Beyond the Obvious 2024 | Malmö

May 29, 2024, 12:00 am | June 1, 2024, 12:00 am
29 May - 1 June 2024
Various locations, Malmö | Sweden
Various locations, Malmö | Sweden

United by Future Places – Beyond the Obvious 2024

Malmö, Sweden May 29 – June 1 2024

REGISTER BELOW!

United by Future Places is the 2024 edition of Culture Action Europe’s Beyond the Obvious conference. This international get together invites practitioners, organisations and institutions, policy-makers, thinkers, researchers, activists and art-ivists from the cultural and social sectors working on topics related to cultural democracy, citizenship, urban and public spaces & sustainability. Places matter, and so does culture. United by Future Places | Beyond the Obvious will address questions on how to rethink the future of cities as places for collective living with culture as the guiding principle. How can the European cultural sector propose new narratives and images for sustainable futures?

The four days programme will include Culture Action Europe  member’s forum, a reception at Malmö’s historical town hall, project pitches and future labs, as well as key-note lectures and panel debates featuring international experts on culture, architecture and urban development, open circle discussions, culture walks, and study visits/workshops with local cultural agents.

Host of Eurovision Song Contest 2024, Malmö is Sweden’s 3rd biggest and youngest city. A super-diverse (189 nationalities) and young (50% of the population under 35) community of over 350.000 people. Known for its innovative practices in urban sustainable development and grassroots creative movements, it provides a unique setting for 2024’s Beyond the Obvious gathering.

Click here for more on the city of Malmö and what it offers!

Beyond the Obvious 2024 is a co-production of the City of Malmö and Culture Action Europe, in collaboration with Malmö University, Region Skåne, European Cultural Foundation and the French Ministry of Culture.

Loading…

United by Future Places – Beyond the Obvious 2024
Program

 

‣ Wednesday 29 May 

13:00-18:00 ​ | Culture Action Europe Members’ Forum
Malmö City Library – Entrance via Kung Oscars väg 11
Language: English
Open to CAE members only

See the detailed program here

18:30-21:00 | Opening reception & mingle
Malmö Historical Town Hall – Entrance via Stortorget
Language: English
Open to all registered conference delegates

Welcome words with Carina Nilsson, Mayor/Chairman Municipal Council Malmö and Inês Câmara, President of Culture Action Europe

Malmö Beyond the Obvious: culture emerges in unexpected places  with Carina Listerborn and Pål Brunnström (Malmö University)

 

‣ Thursday 30 May

09:00-12:00 | United by Future Places Conference
Orkanen Room D138, Malmö University – Entrance via Orkanen, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10
Language: English / Swedish sign language
Open to all registered conference delegates

09.00-09.15 | Welcome to Beyond the Obvious 2024 and program presentation
Mark Isitt

09.15-09.30 | Welcome words
Janne Grönholm, Deputy Mayor for Leisure and Culture, City of Malmö
Lars Ebert, Secretary General Culture Action Europe

09.30-10.15 | Weaving the city with culture with

Janne Grönholm, Deputy Mayor for Leisure and Culture, City of Malmö
Fredrik Sjögren, Chairperson Culture Committee, Region Skåne
Annika Olsson, Dean Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University
Natalie Giorgadze, General Director, Culture Action Europe

​10.15 – 10:45 | Break

10.45-11.45 The Politics of Culture

Keywords: politics, culture, European Parliamentary Elections, cultural policies
with

Dr. Elke Kaschl Mohni, Goethe-Institut Brussels
David Ek, Counsellor – Culture, Audiovisual and Sport at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the European Union
Yuliia Fediv, Coalition of Cultural Actors
Stephanie Bonnici, Pop the Vote! Changemaker
Moderated by Lars Ebert, Culture Action Europe

11.45-12.00 | Presentation of Conversation Spaces

12:00-13:00 | Lunch (open to all registered participants)
Orkanen, Malmö University

13:00 – 15:00 | Conversation Spaces
Various locations
Language: English
Open to all registered conference delegates

Enjoy the opportunity to connect, exchange, talk about the topics which matter the most to you in a series of self-organised Conversation Spaces assisted by the Culture Action Europe members.

  • ​13.00-15.00 | Places of many
    Orkanen Library Room 1 (max. 25 participants)
  • 13.00-15.00 | Places and Memories
    Orkanen Library Room 2 (max. 25 participants)
  • ​13.00-15.00 | Caring Places
    Orkanen Library Room 3 (max. 20 participants)
  • 13.00-15.00 | Commoning Places
    Media Evolution, Stora Varvsgatan 6A  (max. 30 participants)
  • 13.00-15.00 | Disruptive Places
    MINC, Anckargripsgatan 3 (max. 40 participants)
  • 13.00-15.00 | Places of Change
    Nyhamnen Ferry Terminal Outdoor Space, Hans Michelsensgatan 6 (no max number of participants)

15:30 (until late) | Malmö cultural tours (open to all registered participants)
On the move across Malmö | Select in the registration which tour you would like to attend, obligatory. Places are limited

Experience the culture of Malmö first-hand, in parallel, first-come first-served cultural tours showcasing how the city uses culture to work on topics of environmental sustainability, diversity & inclusion, and creative placemaking. 

Malmö has been named the best bike town in Sweden several times, and ranked 6th place in the Global Bicycle Cities Index of 2022. With more than 500 km of bike lanes and no hills there is only a short bike ride to most parts of town – the city centre, the beach, parks, restaurants – and the city’s different cultural venues and creative hubs. The bike is included in this cultural walk tailored to offer an experience, on wheels, of Malmö’s most exciting cultural venues and meeting places, as well as contact with local associations and cultural agents showcasing the cultural diversity and grassroots spirit of Malmö.  

  • 15.30-until late You Are What You Eat: Malmö’s Food Caravan (Fully booked)
    (max. 30, min. 15 participants) Meeting Point: Entrance of Malmö’s Saluhall,  Gibraltargatan 6
    with Linda Dahl and Lena Ilkjear

Food culture is an important part of Malmö, and the city established the first municipal food council in the Nordics. Food Caravan tells the story of the Malmö by sampling the different culinary heritages of the city: experience the basics of Swedish/Scanian food culture at Malmö Saluhall in combination with The Malmö “off the beaten track” tour at Möllan. Walk, talk and get to taste the past, present and the future of food in the region and discover the vibrant multicultural and alternative food DNA of Malmö.

  • 15.30-17.00 The City as a Classroom: Kirseberg’s Young City Guides (Fully booked)
    (max. 15 participants, min. 8 participants) Meeting Point: Kirsebergs School court, Lundavägen 47
    with: Young City Guides 

The City of Malmö’s pilot project “Young City Guides” gives children (around 10-13 years of age) a voice in urban development processes. This pilot project trains young people to be city guides in their immediate environment in order to increase children’s and young people’s participation and influence over their living environment. Join a young-person guided tour of Kirseberg (literally “Cherry hill”), a neighbourhood in the north of Malmö. The originally working-class area mostly survived urban renewal between the 1930s and 1980s, but nowadays entered a transition process in which new and creative actors are moving in.

  • 16.15-17.15 From 1500 till Now: Malmö Art Museum
    (max. 40, min. 10 participants) Meeting Point: Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmöhus Slott
    with Clara Gustafsson Kadziolka

Malmö Art Museum, governed by the city of Malmö, is one of the leading art museums in Scandinavia, with a collection containing about 38,000 works, covering the period from the 16th century to the present day and the largest collection of Nordic contemporary art in Scandinavia, featuring works by most of Scandinavia’s innovative and highly distinguished artists. The museum building from 1937 is situated in the Malmöhus castle complex, one of the oldest remaining renaissance castle in Scandinavia.

  • 17.00-18.00 Searching for Skyline(s): Visit to Turning Torso
    (max. 50, min. 15 participants) Meeting point: Turning Torso, Lilla Varvsgatan 14
    with: Anette Hansson & Anna Töörn

Turning Torso is a neo-futurist residential skyscraper designed by Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter Santiago Calatrava. Opened in 2005 in the then-and-still developing urban area of western harbour, it fulfilled a political ambition to build a new symbol for Malmö, in lieu of the Kockums crane that had been used for shipbuilding, a process itself a symbol of the city’s post-industrial transition. Turning Torso reaches a height of 190 m (620 ft) with 54 stories and 148 apartments, it has won the 2005 Gold Emporis Skyscraper Award, and in 2015, the 10 Year Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

  • 17.00-18.00 A Matter of Taste: Visit to Disgusting Food Museum
    (max. 25, min. 15 participants) Meeting Point: Disgusting Food Museum, Södra Förstadsgatan 2, 211 43 Malmö
    with Andreas Ahrens 

Disgusting Food Museum is a museum exhibiting disgusting food from around the world. Exhibited delicacies include: Surströmming – fermented herring from Sweden, Casu marzu – maggot-infested cheese from Sardinia or Durian – infamously stinky fruit from Thailand. Conceptualized by Andreas Ahrens and Samuel West, also creator of the Museum of Failure, the Disgusting Food Museum invites us to explore an exhibit with 80 of the world’s most disgusting foods, and Disgust, one of the six fundamental human emotions. While the emotion is universal, the foods that we find disgusting are not. While cultural differences often separate us and create boundaries, food can also connect us. Do you dare smell the world’s stinkiest cheese and taste insects?

The Malmö Hospital Area is located in the heart of the city and consists of several buildings, all built in different eras, with the earliest built in 1896 and the main concrete building built in 1975. The Region Skåne is modernizing the hospital area in Malmö, with the goal of providing better care, improved working environments, and equipping the emergency hospital to meet the demands of the future. Today there are more than a thousand different artistic creations on the hospital grounds; paintings, sculptures and other works, which together with historic and new architecture contribute to a safe and healing environment. In connection with new construction work, several new works of art in and around the new buildings are being commissioned. Get to know more about how the process worked.

20.00-late Changemaker Takeover x Birthday Bash

Meeting Point: Kulturhuset Mazetti

A special celebration for CAE’s 30th Anniversary, bringing together new and old faces, including Birgitta Persson, ambassador and former secretary general for Trans Europe Halles (Sweden).

Open to CAE members & Changemakers only

See the detailed program here

‣ Friday 31 May

09:00-12:00 | United by Future Places Conference
Slagthuset – Norra Hallen – Entrance via Jörgen Kocksgatan 7
Language: English / Swedish sign language
Open to all registered conference delegates

09:00 – 09:30 | Reflection: Day 1 and Conversation Spaces
with Mark Isitt + Conference Participants

09.30-10.20 Reclaiming the city
Keywords: public spaces, placemaking, democracy, citizenship, access & participation with

How to be many, Barbara Van Lindt, Kaaitheatre, Belgium
Work in progress, Maryam Missawi, Work-in-Progress Festival, Sweden
Vivi La Belezza della Tua Citta, Valeriya Urbanovich, Club Silencio, Italy
Arkopolis skate park, Fjorida Cenaj, Pop the Vote! Changemaker, Greece
The whole city is a monument, Anna Wahlstedt & Rena Baledi, Sweden

10.20 – 11:10 | Break

11:10-12:00 | Cultivating the future
Keywords: sustainability, social & climate justice, agriculture, food with

Creating Actionable Futures (CrAFt), José Rodriguez, EU
Play seriously, for a sustainable future, Nicolas Keller, Växtvärket/Trans Europe Halles, Sweden
Climate anxiety, Maxime Ollivier, Pop the Vote! Changemaker, France
Climaginaries – Ruben Ritzen, University of Lund, Sweden
The Big Green, Fruzsina Dézsi, ProProgressione, Hungary

12:15 – 13:15 | Lunch (open to all registered participants)
Slagthuset – Norra Hallen

13:00 – 15:30 | Project Pitches & Future Labs
Slagthuset – Norra Hallen & Separaten
Language: English
Open to all registered conference delegates

15:30 – 17:30 | Malmö workshop visits (open to all registered participants)
Various locations | Select in the registration which workshop you would like to attend, obligatory. Places are limited

Visit different unique cultural initiatives in Malmö, and brainstorm about ideas, ways of working, and dreams for the cultural sector in future-proof cities.

  • 16.00-17.30 Orkanen Library, Malmö University: Libraries as social infrastructure (Fully booked)
    (max. 15 participants, min. 8 participants) Meeting point: Malmö University Orkanen Library, Nordenskiöldsgatan 10
    with: Sara Kjellberg

The Orkanen library at Malmö University is a vital community space and an expression of Malmö as a “knowledge city” after post-industrial transition. It occupies the top floor of one the university buildings, and provides a variety of study environments, a gallery for student art, and a research gallery highlighting academic work from faculties. What is the role of libraries in a culturally-sustainable future city? This will be explored in a guided tour of the University Library, followed by a conversation with focus on the concept of libraries as social infrastructure. The conversation involves discussions and exercises aimed at understanding and articulating the multifaceted role libraries play in their communities.

  • 16.00-17.30 Graffiti Hangaren, Centre for Urban Art: Urban Art Hall of the future?
    (max. 15 participants, min. 8 participants) Meeting point: Hangaren, Ystadsgatan 53H
    with: Pärra Von Andreasson

The “Hangar” is a monumental urban canvas located at Enskifteshagen in central Malmö, where graffiti painters and urban artists have created since 2013. Unofficially managed by CFUK – Centrum För Urban Konst, there are ambitions to create a unique Urban Art Hall for free public art based on the Hangar, a sketch and starting point and a monumental workshop for urban artists. 

  • 16.00-17.30 NGBG Street Festival and Noise Zone, City of Malmö: Making some Noise!
    (max. 15 participants, min. 8 participants) Meeting point: Culture Noise Zone, Norbergsgatan 24
    with: Nicklas Johansson

NGBG is a community-driven street festival and party on Norra Grängesbergsgatan in Malmö, organized with 40 stages featuring and attracting 45.000 visitors in their last edition. It takes place in Malmö’s “cultural-industrial sound zone” – a kulturljudzon (KLZ) permitting noise levels of up to 85 dBA at source, and designed to create conditions for industry, culture and leisure to develop a symbiotic relationship.

  • 16.00-17.30 From Trains to Treasures: Lokstallarna’s Cultural Evolution
    (max. 15 participants, min. 8 participants) Meeting Point: Södra Bulltoftavägen 51
    With: Emma Ribbing

Once dedicated to train repair and maintenance, over the next decade, Lokstallarna will evolve into a vibrant hub, featuring a Food Court, a Grand Circus Hotel, and a community of creators, craftsmen, beekeepers, and event organizers already active on-site. Explore the interplay of creators, craftsmen, and community, nurturing Lokstallarna’s evolution and join Choreographer and CAO Emma Ribbing, who has been engaged with Lokstallarna since 2015, for a guided walk through the impressive architecture ending in a workshop at the in-discourse studio providing playful tools to ignite discussions and brainstorming sessions.

  • 16.00-17.30 Malmö University: Culture and creativity at the centre for sustainable urban development (Fully booked)
    (max. 15 participants, min 8 participants) Meeting Point: Student Center, Neptuniplan 7
    with: Per-Anders Hillgren & Per Linde

Meet Malmö University and the Forum for Social Innovation Sweden to learn about how academia can work with culture and arts in reaching societal impact. Through the transnational projects UNIC and Bauhaus of the Sea Sails we get to understand more how education and research can be concretely developed in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders in Malmö.

  • 16.00-17.30 Garaget Library, City of Malmö
    (max. 15 participants, min 8 participants) Meeting Point: Garaget, Lönngatan 30
    with: Hamza Warsame

Garaget is a library, creative workshop, a coffee place, a cultural venue and a stage for all ages and walks of life, where you can loan books as well as tools, or get help with your homework as well as with arranging your first event. Garaget is a real meeting place for Malmö’s superdiverse and young communities. How do we hang out in the culturally-sustainable future city?

The Region Skåne is modernizing the hospital area in Malmö, with the goal of providing better care, improved working environments, and equipping the emergency hospital to meet the demands of the future. In connection with new construction work, several new works of art in and around the new buildings are being commissioned. Deep dive into how the process worked.

An old port and ferry terminal facility area is being transformed into the park of the future. Historic ramps, quays and buildings become the foundation of the new ferry terminal’s development towards a sustainable, climate-neutral hub. A place created by and with those who in the future will be able to consider it as their own. Meet representatives from the City of Malmö and collaborators Malmö Försköning och planteringsförening, Arkdes, and Team Layered: architect Daniel Feldman, art advisor and curator Ana Sokoloff, architect Sumayya Vally, and performance artist María José Arjona.

In 2019, some Malmö citizens hatched the idea of an anti-racist monument in the city, a place where residents could gather to exchange experiences about racism and support each other in dark moments. The city has then taken the opportunity to develop public art processes and works that not only reflects Malmö residents’ history and experiences of racism, but also contributes to continuing the conversation about racism and its consequences in the public space making Malmö a more inclusive city.

The City of Malmö’s pilot project “Young City Guides” gives children (around 10-13 years of age) a voice in urban development processes. This pilot project trains young people to be city guides in their immediate environment in order to increase children’s and young people’s participation and influence over their living environment. Meet the project manager, pedagogues and city workers in charge of Young City Guides, to learn more about the working methods being used in the project, and exchange perspectives on how young people can meaningfully participate in urban development processes.

  • 16.00-17.30 My New Museum, Malmö Art Museum
    (max. 15 participants, min 8 participants) Meeting Point: TBC
    with: Linda Holster

Discussion about future visions for the location, building and urban environment of Malmö’s Art Museum have been happening for close to 30 years. The project My new museum? is a laboratory for conversation, content and knowledge production, method development and future visions, in which a pop-up room in downtown Malmö was activated for people to share thoughts, reasoning and dreams about what the art museum of the future is and what it will do for Malmö.

Cross Innovation Southern Sweden is a  collaborative project with the purpose of promoting creativity and innovation by breaking down sectoral boundaries, fostering synergies, and addressing societal challenges for sustainable development. It is implemented with support from the the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to enhance southern Sweden’s innovation capacity, focusing on cross-sectoral innovation with an emphasis on cultural and creative industries.

  • 17.00-18.30 EHM – Event Horizon Malmö: Sneak-Peek at Vernissage for artist Koo Jeong A and Meeting with Malmö-based performing arts collective Kollaborativet
    (max. 20 participants) Meeting point: Malmö Konsthall, St Johannesgatan 7
    with Mats Stjernstedt

Opening of Malmö Konsthall’s summer exhibition “EHM – Event Horizon Malmö” (1.6  –25.8 2024) by Korean artist Koo Jeong A. The exhibition consists of the work “OooOoO,” a sculpture created for skateboard in the exhibition space. Architecture and sensory experiences functions as a starting point for the artist, where seemingly everyday occurrences open up alternative worlds. The opening event is co-hosted by Bryggeriet’s high school, Malmö. The school has a unique educational profile emphasising on skateboarding, art, photography and film. Also meet Kollaborativet. During summer 2024 performing arts collective Kollaborativet will present an interactive and tactile exhibition at Malmö Konsthall, built around documentation from a co-creative process with young people with special needs. Kollaborativet’s immersive performances focus on the visual, auditive and tactile expressions and audiences are allowed to participate regardless of language, age or capabilities. Since its opening in 1975, Malmö Konsthall has presented contemporary art that challenges and inspires. The exhibitions space comprises mere 2,000 square metres that transforms with every new exhibition.

 

19:00 -21:00 Closing reception & mingle
Slagthuset – Restaurant Entrance via Carlsgatan 12e
Language: English
Open to all registered conference delegates

21:00-23.00 New Circus Surprise Show
Slagthuset – Restaurant Entrance via Carlsgatan 12e 
with Culture Action Europe member Cirkus Syd 

 

‣ Saturday 1 June

09:30-13:00 | CAE Members’ Forum
Malmö City Library – Entrance via Kung Oscars väg 11
Language: English
Open to CAE members only

See the detailed program here

 

#Sustainability #Culturalpolicies #Cultureasaworkplace #Culturaldemocracy #Cultureandwellbeing #Cultureasasectorandvector

Image for: Beyond the Obvious 2024 | Malmö