at] malmo.se
