SHIFT – Culture Beyond the Norm
SHIFT – Culture Beyond the Norm
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What could art be if everyone had access to the conditions needed to create and experience it? The theme weekend SHIFT, November 7–9, highlights the structures that limit both artists and audiences with non-normative abilities. The program is aimed at both the general public and those working in cultural institutions. Participation is free.
During the theme weekend SHIFT, you can attend panel discussions, concerts, film screenings, guided tours, and much more. The program focuses on opportunities and successes in inclusive cultural practices. Several local and regional cultural organizations participate, including Skånes Dansteater, Moomsteatern, and Malmö Konstmuseum. You can choose to take part throughout the entire weekend or join individual events.
Discussion on inclusion and audience development
In the discussion “Being Expected as a Visitor”, Malmö Konsthall and Visit Skåne invite participants to explore how cultural institutions can develop to reach a broader audience, with a particular focus on visitors with non-normative abilities. The conversation provides insight into how organizations work with inclusion and audience development, featuring contributors from various parts of the cultural sector and other relevant fields.
Through Our Dialogue (TOD) is a collective research project that explores institutional access in collaboration with young artists and art workers with physical and mental disabilities. In the talk “Through Our Dialogue – On Institutional Access Initiatives” on Saturday, the panel — consisting of members of TOD’s dialogue group — will discuss institutional initiatives for increased accessibility. They pose critical questions about what and who is valued in today’s systems of representation. The program is in English.
Food Music, Films and Guided Tours
On Saturday, Pablo De Acha from Mosaikteatern in Stockholm will perform sporadically in the exhibition, playing piano. He presents his musical performance “Matvariationer” (Food Variations), in which he interprets how different dishes might sound musically. Skånes Dansteater will show the short films “Still Life” and “Preface.” The first is a dance film recorded in spaces of art, and the second is a love story about a man who lets his hands speak when something needs to be said. The British feature film “The Stimming Pool” is created by five neurodivergent artists who, without explaining or simplifying, want to show what it’s like to live with autism. The film has been praised for its original form and for giving space to perspectives that have often been missing in cinema. The weekend also includes audio-described and sign language–interpreted tours of the exhibition “Speaking Volumes.”
The theme weekend is organized in collaboration with Visit Skåne. Visit Skåne website.
Full program
Friday, November 7
→ 2:00 PM: Sign language–interpreted curator tour of the exhibition “Speaking Volumes” (location: exhibition hall)
→ All day: Screening of the short films “Preface” and “Still Life” by Skånes Dansteater (looping, location: C Hall)
→ 8:00 PM: Drag show: Drag Syndrome with AVANT Scenkonst at Inkonst (location: Inkonst, ticket required)
Read more about Drag Syndrome and book tickets
Saturday, November 8
→ 11:15 AM: Audio-described curator tour in Swedish of the exhibition “Speaking Volumes” (location: exhibition hall)
→ Sporadically during the day: Musical performance “Food Variations” with Pablo De Acha from Mosaikteatern
→ 1:00–2:30 PM: Conversation: Through Our Dialogue – On Institutional Access Initiatives. Organized by Malmö Konstmuseum. Language: English (location: Verkstan)
Sunday, November 9
→ 11:00 AM: Relaxed screening of “The Stimming Pool” (location: C Hall)
→ 12:30–2:30 PM: Screening of the short films “Preface” and “Still Life” by Skånes Dansteater (looping, location: C Hall)
→ 1:00–2:30 PM: Sign language–interpreted conversation: Being Expected as a Visitor. Organized by Visit Skåne (location: Verkstan)
→ 3:00 PM: Screening of “The Stimming Pool” (duration: 67 minutes, location: C Hall)
Information
What: Theme Weekend
När: Friday 7.11, Saturday 8.11 & Sunday 9.11
Var: Malmö konsthall
- Free entry to all events (except the drag show at Inkonst).
- No registration required, but seating is limited.
- Malmö Konsthall’s premises are accessible. For specific accessibility questions, please e-mail elina.norrmoersgard@malmo.se
”The Stimming Pool” is an experimental—at times fantastical—hybrid feature film, co-created by a collective of autistic artists, the Neurocultures Collective, and filmmaker Steven Eastwood, who invite you into a neurodiverse world within the undulating logic of neurotypical environments. The film presents the possibilities of a world informed by autistic perspectives and perception, and features a cast of autistic actors and non-actors.
“The Stimming Pool” is a non-linear narrative that shifts between various characters and environments. We follow individuals grappling with sensory overload, societal norms, and the pressure to mask their autism, alongside moments of community, rest, and creative expression. Some characters navigate societal expectations, while others are more attuned to their needs and identities. A shared goal gradually emerges: to find a space or state free from norms — “The Stimming Pool”.
The film premiered at CPH:DOX in 2024 and has since been showcased at several festivals. It has been praised for its originality and for portraying autism not merely as a theme but as an active, shaping force. The film offers viewers a sensory, embodied experience where images, sounds, and camera movements play significant roles. “The Stimming Pool” challenges conventional portrayals of autism in cinema and contributes to discussions on representation, artistic expression, and access to spaces where neurodivergent individuals can define their own experiences.
Language: English
Length: 67 minuter
Country of production: United Kingdom
Production company: Whalebone Films
The Neurocultures Collective (direction): Georgia Kumari Bradburn, Sam Chown-Ahern, Benjamin Brown, Lucy Walker, Robin Knowles
Co-director and co-producer: Steven Eastwood
Producer: Chloe White
Malmö Konsthall and Visit Skåne invite you to a conversation about how cultural institutions can evolve to engage a broader audience and enhance accessibility, with a particular focus on visitors with non-normative functionality.
The conversation brings together actors from various sectors of the cultural field and other relevant organizations to provide the audience with insights into how institutions work with inclusion and audience development. It is an opportunity to listen, be inspired, and gain different perspectives on how culture can be made accessible to more people.
The conversation will be in Swedish and interpreted into sign language.
Participants:
Carolina E Olsson – Moderator (Visit Skåne)
Max Granström – CEO, Visit Skåne
Fredrik Öjbro – Director, Dunkers Kulturhus
Marie Norrthon – Project Manager, Skånes Dansteater
Sandra Johansson – Executive Director, Moomsteatern
Through Our Dialogue (TOD) is a collective research project that explores institutional access in collaboration with young artists and art workers with physical and mental disabilities. Over the course of a year, TOD brings together a dialogue group working with a self-directed program of exchanged experiences, workshops, and in-depth conversations. The outcome of this process, a co-created access tool, will aim to generate more nuanced understandings of what it is like to have functions that differ from the majority’s, and how art institutions can accommodate this through care.
Through a slow, trust-based methodology, TOD challenges conventional institutional practices by centering lived experience, mutual learning, and long-term relationship-building. This panel, consisting of members of the TOD dialogue group, will discuss institutional initiatives for better access, while raising critical questions about what and who is valued in current systems of representation. By elevating the potential for increased institutional care, the conversation invites broader reflections on accessibility, inclusion, and democratic change in the arts.
TOD is initiated and facilitated by Malmö Konstmuseum.
Participants:
Gin Mariá González (he/she/they) is a researcher, artist, and designer working with archives of creative disability culture and critical access practices. They publish field notes and zines online/offline. Gin is also experimenting with communal networks care with other disabled and neurodivergent kin.
Anastasija (Nastija) Kiake (they/them) a visual artist and writer exploring how social, political, and spiritual realities are shaped by emotions, belonging, and structures of violence. Positioned between post-Soviet identity formation and the migrant experience in the Global North, their work examines intimate narration and the absurdity of “historical” moments.
Tone Ottilie (they/she) is a visually impaired and neurodivergent writer and film director from Copenhagen. Tone is passionate about representation and accessibility in the visual arts for people with sensory differences and other disabilities and works from an intersection of queerness, disability and a strong held belief that better access for disabled people, can help build better art institutions for everyone.
Anna Walther (she/her) is a danish visual artist based between Lolland and Copenhagen. Her works center around sculpture, installations and art in public spaces with focus on access, power structures and neurodivergent perspectives.
Pablo De Acha, a long-time performer with Mosaikteatern, presents his improvised musical performance “Matvariationer” (Food Variations). Pablo De Acha bases his piano playing on Sofia Wittmark’s diary images of her meals, which serve as inspiration for the improvisation and shape its expression. What would a minestrone soup or eight meatballs with mashed potatoes sound like if transformed into music?
Performer: Pablo De Acha
Photographer: Sofia Wittmark
Assistant: Fredde Thurfjell
A short dance film created at Skissernas Museum in Lund by Skånes Dansteater’s dancer Kit Brown and filmmaker Nille Leander, together with community dancers Helena Holmgren, Marie Lander, Rodrigo Souza, and Yesol Kim.
Choreography: Kit Brown in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Helena Holmgren, Marie Lander, Rodrigo Souza, Yesol Kim
Cinematography: Nille Leander, Axel Pihl
Camera and Sound: Tom Pihl
Editing: Nille Leander, Kit Brown
“Preface” is a love story about a man who lets his hands speak when something must be said, something has been said, and something cannot be said. Choreographer Madeleine Månsson uses her own experience as a wheelchair-using dancer to shift perspectives in this work about wordlessness as a language and the consequences when our own feelings fail us.
Direction: Madeleine Månsson
Choreography: Madeleine Månsson, Kit Brown
Dancer: Kit Brown
Cinematography: Carl Johan Folkesson
Music & Sound Design: Gert Østergaard Pedersen
Skånes Dansteater is a company in motion, a contemporary dance company based in Malmö. By offering a variety of relevant and enriching experiences, we contribute to a sustainable society. We work in close dialogue with the arts, culture and people in a world we all share so that more people can discover the power of contemporary dance.
Malmö Konsthall’s autumn exhibition Speaking Volumes brings together six unique artists from Sweden, the USA, and the UK. All the artists work in supported studio environments that enable artists with disabilities to develop their creative practices and establish themselves as visible and equal co-creators within contemporary art.
On Friday at 14:00, curator Lucy Smalley will lead a guided tour of the exhibition Speaking Volumes at Malmö Konsthall (in Swedish), with sign language interpretation. On Saturday at 11:15, she will offer another tour, this time with audio description.
Note: This program is organized by Inkonst and requires a ticket More about the dragshow here.
Drag Syndrome is an internationally acclaimed collective of drag artists with Down syndrome, based in London. Bold, brilliant, and unapologetically fabulous, the group challenges perceptions of disability and champions radical inclusion through groundbreaking performance art.
In addition to Drag Syndrome, Sweden’s most daring day activity program, Kulturlabbet, presents an exclusive fashion film and performance showcasing their clothing art. That evening, Malmö’s very own award-winning Club Mermaid hosts a pre-party featuring drag karaoke, DJs, and a pop-up performance.
