Kin Konstfesten 2027

For the fourth consecutive year, contemporary art will be celebrated and debated at Kin’s Konstfesten, taking place February 11–14, 2027, in Giron/Kiruna, a town on the Swedish side of Sápmi that is undergoing large-scale demolition and relocation driven by the mining industry. Over four days, one of the world’s northernmost art museums will become a space for encounters and exchange, bringing together artists, architects, researchers, curators, writers, miners, reindeer herders, and visitors for exhibitions, lectures, and conversations. The program also includes a shared meal rooted in place and an excursion to the village of Puoltsa, where representatives of the Laevas and Girjas Sámi communities will introduce participants to the land, food traditions, and challenges facing reindeer herding today.

Guests and participants: Janelle Baker, Malin Brännström, Cooking Sections, Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu, Olga Tsaplya Egorova, Fernando García-Dory, Goldin+Senneby, Tone Hansen, Victoria Harnesk, Stina Högkvist, Johdet × Pirak, Stefan Jonsson, Kultivator, Elin Anna Labba, Nils-Johan Labba, Mari Mette Lind Geadgenieida Bugge, Randi Marainen, Simon Issát Marainen, Metahaven, Sergio Montero Bravo, Edi Muka, Myvillages, Anna-Karin Niia, Ragnhild Nilsson, Otobong Nkanga, Elia Nurvista, Andjeas Pestov Ejiksson, Natalia Shapkina, Åsa Sonjasdotter, Keg de Souza, Jari Söyrinki, Claudia Tazreiter, Jon Tomas Utsi, Sandra Wasara-Hammare, Eyal Weizman, Hilda Westerberg, Lena Ylipää, and Torbjörn Ömalm

Kin Konstfesten takes the museum’s ongoing and upcoming projects as its point of departure and explores themes and questions that extend beyond the institution, connecting local, regional, national, and international concerns. What happens to art and life when the land is being transformed and climate change accelerates? How can food, craft, architecture, research, poetry, and art become ways of thinking together? What role can art institutions play in these circumstances?

 The programme opens with two exhibitions: The Feeling Sonnets (Transitional Object) by the artist duo Metahaven and The Benevolent Food, a group exhibition exploring food as a site of conviviality and of cultural, ecological, and political relations.

 Among the highlights is a conversation about Shaped by Many, a new commission by Otobong Nkanga developed in collaboration with craftspeople and artists in Sápmi. The exhibition On the Ugly and the Beautiful: Johan Turi, Outi Pieski, and Johanna Minde provides the starting point for a presentation by writer Elin Anna Labba on Turi’s Muitalus sámiid birra (An Account of the Sámi, 1910), the first book about Sámi life written in Sámi by a Sámi author. Political scientist Ragnhild Nilsson traces a century of struggles for Sámi influence and self-determination. A panel bringing together representatives of cultural institutions and independent initiatives will examine their changing roles and responsibilities, with participants including Tone Hansen, director of Moderna Museet, and Övul Durmusoglu, director of Index. Miner and writer Jari Söyrinki will lead participants on a walking tour through the disappearing old town.

 Organized in collaboration with the Public Art Agency Sweden, Linköping University, and Mittuniversitetet, Konstfesten begins at 15:00 on Thursday, February 11, and concludes at noon on Sunday, February 14, 2027.