KIRUNA.- For the fourth consecutive year, contemporary art will be celebrated and debated at Kin’s Konstfesten, taking place February 11–14, 2027, in Giron/Kiruna, a town on the Swedish side of S醦mi that is undergoing large-scale demolition and relocation driven by the mining industry. Over four days, one of the world’s northernmost art museums will become a space for encounters and exchange, bringing together artists, architects, researchers, curators, writers, miners, reindeer herders, and visitors for exhibitions, lectures, and conversations. The program also includes a shared meal rooted in place and an excursion to the village of Puoltsa, where representatives of the Laevas and Girjas S醡i communities will introduce participants to the land, food traditions, and challenges facing reindeer herding today.
Guests and participants: Janelle Baker, Malin Br鋘nstr鰉, Cooking Sections, 講黮 . Durmuşoğlu, Olga Tsaplya Egorova, Fernando Garc韆-Dory, Goldin+Senneby, Tone Hansen, Victoria Harnesk, Stina H鰃kvist, Johdet Pirak, Stefan Jonsson, Kultivator, Elin Anna Labba, Nils-Johan Labba, Mari Mette Lind Geadgenieida Bugge, Randi Marainen, Simon Iss醫 Marainen, Metahaven, Sergio Montero Bravo, Edi Muka, Myvillages, Anna-Karin Niia, Ragnhild Nilsson, Otobong Nkanga, Elia Nurvista, Andjeas Pestov Ejiksson, Natalia Shapkina, 舠a Sonjasdotter, Keg de Souza, Jari S鰕rinki, Claudia Tazreiter, Jon Tomas Utsi, Sandra Wasara-Hammare, Eyal Weizman, Hilda Westerberg, Lena Ylip滗, and Torbj鰎n 謒alm
Kin Konstfesten takes the museum’s ongoing and upcoming projects as its point of departure and explores themes and questions that extend beyond the institution, connecting local, regional, national, and international concerns. What happens to art and life when the land is being transformed and climate change accelerates? How can food, craft, architecture, research, poetry, and art become ways of thinking together? What role can art institutions play in these circumstances?
The programme opens with two exhibitions: The Feeling Sonnets (Transitional Object) by the artist duo Metahaven and The Benevolent Food, a group exhibition exploring food as a site of conviviality and of cultural, ecological, and political relations.
Among the highlights is a conversation about Shaped by Many, a new commission by Otobong Nkanga developed in collaboration with craftspeople and artists in S醦mi. The exhibition On the Ugly and the Beautiful: Johan Turi, Outi Pieski, and Johanna Minde provides the starting point for a presentation by writer Elin Anna Labba on Turi’s Muitalus s醡iid birra (An Account of the S醡i, 1910), the first book about S醡i life written in S醡i by a S醡i author. Political scientist Ragnhild Nilsson traces a century of struggles for S醡i influence and self-determination. A panel bringing together representatives of cultural institutions and independent initiatives will examine their changing roles and responsibilities, with participants including Tone Hansen, director of Moderna Museet, and 講ul Durmusoglu, director of Index. Miner and writer Jari S鰕rinki will lead participants on a walking tour through the disappearing old town.
Organized in collaboration with the Public Art Agency Sweden, Link鰌ing University, and Mittuniversitetet, Konstfesten begins at 15:00 on Thursday, February 11, and concludes at noon on Sunday, February 14, 2027.
