Stretching the “we” of art: Learning with communities 

Contemporary Art Days 2026 features six thematic discussion groups. This discussion topic focuses on the “we”.There is often an implied “we” in the arts: the “we” who seeks to reach new audiences, engage those considered “hard to reach”, and represent stories not yet heard. Yet these efforts can sometimes leave existing institutional assumptions, structures, and decision-making processes untouched.

In Sweden, cultural institutions are increasingly expected to work across geographical, social, and cultural differences, engaging with rural and urban communities, national minorities, Indigenous Sámi perspectives, migrant communities, and other forms of situated knowledge. This raises questions not only about participation and representation, but also about reciprocity, learning, and institutional change.

This theme explores what it means to work with communities as co-learners, collaborators, and knowledge holders rather than audiences, consultees, or beneficiaries. How might institutions become more responsive to the people and places they engage with, and what organisational changes might this require?

• What approaches, methods, or partnerships do you currently use to work with communities, and what have you learned from them?
• How do you understand learning within your organisation? What alternative pedagogies, knowledge systems, or forms of exchange could inform your work?
• In what ways have communities, participants, or collaborators influenced your programmes, priorities, or ways of working? What structures would enable this influence to become more meaningful and long-term?
• What does reciprocity look like in your context, and how can institutions move beyond consultation towards shared decision-making and mutual learning?

The discussion begins at Sunnersta kyrka on 14 October and continues at Rikssalen on 15 October, where participants will further develop the ideas and conversations initiated on the first day.