Contemporary Art Days Summit 2025 will take place in Gothenburg and the Västra Götaland Region October 13–15, 2025. The detailed programme is now online, and registration is open. Several activities have limited capacity – register early to secure your spot.
The Contemporary Art Days Summit is the largest recurring gathering for contemporary art professionals in Sweden. The summit focuses on organisational development within the arts sector, advocacy, inclusion, and the strengthening of networks and ecosystems for art practitioners both locally and nationally. Through discussions, networking, and workshops, we aim to share experiences, inspire one another, and learn across practices. There will be opportunities for both hands-on collaboration and more open, philosophical conversations.
While Swedish is the main language of the summit, the programme is accessible to English-speaking art professionals. At least one presentation on the afternoon of 13 October will be held in English, and four out of five workshops on the morning of 14 October will also be conducted in English. Descriptions of these four workshops can be found below. For further details about the programme in English, please contact Giorgiana Zachia Giorgiana.zachia@statenskonstrad.se.
For registration and support, please email Emilie Ackerman at emilie.ackerman@statenskonstrad.se.
Workshop 1:
Perspektivskifte – från insikt till handling
How can we expand our understanding of diversity beyond visible traits? What does meaningful representation look like in your context? And how can cultural institutions acknowledge and address past exclusions?
In this workshop participants will explore the evolving meaning of diversity and how the cultural sector, by its very nature, can become a space where historical injustices are addressed, representation is strengthened, and a broad spectrum of perspectives is welcomed and expressed.
With: Monica N. Ifejilika, Senior advisor at Kulturdirektoratet (Norway)
Language: Norwegian (English if needed)
Number of participants: 20
Workshop 2:
Belonging Workshop – weaving a deeper understanding of our practice, its location and relations
This workshop explores how our attachments and desires shape the way we work with others, and how educator and writer Aimee Carrillo Rowe’s idea of a “politics of relation” can offer tools for navigating power dynamics and building more intentional, equitable collaborations. Be Longing is the movement from being constituted as an individual self to be longing towards the other, thus creating a type of fluid relationality. This “other” can be thought of as community, another person, an object, a space, a place, a feeling, an urgency. Our belongings are deeply rooted in the political conditions we live in, each holding a set of power relationships, creating what Carrillo Rowe calls a “politics of relation.” Starting to understand our belongings allows us to actively question and imagine how we are in relation to one another, our surrounding world, and structures of power.
With: Jeanne van Heeswijk, artist
Language: English
Number of participants: 30
Workshop 3
Strengthening Local Presence by Allowing Art to Contribute to Societal Value While Maintaining Artistic Integrity
This workshop is intended for those interested in exploring the model of Idéburet offentligt partnerskap (IOP – Civil Society Public Partnership) as a means of developing collaboration between the arts and public sector actors.
Perhaps you are already running an artistic initiative that makes a difference locally but lack the resources to sustain it in the long term? Or maybe you are keen to explore new ways of thinking about funding and social relevance? Together, we will delve into what IOP is, why the model was developed, and how artistic initiatives can use it to build sustainable partnerships, create new sources of income, and contribute to societal value – all without compromising artistic integrity.
With: Aleksandra Wasso, expert on advocacy and policy at Famna
Language: Swedish
Open participation
Partners
The Contemporary Art Days Summit 2025 is organised by Public Art Agency Sweden in collaboration with Göteborgs Konsthall, Göteborg Konst, Röda Sten Konsthall (host of the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, GIBCA), The Centre for Art and the Political Imaginary (HDK-Valand at the University of Gothenburg and the Royal Institute of Art), the City of Gothenburg’s Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Västra Götaland Region.
Time, place, and registration
When: October 13–15, 2025
Where: Gothenburg and the Västra Götaland Region
Registration: Required. Final date for registration: September 29