About Kirunatopia
Kirunatopia is a research, residency and exhibition project initiated and managed by the Goethe-Institut Schweden and its collaborating partners Umeå University, Bildmuseet in Umeå and Konsthall C in Stockholm. A group of international artists have been invited to work and do research on site, in Kiruna, in relation to issues that are specific to the area.
Examples of issues and players influencing the context of this project are the transformation of the city, its history within Sámi culture and of the LKAB mining company as well as the future situation of the town.
The inhabitants of Kiruna are kept informed of the project through a series of events as well as through temporary and permanent interventions at different sites. The local programme of events will be developed with the Kiruna based artist collective Koncentrat and the town council’s department of culture.
Our areas of interest can be summarised as follows:
- How does the transformation of the city lead to it’s becoming a kind of catch-all receptacle for both utopian and romanticised values.
- The history of the city as an important site for different kinds of conflicts and protest, manifested in, for instance, the establishment of the Sámi parliament in 1989, the conflict between LKAB and the miners that led to the miners strike of 1969-70 and the foundation of the Kiruna party prior to the national elections of 1994.
- The strong connections between the town and the LKAB mining company, and what the consequences are of such connections between the municipality and a financial state owned corporation.
Kim Einarsson (Curator of Kirunatopia)
Florian Zeyfang (Artist, Professor Umeå Academy of Fine Arts - University of Umeå)
Ingo Vetter (Artist, Professor Umeå Academy of Fine Arts - University of Umeå)
Rainer Hauswirth (Director Goethe-Institut Schweden)
Examples of issues and players influencing the context of this project are the transformation of the city, its history within Sámi culture and of the LKAB mining company as well as the future situation of the town.
The inhabitants of Kiruna are kept informed of the project through a series of events as well as through temporary and permanent interventions at different sites. The local programme of events will be developed with the Kiruna based artist collective Koncentrat and the town council’s department of culture.
Our areas of interest can be summarised as follows:
- How does the transformation of the city lead to it’s becoming a kind of catch-all receptacle for both utopian and romanticised values.
- The history of the city as an important site for different kinds of conflicts and protest, manifested in, for instance, the establishment of the Sámi parliament in 1989, the conflict between LKAB and the miners that led to the miners strike of 1969-70 and the foundation of the Kiruna party prior to the national elections of 1994.
- The strong connections between the town and the LKAB mining company, and what the consequences are of such connections between the municipality and a financial state owned corporation.
Reference group
Kim Einarsson (Curator of Kirunatopia)
Florian Zeyfang (Artist, Professor Umeå Academy of Fine Arts - University of Umeå)
Ingo Vetter (Artist, Professor Umeå Academy of Fine Arts - University of Umeå)
Rainer Hauswirth (Director Goethe-Institut Schweden)
