Optional cultural tours:

A guided tour of public artworks from the Old City to the museum island of Skeppsholmen. The tour is arranged by Public Art Agency Sweden and includes a new democracy monument, a celebrated 1960s artwork promoting peace and women’s rights, a debated memorial to Raoul Wallenberg, the ambitious art programme in the subway, and a public artwork by Niki de Saint Phalle.

Please wear comfortable shoes!

The tour is optional.

Welcome to the largest cultural institution in the Nordic region – Kulturhuset Stadsteatern. The tour includes stages, galleries, activities, workshops and works of art.

Kulturhuset Stadsteatern has a wide range of activities including libraries, art exhibitions, film, theatre, debates, dance and music. Designed by Peter Celsing, a modernist architect, and one of Sweden´s most exceptional architects of the mid-20th century and the building was inaugurated in 1974. The main purpose of the building to is to provide an adequate space to all people living in Stockholm for freedom of speech and freedom of art as a common ground.

The tour is optional.

The Swedish Arts Council is pleased to present two collaborations at the Waterfront Congress Centre through a range of art exhibitions at the 9th World Summit.

Swedish Institute

In partnership with the Swedish Institute – a public agency that promotes interest and trust in Sweden around the world, we present three different exhibitions.

Art on screen is curated by Kalmar Konstmuseum and the works are made available with the support of the organisation Filmform. Artists are uniquely and importantly positioned to reshape our perception of the present moment. This is particularly relevant in an era marked by war, closed borders, and climate change denial, when the need to test other ways of thinking, living and coexisting becomes more pressing. The exhibition consists of 11 videos and other works that exist on screens made by well-known artists based in Sweden.

Between the lines is an exhibition that gathers a handful of representatives from different parts of Swedish literature to share their thoughts on a specific literary matter. In so doing, they both frame and pinpoint the underlying and fundamental issues surrounding the role and artistic distinctiveness of literature.

Swedish music moments presents an incredible success story. Sweden is the world’s third largest music exporter with Swedish songwriters and producers being immensely popular. How could a small country of 10 million people, partly located inside the Arctic Circle, and with a language unintelligible to non-Scandinavians, become a world leader in pop? The exhibition tells the story behind the Swedish music success as well as iconic moments from the Swedish music history.

Canada Council for the Arts and the Embassy of Canada to Sweden

Presented in partnership Canada Council for the Arts and the Embassy of Canada to Sweden, building on recent collaborations in the context of the Arctic Arts Summit 2022 and Nordic Bridges.

Arctic AR

In Artic AR, you will engage with augmented reality (AR) work by artists from around the circumpolar north virtually and on the land through your handheld device. Look out for QR-codes at the venue!

“Avataq” by Couzyn van Heuvelen, an Inuk artist originally from Iqaluit, Nunavut. His work is primarily sculpture- and installation-based and explores Inuit culture and identity. While rooted in the history and traditions of Inuit art, Heuvelen strays from established Inuit art making methods and explores a range of fabrication processes.

“Kagisaal” by Maureen Gruben offers the simple beauty of an Inuvialuit fox stretcher. Multiplied and presented at a larger-than-life scale, the dimensions of this specific form are those of a fox stretcher carved by the artist’s father, Eddie Gruben.

“Riot Rock Rattles” by Tsēma Igharas. This work links our bodies to sound, the land and the mining of culture and the earth. “Riot Rock Rattles” replicate riot rocks, which are rocks easily held in the hand and generally perceived as threats.

“Lichen Worldview” by Tamika Knutson whose vision will immerse you in the tiny, vibrant world of lichens and mosses usually found beneath your feet. Knutson has always been curious and fascinated by the lively shapes of moss and lichen found in the forest and on the land.

“Journey Of The Hunt” by Kaylyn Baker presents a colourful topography referencing the experience of going off on the land to hunt, crafted of beads, tufting, and quills. The physical beaded piece this Augmented Reality work is based on is inspired by the hunting experience.

Land of None/Land of Us

Regardless of the borders that we live between, Indigenous People of the circumpolar North share a common understanding: the land and its fluctuations are paramount to our livelihood. Our connection to the land shapes our everyday lives, values, traditions and art, and very little of these aspects of us are shaped by modern-day colonial boundaries. The digital exhibition comprises 52 photos by 36 circumpolar artists from 13 circumpolar regions shown on major screens. It was curated by three emerging curators from across the circumpolar North mentored by Pat Kane, cofounder and President of the Far North Photo Festival. It premiered at the Arctic Arts Summit 2022 and is a celebration of circumpolar cooperation in the arts.

Land of None/Land of Us is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership and the Inuit Art Foundation.

An optional cultural tour:

The Jubilee Year 2023 marks 500 years since Gustav Vasa was crowned as king and King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 50th jubilee.To highlight this occasion, the Palace is presenting an exhibition showcasing culturally and historically significant objects from the Royal Collections and other institutions, spanning five hundred years of monarchy in Sweden. The exhibition covers various aspects of Swedish history and court culture, including the establishment of a central government, parliamentary power, and commitment to the environment. An official introduction will be held, and thereafter, everyone can explore the exhibition at their own pace.

The visit is optional.

An exclusive offer for delegates to enjoy the dance performance Sylph, by the world-famous dance company Cullberg, choreographed by Halla Ólafsdóttir. The offer gives delegates a 25% discount, which equals 210 SEK per ticket (a maximum of two tickets per purchase).

About Sylph

In her first work for Cullberg, choreographer Halla Ólafsdóttir starts out from the mythological creature the sylph, an ethereal being with the power to shape-shift. Rougher, rawer and louder than humans, the sylphs have a voice and a giant body. They walk in and out of the ballet’s mysterious forest, dancing, whispering, rustling, knocking and chewing, like creatures or animals.

A ”love-hate-relationship” with classical ballet, and a mix of ”high and low culture” are in focus in Ólafsdóttir’s new work Sylph created in collaboration with composer Shida Shahabi, set and lighting designer Chrisander Brun, and costume designer Hanna Kisch.

Sylph plays with exorcism and the occult, and examines what happens choreographically when sound, costume, set design, lights and dance have equal roles.

Choreography: Halla Ólafsdóttir

Music: Shida Shahabi

Set and lighting design: Chrisander Brun

Costume design: Hanna Kisch

Produced and performed by Cullberg.