Towards a new normal

Malmö- SE

Towards a new normal

Which kind of values and initiatives might allow communities to better deal with crises? How could these cultures be nurtured and supported? This project explores the principles and structures that support cultures of resilience and resilient cultural scenes.  

A collaborative urban exploration

The project aims to understanding what kind of cultures might allow communities to better deal with crises (i.e. being resilient), as well as investigate how these cultures could be supported. Done in the context of the city of Malmö, it’s a constant dialogue with the municipality, independent cultural actors, community centers and associations. Responses to the crisis are currently being mapped out through interviews, and notions of culture and resilience are theoretically being explored. 

Culture is both about the production and reproduction of “values” and the “expression” of these values through artistic and aesthetic forms as well as through everyday life practices. The Corona crisis is strongly affecting culture in its different dimensions: cultural actors and institutions have been forced to cancel and/or radically transform their activities and, in many cases, their existence is threatened. But there is more to that: the fight against the virus is profoundly affecting the everyday life of everybody, revealing and exacerbating the weaknesses of our social structures and their capacity to deal with crisis.  

Culture by whom and for whom?

So far, a number of questions are emerging which go beyond the current crisis and focus on the views, principles and arrangements that underpin current ways of understanding and supporting culture in the city of Malmö. Such as: how is culture framed in policy document and municipal initiatives? Who is privileged by and who is excluded from current funding structures and procedures? Who is the public of cultural activities and cultural institutions in Malmö?   

This project aims to use these questions as a starting point for a collaborative design process with the cultural department and other actors in Malmö. The process will focus not only on reflecting on current understandings and supporting structures, but it will also develop and test possible alternative ways of supporting cultures of resilience and a resilient cultural scene in Malmö.  

  • Porteurs de projet/Project holders :Institute for sustainable city development (ISU),Malmö University DESIS Lab
  • Designers :Anders Emilson,Anna Seravalli
  • Acteurs/Stakeholders : la municipalité, les acteurs culturels indépendants, les centres communautaires et les associations/ the municipality, independent cultural actors, community centres and associations
  • Crédits photo / photo credits : Institute for sustainable city development (ISU),Malmö University DESIS Lab