The Contemporary Art Days Summit gathers artists, curators, cultural practitioners, and professionals working across the visual arts, as well as people from other sectors of society. The programme runs throughout the year in a digital format, two trainings in Gothenburg and Malmö, and coalesces in a three-day in-person conference in October. Below you can explore the programme for Contemporary Art Days 2026.
Digital Seminar Series – Artistic Organising in Times of Upheaval
Across six seminar sessions, we take specific geographic and political contexts as our starting point, examining what political shifts have taken place, how cultural strategies and cultural policy directions have changed across different governments, and what strategies artists and arts organisations have developed to respond to and act within these changes. The focus is on the interplay between the fundamental conditions for art and the political and institutional circumstances that shape artistic practices and organisations in each context.
The seminars are free of charge and open to everyone.
- Friday, 27 March, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from Hungary >
- Friday, 10 April, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from Slovakia >
- Wednesday, 13 May, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from Poland >
- Friday, 5 June, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from One Another >
- Friday, 4 September, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from the Netherlands
- Friday, 4 December, 10:00–12:00 – Learning from Slovenia
Training – Training for the Not-Yet through Relational Practice and Radical Imagination
On two occasions this year, we explore the theme of relational practice and radical imagination — training for the not-yet— with Jeanne van Heeswijk as a facilitator. The trainings are intended for artists, curators, and others interested in socially engaged, participatory, and community-based artistic practices. Both workshops are organised by the Swedish Public Art Agency in collaboration with Kulturakademin and Region Skåne.
Jeanne van Heeswijk has long collaborated with local communities and institutions in different parts of the world to develop the concept for the set-up for the Training for the Not-Yet. Throughout the training, she introduces the working methods developed through these collaborations. A central question is how we can understand our belongings — in the sense of relationships and positionings — as a starting point for imagining other futures.
- 15–16 April – Kinesiska Muren, Gothenburg
- 24–25 August – Malmö Art Museum
Contemporary Art Days Summit 2026 – Digital Pre-Conference
Ahead of the in-person gathering during the Contemporary Art Days Summit 2026, we are organising a pre-conference. During the pre-conference, professionals from across the art field in Sweden come together to jointly formulate the themes that will be at the centre of the October in person gathering. Participants play an active role in shaping the content of this year’s summit.
The pre-conference offers a first glimpse of the programme and an opportunity to meet local partners from Uppsala. News is also shared, and participants connect with the networks Visual Arts Association Sweden and The Collective Brain. Together, participants contribute their experiences and become part of the conversation.
- 27 April, 09:00–12:00 – Digital Pre-Conference Online >
Contemporary Art Days Summit 2026 – In-Person Conference
The in-person programme for the Contemporary Art Days Summit 2026 takes shape through a series of meetings and programs during the year. In dialogue with networks of art organisations and actors across Sweden, these pre-meetings will identify and develop six urgent topics for the summit. Emerging through exchange and joint inquiry, these topics will form the basis of the group work in October.
At the summit, participants will work in groups organised around these six conversation topics, to develop and share methods for strengthening and transforming contemporary art infrastructures in Sweden. Each group will be led by a team of local and international facilitators, creating a framework for exchange and learning between colleagues working in different contexts across Europe.
- 14–16 October – Various venues across the Uppsala region