Networks and Alliances

THE CONTEMPORARY ART DAYS SUMMIT 2018

NETWORKS AND ALLIANCES

samtidskonstdagarna.se/en 14–16 November 2018 Boden/Luleå 13 November Pre-summit visit to Kiruna 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 organisations. In 2018, for the first time, the summit is organised under the aegis of the Public Art Agency Sweden.

This year’s summit will focus on building networks and alliances as strategies for action in contemporary art organisations today. The last few years have witnessed a large increase in organisational networks across the art field in Sweden. Whether formal or informal, on a local or national scale, with Nordic or international counterparts, alliances are formed in a variety of constellations between art institutions, self-organised initiatives and other organisations. 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 mid-size art organisations 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?

The Contemporary Art Days 2018 presents a diverse programme comprising guest speakers, performances, site visits and workshops that will examine a variety of ways of working with networks and building strategic alliances.

The summit is held in the region of Norrbotten in the north of Sweden. A preview of the 2018 Luleå Biennial is included in the programme, as well as a pre-summit site visit to Kiruna, a mining town 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.

Programme group: Edi Muka, Cornelius Stiefenhofer, Ingela Ögren Weinmar, Niklas Östholm and Giorgiana Zachia.

Contemporary Art Days Summit 2018 is co-produced by Havremagasinet Regional Centre for Contemporary Art; Konstfrämjandet, People’s Movements for Art Promotion; and Public Art Agency Sweden with financial support from the Norrbotten County Council.

3 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 Programme 14–16 November

WEDNESDAY 14 NOVEMBER Saga Cinema, Drottninggatan 4, Boden 13.00 Registration, networking and coffee

14.00 Welcome Speeches: Magdalena Malm and Kristina Nilsson EN / SE

14.15 Performance: NORDTING (The Northern Assembly), Boden Amund Sjølie Sveen EN

15.30 Introduction, workshop and coffee Giorgiana Zachia, Kajsa Balkfors and Jesper Hök SE / EN

17.00 Discussion on networks and collaborations among art organisations in the Barents Region: Kristoffer Dolmen, Hanna Horsberg Hansen, Jérémie Michael McGowan, Svein Ingvoll Pedersen, Riitta Kuusikko and Cornelius Stiefenhofer EN

17.40 Closing remarks 18.00 Bus to Rödbergsfortet, part of Boden Fortress 18.30 Dinner at Rödbergsfortet. Visit of A Sense of War av Karl Sjölund (a part of Luleå Biennial) 20.00 Bus to Havremagasinet Regional Centre for Contemporary Art 20.30 Mingle at Havremagasinet. The exhibitions may be visited

THURSDAY 15 NOVEMBER Folkets Hus, Kungsgatan 51, Boden

08.30 Introduction 08.45 Panel discussion on financing of networks. Miriam Andersson Blecher (Botkyrka konsthall), Robert Brodén (Swedish Postcode Foundation), Ola Kellgren (Nordic Culture Point) and Caroline Lund (The National Association of Swedish Art Societies) SE

09.40 Lecture: Grégory Castéra – Infinite Ear: A Curatorial Inquiry EN

10.10 Lecture: Julie Decker – Sharing Tomorrow EN 10.40 Coffee and reflections in groups 11.00 Lecture: Maria Lind – Eroseffekten och närhetsprincipen / ”The Eros Effect and Subsidiarity SE

4 11.30 Lecture: Ulricha Johnson – Nätverk inom scenkonsten / ”Networks in Performing Arts” SE

12.00 Reflections in groups 12.30 Lunch, Casa Bodensia 13.30 Parallel workshops: Grégory Castéra – What do we have in common? How can art organisations evolve through the concerns of the public? EN Julie Decker – Change, Culture & Conflict: Organisational Response EN, Jenny Grönvall and Anna Norberg – Bästa Biennalen: Att nå ut / “The Best Biennial: Outreach” SE, Stefan Ingvarsson – Därför ska vi samarbeta med Ryssland / “This is why we should collaborate with Russia” SE, Ulricha Johnson – Att utveckla nätverk / “Developing Networks” SE

15.00 Coffee and exchange of experiences and presentations of attending networks

17.00 Lecture: Sandi Hilal – Al-Madhafah/The Living Room EN 17.30 Conclusion 18.00 Performance dinner: Sandi Hilal – The Right to Be a Host – a part of Al-Madhafah/The Living Room

FRIDAY 16 NOVEMBER

9.30 Bus to Defence Museum Boden 10.30 Bus to Mjölkuddsberget 11.15 Visit of The Blood of Stars at Mjölkuddsberget (part of Luleå Biennal) 11.45 Bus to Luleå kulturhus 12.15 Lunch in central Luleå (NB. not included in the conference fee) 13.15 The curatorial team present the Luleå Biennial at Luleå Art Center 14.00 Optional visits to Galleri Syster, Norrbottens museum, etc. (approx. 2 hours).

After 16.00 return journey The programme will be held in English and Swedish.

5 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Programme 14–16 November Details About The Programme

14/11, 14.15 NORDTING (The Northern Assembly) – Boden Led by Amund Sjølie Sveen with Maya Mi Samuelsen and Erik Stifjell

NORDTING is a people’s assembly and a political party; it’s a gala performance and a separatist movement. After hoisting the red flag all over Norway – from the capital in the south to the most remote corner of the North, NORDTING is now ready to take responsibility for the whole Arctic colony. The power is still in the south. The money is still in the south. There are still people who are rich and poor. It’s time to sharpen the arguments. It’s time to bully the capital. It’s time to drink vodka and take a crack course in political theory – all while tears well in your eyes and your hearts burst for a free and independent North. It’s time to let the Reindeer banner wave proudly over the land.

14/11, 17.00 Panel discussion on networks and collaborations between art organisations in the Barents Region. With Kristoffer Dolmen (Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš / Sami Centre for Contemporary Art), Hanna Horsberg Hansen (UiT – The Arctic University of Norway), Jérémie McGowan (Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum), Svein Ingvoll Pedersen, Riitta Kuusikko (Rovaniemi Art Museum). Moderator: Cornelius Stiefenhofer (Havremagasinet Regional Art Gallery)

The Barents Region is a political construct created in the 1990s to establish contacts with Russia, which suddenly opened its borders after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It covers the Northern parts of Scandinavia and parts of Northwest Russia. It is this area that is understood as the core of Sápmi. In this panel we will examine networks and collaborations among some of the art institutions in the region. How have they worked and developed in a climate where this modus operandi is practical and necessary, politically encouraged

6 and traditionally practised? How do art institutions navigate the historical, political and social entanglements and what can art do?

Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum is dedicated to creative experimentation, outreach and research on the North. As the art museum for north Norwegian and Sámi art, we advocate northern ideas and perspectives, fostering dialogue between Northern Norway and the world. In 2017 the museum won four national prizes, including “Museum of the Year” from the Norwegian Museums’ Association in recognition of its collaboration with RiddoDuottarMuseat on the museum performance Sámi Dáiddamusea. www.nnkm.no

North Norwegian Art Centre (NNKS) is a regional centre for visual art that comprises the entire region of Northern Norway. The art centre’s office, gallery and artist residency are located in Svolvær, Lofoten. NNKS supports projects and regional initiatives in the field of visual art and runs an extensive programme throughout Northern Norway. NNKS organises the biennial Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF). http://www.nnks.no/

Rovaniemi Art Museum is based at the Arctic Circle in Finland. The essential focus of exhibitions, art education and research is the northern dimension, with the museum working actively both locally and internationally. Rovaniemi Art Museum places its main focus on contemporary Finnish art and art in the Arctic. The main collection of the Rovaniemi Art Museum is called Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Art Collection. It is one of the most important contemporary art collections in Finland. Representing a cross-section of Finnish art from the 1940s to the present it comprises over 3,000 works. The collection enjoys a reputation of exceptional quality. http://www.korundi.fi

7 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Details About The Programme 14/11 Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš (SDG) / Sami Centre for Contemporary Art was founded in 1986 by the Sami Artists’ Union. Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš became a foundation in 2013, and in 2014 the centre relocated to a new complex in Karasjok. SDG carries out an ambitious programme of exhibitions and events focusing primarily on Sami contemporary art from Norway, Sweden and Finland and also includes other international artists. In the coming year SDG will work on new, in-house solo exhibitions fea- turing artists such as Outi Pieski (FI), Katarina Pirak Sikku (SE), Arnold Johansen (NO), Synnøve Persen (NO) and Rose-Marie Huuva (SE). In addition, the centre collaborates with outside parties on projects and exhibitions both in and beyond Sápmi. http://samidaiddaguovddas.no/

15/11, 08.45 Panel discussion on financing of networks: Miriam Andersson Blecher (Botkyrka konsthall) Robert Brodén (Swedish Postcode Foundation) Ola Kellgren (Nordic Culture Point) and Caroline Lund (the National Association of Swedish Art Societies).

Nordic Culture Point and Swedish Postcode Foundation provide financial support to, among others, networks and collaborations between different types of art organisations in and outside the field of art, in and beyond Sweden. What are their strategies for supporting networks in the field of culture and art? What is their analysis based on the dialogues held with art institutions through the years? Which experiences are relevant to mediate to other art organisations seeking support?

Nordic Culture Point is an official Nordic cultural institution based in Helsinki with activities across the Nordic region. We promote, strengthen and disseminate Nordic cultural collaboration with the vision that everyone should be able to participate

8 in cultural and social life on equal terms. Our most important tool is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ support programmes for cultural exchange in the Nordic countries and between the Nordic countries and the Baltic countries. There are six different forms of support that all aim to strengthen Nordic cultural collaboration.

The Swedish Postcode Foundation aims to challenge, inspire and promote change. The foundation supports projects that, in different ways, work towards a better world. The projects span a broad field, both in Sweden and internationally, and include everything from protecting the environment and biodiversity to promoting greater equality, changing norms through art and culture or creating social impact through sport. All that – and everything in between – is encompassed in the Swedish Postcode Foundation. The Swedish Postcode Foundation is financed from the Postcode Lottery’s surplus, which is made possible by the lottery’s customers.

15/11, 09.40 Grégory Castéra – Infinite Ear: A Curatorial Inquiry Grégory Castéra will present a curatorial methodology based on long-term “inquiries” that assemble people and knowledge from the arts, sciences and civil society in order to foster a better understanding of societal issues. The inquiries could generate exhibitions and public programmes and commission new work by artists, researchers and activists. The presentation will focus on the project Infinite Ear, an exploration of the inclusivity of deaf and hard-of- hearing individuals in the arts. Initiated in 2013 during the Sharjah Biennial, Infinite Ear has recently been presented at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow.

9 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Details About The Programme 14–15/11 15/11, 10.10 Julie Decker – Sharing Tomorrow Decker speaks to the value of networks, alliances and collaborations, from the hyperlocal to the strategic importance of international connections particularly across the North. From cross-disciplinary projects to long-term partnerships and the Northern Art Network, the Anchorage Museum leads from the perspective of shared knowledge rather than traditional silos. Organisations designing for the future embrace the sharing of ideas and resources.

15/11, 11.00 Maria Lind – Eroseffekten och närhetsprincipen / “The Eros Effect and Subsidiarity” With the point of departure in examples from the activities of Tensta konsthall, Lind describes the centre’s transformation into a “generous spearhead”, where the most urgent contemporary art is presented and generously mediated, which has attracted attention from both near and far. What is the secret of its success? What are the stumbling blocks?

15/11, 11.30 Ulricha Johnson – Nätverk inom scenkonsten / “Developing Networks” What is the state of the performing arts industry’s networking? How are international and national networks created and by whom? Scensverige – Swedish Centre of International Theatre Institute is a member organisation that promotes the development of Swedish performing arts and extends international relations through networking, collaboration and the exchange of ideas and by disseminating knowledge and information within the performing arts. Scensverige has initiated, among others, the international network Action Committee for Artists Rights and Proud Performing Arts LGBT+ Workgroup and several national networks and committees.

10 Parallel workshops

15/11, 13.30

There are five parallel workshops that you, as a conference guest can choose from. Several of them have limited seating. You can register your interest to participate during the afternoon of the 14.11. Here is an overview of the workshops. All workshops take place at Folkets Hus.

1. What do we have in common? How can art organisations evolve through the concerns of the public? Workshop leader: Grégory Castéra

The workshop will be a conversation with the participants on key issues of the “inquiries”: How to define an issue? How to select participants and partners? How to assemble their practices? How to define the scale of a project and the interaction between art organisations, scientific organisations and socially engaged organisations? Which transformations of the participants, their understanding of social issues and artistic experimentation can be expected?

2. Change, Culture & Conflict: Organisational Response Workshop leader: Julie Decker

The workshop explores ideas around institutional change, knowledge, decolonisation and inclusion and discusses ways to be action oriented on indigenous issues and to understand the new, contemporary roles of arts organisations. Listen to examples from the Anchorage Museum relative to efforts to transform all elements of the organisation, from programmes, exhibitions, collection strategies, job descriptions and curatorial practices in order to be relevant in serving many communities and be thought- ful and responsive in speaking to both history and futures.

11 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Details About The Programme – Parallel workshops 15/11 3. Bästa Biennalen: Att nå ut / “The Best Biennial: Reaching Out” Workshop leader: Jenny Grönvall and Anna Norberg

Att nå ut / “Reaching Out”: a workshop on creating relevance in dialogue with selected groups. The workshop is aimed at municipalities, smaller art organisations on the independent art scene and/or others who shape their activities in relation to local development. The method we highlight has been developed to create relevant and sustainable relations within Bästa Biennalen in addition to facilitating our participating art organisations to reach their interest groups and organisations.

4. Därför ska vi samarbeta med Ryssland / “This is why we should collaborate with Russia” Workshop leader: Stefan Ingvarsson

What is the state of the landscape of visual arts, residencies, forms of support and cultural exchanges in Russia today? How should Sweden regard different actors and contexts? How do political and international sanctions affect our ability to interact with the Russian art world? Meet the Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in Moscow who will attempt to answer questions, distinguish prejudices from legitimate concerns and encourage as many as possible to visit Russia and initiate collaborations there.

5. Att utveckla nätverk / ”Developing Networks” Workshop leader: Ulricha Johnson

Ulricha Johnson from Scensverige Swedish Centre of International Theatre Institute leads a practical workshop and an ideation workshop where we concretise possible ideas and possibilities for the development of networking. Bring your

12 hopes, experiences and perhaps misgivings and let us study them from different perspectives and future visions in the area of performing arts.

15/11, 17.00 Sandi Hilal: Al-Madhafah/The Living Room

Located between the domestic and the public sphere, Al-Madhafah, in Arabic, means the living room dedicated to hospitality. It has the potential to subvert the role of guest and host and give a different socio-political meaning to the act of hospitality. It activates the rights of temporary people to host and not to eternally be a guest; the right to claim life in their new destination without feeling obliged to revoke the desire of belonging to life back home.

15/11, 18.00 Performance Dinner Sandi Hilal: The Right to Be a Host – a part of Al-Madhafah/The Living Room

The living room, when opening itself to host the stranger, functions as a self-representational space that has the potential to subvert the role of guest and host and provide a different socio-political meaning to the act of hospitality. With this spirit we will open up to the locals of Boden, both Swedes and others, to organise dinners in their living rooms on the same evening as a way to perform the right to be a host in a collective manner.

13 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Details About The Programme – Parallel workshops 15/11 Biographies

Miriam Andersson Blecher is the director of Botkyrka konsthall, where she started in 2007 as curator. As a curator for programme and education she focused on topics concerning contemporary art, pedagogical strategies and participation. Today, her job also involves public art in relation to city planning, urban development and local participation. Miriam also teaches at the International Curatorial Programme at Stockholm University.

Kajsa Balkfors’ focus is on supporting purpose- and participatory-driven change, learning and sustainable development. As senior process and meeting facilitator she works with both the public, private and civil sectors. Kajsa’s background includes more than 10 years as CEO and CCO at Cirkus Cirkör and over 20 years experience of leading participatory change. Kajsa trains leaders in Participatory Leadership/Art of Hosting and teaches Management & Entrepreneurship at UNIARTS.

Robert Brodén is a project leader at the Swedish Postcode Foundation. Robert has studied musicology and film studies. He has previously worked as an administrator at the Stockholm Cultural Administration and as a project manager and producer for various cultural events in Stockholm.

Anette Carlsson is an art educator and works as a local coordinator for the Contemporary Art Days in Boden. She is also active as a full-time atelie- rista at a Reggio Emilia preschool in Boden. Anette previously was involved with theatre and has studied art. Mediating art and enabling people of all ages to experience art and providing them with the opportunity to create is her absolute driving force.

Grégory Castéra is the founder and co-director of Council, a curatorial programme and fellowship driven by the belief in the transformative potential of arts and working towards extending their influence across domains. He served as co-director of Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers (2010–2012) and worked as an educator at Bétonsalon (2006–2010). He was co-author of the Encyclopedie de la Parole, a collaborative inquiry into the formal properties of speech (2007–2014). Since 2017, he has been collaborating with collectors Iordanis Kerenidis and Piergiorgio Pepe on the curation and infrastructure of their projects. www.council.art

Julie Decker, PhD, is the CEO of the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, which is a leading centre for scholarship, engagement, and investigation of the

14 North. Decker’s career has been focused on Northern places and building projects and initiatives that are in service to local and global communities. She has curated and designed numerous exhibitions and authored many publications on art, architecture and environment.

Kristoffer Dolmen is the director and curator of the Sami Centre for Contemporary Art in Karasjok, Finnmark and has worked at various art institutions in Northern Norway since 2001. With site-specific art and public art as his primary fields of interest Dolmen worked for ten years as an art consultant for the Nordland County Council, where he was responsible for of a number of major projects and programmes including public art, Artscape Nordland, AiR Nordland (residency), a network of Artist-in-Residence sites in Nordland, and several exhibitions, conferences and events.

Jenny Grönvall is project manager of Bästa Biennalen and has worked in the organisation since it was founded in 2013. Previously she was a fine artist and project leader for several social inclusion projects. She is a member of the board of SETTINGS, FUISM and Sisters Academy.

Sandi Hilal is an architect and researcher. She is a Co-Director of DAAR, an architectural office and an artistic residency programme that combines conceptual speculations and architectural interventions (www.decolo- nizing.ps). Alongside research and practice, Hilal is engaged in critical pedagogy, she is a co-founding member of Campus in Camps, an experimental educational programme in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem (www.campusincamps.ps). She headed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Camp Improvement Programme in the West Bank (2008–2014).

Hanna Horsberg Hansen works as associate professor at UiT– The Arctic University of Norway where she holds a position at the Academy of Contemporary Art and Creative Writing. Her PhD in 2010 in art history explored the possibilities of including Sami art into art historical discourses and methods. Her research field today is contemporary as well as historical Sami art, including exploration of Sami art institutions. She has published several articles disseminating her research.

Jesper Hök has more than 20 years of experience of working with sustainability, teaching and co-creating cultural change in all types of organisations. He is specialised in societal development, complex challenges and design of teaching processes. His primary focus of recent years has

15 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Biographies, A–H been the development of social innovations within the Swedish healthcare system. Large group methodology, facilitation and action methods such as Psychodrama and Sociodrama also form part of Jesper’s core work areas.

Stefan Ingvarsson has been the Counsellor for Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in Moscow for the last three years. Before relocating to Russia he was the founder and artistic director of the international literature festival Stockholm Literature at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. He has a background in publishing and as a cultural writer for the daily newspaper Expressen, he also works as a Polish-to-Swedish translator of fiction.

Svein Ingvoll Pedersen (NO) is an art historian and since 2014 the director of the North Norwegian Art Centre (NNKS). NNKS is a regional centre for visual arts in the region of Northern Norway that among a broad range of activities commissions the Lofoten International Art Festival, one of Norway’s major biennials for contemporary art. From 2008–2014 Pedersen held the position of director at Tromsø Kunstforening.

Elena Jarl is an assistant curator at Public Art Agency Sweden. She is coordinator for this year’s Contemporary Art Days Networks & Alliances. She holds a Master’s degree from the International Master’s Programme in Curating Art at Stockholm University and has a background in art and culture studies. Combined with her studies she has been involved in several projects as curator, project leader and museum educator. In addition to her studies and work in Stockholm, she has experience of opera and the performing arts.

Ulricha Johnson is managing director of Scensverige – Swedish Centre of International Theatre Institute and works actively in several networks, both in Sweden and internationally. Previously she was project manager, team leader and process leader in national projects at Riksteatern, focusing on collaborations between creators, organisers and organisations from different fields.

Ola Kellgren is the director of Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki, an institution under the aegis of the Nordic Council of Ministers whose primary mission is to administer the Council of Minister’s support programme for cultural collaboration in the Nordic region and the Baltic countries. Previously Kellgren held the position of regional director of culture in the county of Västerbotten, including the regional responsibility for Umeå, the European Capital of Culture in 2014. Prior to this he worked at Västerbottens museum, Umeå. His areas of interest include documentary photography and contemporary art.

16 Riitta Kuusikko is chief curator of the Rovaniemi Art Museum. Her area of expertise is contemporary art. She has curated numerous international exhibitions, including Flying Stories (2011-2012), Pathway (2013), Sami Contem- porary (2014), Place of Origin – Contemporary Native Art from Alaska (2018). Kuusikko is responsible for the collection of Rovaniemi Art Museum which is displayed continuously and features thematic selections curated by Kuusikko.

Maria Lind is a curator, writer and educator. Since 2011 she is the director of Tensta konsthall. Since the beginning of the 1990s she has curated, published and taught in a number of different contexts in and outside Europe. Maria Lind has been a curator at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, director of Kunstverein München and Iaspis, Stockholm and director of the graduate programme at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York. In 1998 she co-curated Manifesta in Luxemburg and in 2016 she was the artistic director of the Gwangju biennial. In 2009 she was awarded the Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Excellency and in 2010 Sternberg Press published Selected Maria Lind Writing.

Caroline Lund received her training in Fine Art at Berlin and in culture production at Malmö University. She is developing manager/art promoter at the National Association of Swedish Art Societies since 2012 and previously she was executive manager at Konstfrämjandet Skåne. She currently leads the project The Art to Meet in collaboration with The Art to Meet – an art project for newly-arrived artists, and is developing a European collaboration between central organisations for art associations, an incubator for young organisers in Contemporary art and a national project for art societies at preschools.

Magdalena Malm is the director of Public Art Agency Sweden. Malm founded and ran MAP, Mobile Art Production, an independent art actor who produced situation specific works and exhibitions in Stockholm and Gothenburg. She has also curated a number of exhibitions including at Moderna Museet, the Venice Biennial and at Iaspis, Stockholm. Malm is the editor of, among others, Curating Context, Black Box Illuminated and Imagining the Audience.

Jérémie McGowan is director of Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum. He is an artist and designer and holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has exhibited, published and taught internationally. He is on a mission to develop museum approaches based on experimental design practice and thinking. Working in a grey zone between museum director and designer he looks to make museums more punk rock in their basic outlook and ways of being.

17 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Biographies, I–Mc Edi Muka holds the position of curator of temporary projects at the Public Art Agency Sweden since March 2014. From 2009 – 2014 he was the curator of Röda Sten konsthall in Gothenburg, and together with Stina Edblom shared the position of artistic director of Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2013. He is one of the founders and directors of the Tirana International Contemporary Art Biennial, as well as director and curator of TICA – Tirana Institute of Contemporary Art, an independent platform for research and production of contemporary art.

Kristina Nilsson is since 2015 Director of Culture at Region Norrbotten. Previously she has held positions as general manager at the Music Department, Norrbotten County Council, director of the Luleå School of Arts and as lecturer and education manager at Piteå School of Music, In 2012-2014 she was the chair of Musikchefskollegiet and 2015-2017 a member of the board of the Swedish Performing Arts Association. Kristina received her training at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and the School of Music at the Luleå University of Technology. She holds an MFA (piano), piano pedagogy education and a BA in Music Education.

Anna Norberg is project developer for Bästa Biennalen since 2016, which she combines with her job as art educator at Ystads konstmuseum. She holds an MFA in Art History from the University of Lund and has completed studies in creative writing at Skurups folkhögskola and studied at Uppsala University. As an art educator and curator she has experience from both larger and smaller institutions, artist-run galleries and various independent projects.

Amund Sjølie Sveen is an artist and percussionist. Born in Vadsø, in the far north-eastern corner of Norway, he lives in exile in Svartskog outside Oslo. He holds a Master’s degree in solo percussion from the Academy of Music and Drama, the University of Gothenburg. He works with a wide range of expressions and medias whose common ground is the use of sound and the investigation of current political issues in the globalised world of the free market economy.

Cornelius Stiefenhofer is the director of Havremagasinet Regional Centre for Contemporary Art in Boden since March 2018. From 2011 to 2013, Cornelius was the recipient of a fellowship from the Robert Bosch Foundation, in collaboration with the Goethe Institute and the Ministry of culture of Arkhangelsk region. In Arkhangelsk, he worked on developing regional, interregional and international ties of the local art scene, by

18 curating exhibitions, organizing festivals, seminars, conferences and initiating a regional artist-in-residence program in Arkhangelsk. From 2015 to 2017 he worked at Pikene på Broen for the BAR International residency program and the annual art festival Barents Spektakel in Kirkenes, Norway. Cornelius holds a Master’s degree from Tromso Art Academy.

Lena Ylipää Art Consultant, Region Norrbotten. Artist. Lena Ylipää lives between Lainio in north Tornedalen and Boden. Active as an artist in Norrbotten since 1996, she has worked as an art consultant for Region Norrbotten for the last five years. She is greatly interested in social structures, notably the ongoing transformation and development processes in the Barents Region. Currently she is especially interested in issues of norms and attitudes concerning the concept of the periphery, regional and cultural boundaries and anchoring. And pine trees.

Giorgiana Zachia has a background as curator and is currently project manager for Contemporary Art Development at Public Art Agency Sweden. In 2016–2017 she was research developer at Valand Academy and in 2014–2016 contemporary art manager at the Swedish Exhibition Agency. Her curatorial practice is geared towards discursive programmes. She has co-curated two previous editions of Contemporary Art Days (Malmö 2015 and Umeå 2014), initiated two courses on working with public art for artists and curators/commissioners at Gothenburg University and co-edited Public Enquiries: Park Lek and the Scandinavian Social Turn (2018).

Ingela Ögren Weinmar is curator and art educator at Havremagasinet Regional Art Gallery. During her 12 year tenure at Luleå Art Gallery and 8 years at Havremagasinet one of her primary areas of focus has been how to mediate contemporary art to an audience who can take on board the art and related issues. Developing a wide art educational activity in which art education can act as a mediator between the audience and art has been one of the most important goals in her professional practice.

Niklas Östholm is a curator and writer, and since 2012 works at Konstfrämjandet – People’s Movements for Art Promotion as a curator. During almost 20 years he has worked with exhibitions, developmental projects, teaching and written texts – always with a strong interest in the artistic process, the role of art in society and how art can be placed in a context and mediated to the audience. Niklas has previously held positions at Index, Iaspis, Konsthall C and Botkyrka konsthall (Residence Botkyrka).

19 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Biographies, Mu–Ö Networks of Art Organisations

The last few years have witnessed a large increase in organisational networks across the art field in Sweden and the Nordic countries. Here are a few examples of networks that have agreed to be highlighted in this programme. Further down you can add other networks that you find relevant and are not listed here. If you are involved in a network, please share your experiences with us and tell us what your network does. Write to Giorgiana Zachia at [email protected]

Artists’ Initiatives’ Meetings Network (AIM) is a European network of artist-run initiatives which since 2017 is coordinated by Candyland, Stockholm. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences, sharing knowledge, increasing mobility and cooperation between artist-run initiatives and to raise awareness of the artist-run sector among the professional art world and the broader public. The network has currently eleven member spaces from across Europe and includes artists’ initiatives of various natures, from recently initiated to well-established spaces: Project Space 1646 (Haag, NL), Candyland (Stockholm, SE), KRÆ syndikatet (Copenhagen, DK), LTMKS (Vilnius, LT), MUU Artists’ Association (Helsinki, FI), Ormston House (Limerick, IE), Sant Marc (Sineu, Mallorca, ES), Small Projects (Tromsø, NO), >top (Berlin, DE), Totaldobže Art Centre (Riga, LV), Watertower Art Fest (Sofia, BG).

Arts Organisations Out of Office (AOOO) is a network comprising self-organised and small scale actors that work with contemporary art throughout the Nordic region. AOOO was initiated by Art Lab Gnesta and Konstfrämjandet in 2018. By meeting, exchanging experience and knowledge, the network wants to find new strategies, create resilience and work proactively against the abstract and concrete threats our activities face. In 2018-2019, the network will hold three different meetings in the Nordic region, exploring new strategies and laying the foundations for a long-term growing network. The network includes: Konstfrämjandet – People’s Movement for Art Promotion (SE), Art Lab Gnesta (SE), UNICORN – Artists in Solidarity (SE), Skånes konstförening (SE), Studio 17 (NO), MUU – Artists Association (FI), UKK (DK).

Bästa Biennalen is an organisation and a network working for the acces- sibility and including art space and comprises members primarily active in Skåne. We promote and make visible professional art for children and young people by organising a recurring regional art biennial, whose content

20 is produced by actors such as art institutions, municipalities, member organisations and independent arts organisations. Bästa Biennalen’s core activities are about development work, training and strengthening networking and cooperation for the participating actors. Bästa Biennalen is part of Ystad konstmusuem. For further information about the members of the network etc., please see www.bastabiennalen.se

Klister is a national network for small and mid-sized contemporary art institutions in Sweden founded in 2011. The network wants to highlight the role of these contemporary art institutions in society. Members include: Alingsås konsthall, Bildmuseet i Umeå, Borås Konstmuseum, Botkyrka konsthall, Gävle Konstcentrum, Göteborgs Konsthall, Kalmar konstmuseum, Konsthall C i Hökarängen, Konsthallen vid Bohusläns museum, Konsthallen i Haninge kulturhus, Kulturens Hus i Luleå, Lunds konsthall, Malmö konstmuseum, MAN-Museum Anna Nordlander i Skellefteå, Marabouparken konsthall i Sundbyberg, Nässjö konsthall, Röda Sten konsthall i Göteborg, Signal i Malmö, Skövde kulturhus, Tensta konsthall and Örebro konsthall. In 2014 KLISTER and Swedish Exhibition Agency published the report: No Exceptions: Value Creation in Small and Mid-sized Galleries of Contemporary Art https://www.kalmarkonstmuseum.se/ wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Inga_undantag_finalfinal.pdf

Kollektiva hjärnan (The Collective Brain) is a national network for self-organising art initiatives. It was founded in 2014 out of a desire to make available and strengthen the position of self-organised initiatives by sharing and upgrading their existing knowledge and hybrid working methods. Kollektiva Hjärnan is an open network welcoming self-organised art initiatives. Members include: Art Lab Gnesta, Galleri Syster (Luleå), Galleri Verkligheten (Umeå), Rejmyre Art Lab, Kultivator (Öland), Not Quite, Naivité (Göteborg), Galleri CC (Malmö), Skånes Konstförening (Malmö), Osäkerhetsprincipen, Myller, Intragalactic Arts Collective, Gylleboverket, The Non Existent Center, Almedalen Konstgrupp, Galleri Box (Göteborg), Österängens Konsthall (Jönköping), Unicorn and Galleri Lars Palm (Sandviken).

The Nordic Network is based on three existing associations of kunst- halles: The Danish Association of Art Centers, founded in 1992; Klister in Sweden and Kunsthallene in Norway, both founded in 2011. Each of the networks has arisen from the need to organise in order to highlight and debate the functioning, meaning and role of small and mid-sized contemporary art institutions, as well as the conditions for conducting their activities.

21 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Networks of Art Organisations In 2018 the Nordic Network published the report: Agencies of Art: A report on the situation of small and medium-sized art centers in Denmark, Norway and Sweden http://www.tenstakonsthall.se/uploads/208-Agencies%20 of%20Art.pdf

Nätverket för konstinstitutioner i Sverige – KIS is an informal network that has developed in close cooperation with small and mid-sized art institutions throughout Sweden, outside of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. During the past five years KIS has held an annual networking meeting where the hosting of the meeting has been shared between the institutions. The primary purpose of the meetings has been to exchange experiences, discuss common issues and enable increased collaboration. Members of the network include: Ystads konstmuseum, Mjellby Art Museum, Luleå Art Center, Uppsala Art Museum, Borås Art Museum, The County Museum of Gävleborg, Värmlands Museum and Västerås Art Museum.

The Sibling Art Centers form a network of smaller contemporary art centers in Stockholm and include: Botkyrka konsthall, Konsthall C, Marabouparken, Grafikens Hus and Tensta konsthall. The art centers meet regularly to exchange ideas and organize events that are pertinent to cultural policies. In 2012, the Sibling Art Centers arranged a series of hearings to highlight and discuss the prevailing cultural policies as well as art institutions and artists’ access to financing. Questions about gentrifi- cation and “creative industries” continue to be hot topics when the Siblings Art Centers meet.

22 Other networks you know of and want to add:

23 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Networks of Art Organisations The Locations

Pre-summit visit to Kiruna

A pre-summit visit to Kiruna on 13/11, has been organised for Contemporary Art Days. Lena Ylipää, Art Consultant for the Region of Norrbotten, has arranged the visit to Kiruna with the following highlights:

• Guided tour of Kiruna and the transformation of the town with guide Rasmus Norlin, deputy municipal antiquarian (riksantikvarie), the Municipality of Kiruna • Visit to the Sami Parliament of Sweden and Kristallen, Kiruna’s new town hall. • Preview of the new Norrbotten’s County Art Museum with museum director Selma Green and artistic director Maria Ragnestam. • Presentation of the project Markanvändning – Om exploatering av land / Use of Land: On the Exploitation of Land and the activities at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.

Folkets Hus Boden www.boden.fh.se

Folkets Hus was founded in 1902, in connection with the construction of Boden Fortress. The first trade unions in Boden needed to hold meetings but were not granted use of the existing premises. As a result it was decided they built their own meeting place. Thus, a Folkets Hus association was formed on the initiative of the Social Democratic Workers Commune and some of the trade unions. The current building was opened in 1966 and, in addition to the Folkets Hus, comprised a hotel and several shops. Later, a dental centre, a library and a medical centre were added. Folkets Hus owned the building until 31 December 2006 when it was sold to the Municipality of Boden. The municipality then sold it to Sveafastigheter, who began the conversion into a shopping mall. The shopping mall was inaugurated on 29 October 2009. Today, Folkets Hus is a modern and well- functioning organisation; eight young adults are responsible for service, technology and hospitality. Folkets Hus is once again owned by the Municipality of Boden.

24 Rödbergsfortet – Boden Fortress www.fastningsguiden.com/

Rödbergsfortet is a fortress of steel and armour, built into the mountain in 1903-1908 in order to provide defence for Upper Norrland. The fortress at the Lule River consists of five forts with cannons in the armoured turret, scattered around Boden. The forts were intended to deter enemies during the two World Wars of the 20th century. Rödbergsfortet is located south of the town and was the last fort to be demilitarised, which occurred in 1997. All the equipment remains intact and today Rödbergsfortet is classified as a historic building.

Defence Museum Boden www.forsvarsmuseum.se

Defence Museum Boden places Sweden and the Boden Fortress in a larger perspective. In the museum’s permanent display, Norrland, Sweden’s Northern Barrier, visitors are taken on a journey through the history of Swedish defence from the end of the 19th century until today, to experience peace and war from multiple perspectives. The journey begins with the great mobilisation of the First World War, followed by a calm interwar period, the Second World War and the Cold War and finally into a quieter period in which the priority for the Swedish Armed Forces has been to participate in peacekeeping operations on all continents. The Defence Museum also displays temporary exhibitions and forms part of SMHA Sweden’s military history heritage, a network of 26 state-owned and state-supported museums.

Mjölkuddsberget

Mjölkuddsberget is both a vantage point and a subterranean military complex. The complex was used during the Second World War as a fortress, and became a communication centre in the 1960s, tasked with working clandestinely during wartime. After the Cold War ended the Swedish defence was slimmed down and Mjölkuddsberget was removed from the Swedish Armed Forces organisation. However, parts of the old equipment remain inside the rock – a reminder of a time of intensive preparations for a war that never came in the form for which it was prepared. Since 2001, the rock is owned by the real estate company Stadsberget Luleå AB, which has used it for the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms.

25 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / The Locations Current Exhibitions

Digitala landskap / Digital Landscapes Havremagasinet Regional Centre for Contemporary Art Until 13/1, 2019 Artists: EEEFFF, Erik Holmsted, Igor Samolet, Susanne M. Winterling Curator: Cornelius Stiefenhofer

In Digitala Landskap the virtual world and the digitalisation of communication are questioned. Who benefits from digitalisation? What are our hopes? What will digitalisation actually lead to? What are the effects of digitalisation in Norrbotten, in society, in social structures and how is the individual affected? How can artists’ perspectives contribute to increased reflection about the digitisation processes that are taken for granted?

Luleå Biennal 2018: Tidal Ground www.luleabiennial.se Locations: Luleå konsthall, Norrbottens museum, Galleri Syster, Södra hamn, Mjölkuddsberget, Havremagasinet, Rödbergsfortet, Kiruna konst- gille, Medborgarhuset in Korpilombolo Exhibition period : 17 Nov 2018–17 Feb 2019

Participants/Artists: Henrik Andersson, Marwa Arsanios, Monira Al-Qadiri, Filipa César, Anna Dacqué, Vishal K Dar, Ingela Ihrman, Isak Hall, Louis Henderson, Susanna Jablonski, Lap-See Lam, Hiwa K, Hanni Kamaly, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Nikos Markou, Olof Marsja, Didem Pekün, Katarina Pirak Sikku, Agnieszka Polska, Raqs Media Collective, Residence-in-Nature (Johanna Gustafsson Fürst, Ingvild Holm, Hans Isaksson, Åsa Jungnelius, Oscar Männikkö, Esko Männikkö, Gustaf Nordenskiöld, Lisa Torell, Markus Vallien), Neda Saeedi, Karl Sjölund, Zhou Tao, Alexandros Tzannis, Ulla Wiggen, Susanne M. Winterling and Anja Örn. Curatorial team: Emily Fahlén, Asrin Haidari and Thomas Hämén

With Norrbotten’s landscape as the point of departure for the Luleå Biennial 2018, and greatly inspired by its contemporary poets, a series of related exhibitions will open in Luleå, Boden, Jokkmokk, Kiruna and Korpilombolo. In works about muted waterfalls, a fictional wilderness and waiting for a war that fails to commence, parallels are drawn to similar stories in other

26 mountains, at other riverbanks and seas. There are also works that do not arise from particular geographies that connect to dreams and take off from the ground. The Luleå Biennial is organized under the aegis of Konstfrämjandet, People’s Movement for Art Promotion.

Notes:

27 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / Current Exhibitions The Organisers

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 facilitates the development of organisations for contemporary art in Sweden.

Konstfrämjandet, People’s Movements for Art Promotion Since 1947 “Art for Everyone” has been the ethos of Konstfrämjandet, People’s Movements for Art Promotion. In various collaborations the nationwide organisation challenges prevailing notions of art both within the art field and for a broad public; a co-creating, thinking audience. Konstfrämjandet argues for art as a way of thinking and acting. Through collaborations with artists and members of established popular movements, self-organised artistic initiatives and contemporary social movements, perspectives on art are expanded, and access is given to channels and environments where contemporary art is rarely seen.

Havremagasinet Regional Centre for Contemporary Art Havremagasinet started out as an artist-run project space in 2010. Today, it is the regional centre for contemporary art in Norrbotten with satellites and activities in Boden, Norrbotten and the Barents Region. Havremagasinet’s exhibition programming juxtaposes positions of artists from around the world with concepts of the local and regional art scenes; always dealing with questions relevant for the (temporary) citizens of Boden and the region. A major focus of Havremagasinet’s activities is the mediation of art.

31 The Contemporary Art Days 2018 / The Organisers