Sustainable Societies for the Future

Sustainable Societies for the Future
February 1–May 23, 2021

How can we generate new ideas and actions for a sustainable world? How can art act as stimulant for a more sustainable way of living?

The exhibition project Sustainable Societies for the Future springs from one of the most complex and urgent challenges of our day: how to create safe, inclusive, and sustainable societies. 20 artists and artist groups are contributing works to the exhibition, that in different ways encourage dialogue and engagement with sustainability issues of local and global urgency.

Sustainable Societies for the Future highlights three dimensions of sustainability—the ecological, the social, and the economic perspectives. The exhibition aims to demonstrate how these different aspects interact with one another. How do we treat our ecosystems with proper attention and long-sightedness? How can we create a society in which human rights are respected? And how do we satisfy humanity’s fundamental needs, given the earth’s limited resources, without negative consequences for people, plants, animals, or the planet?

The artists in this exhibition are from the Nordic countries and the United States. From photo and video to performances and installations, the artists create a dialogue reflecting on how art can inspire social engagement, leading to a better common future by creating new ways of seeing, thinking, believing, and acting.

Participating artists: Catrin Andersson, Christian Falsnaes, Tue Greenfort, Max Guy, Ilkka Halso, Minna Henriksson, Ane Hjort Guttu, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, Ingela Ihrman, Toril Johannessen & Marjolijn Dijkman, Mary Mattingly, Floating Museum, (P)Art of the Biomass, Cheryl Pope, Sean Raspet, Michael x. Ryan, Nilsmagnus Sköld, Sophie Tottie, Wang & Söderström and Amanda Williams.

As an opening of the exhibition, Malmö Art Museum organizes the digital seminar "Museums as Catalysts for Change" in collaboration with Expo Chicago, US, focusing on the roles and possible responsibilities of museums in relation to the global and local challenges we face today.

The seminar brings together experts from different fields of knowledge to discuss the potential of art institutions: How we can think and act in a more sustainable fashion and what opportunities and challenges await artists and institutions? By letting artists, curators, researchers and activists in several areas meet in dialogue, we hope to deepen the perspectives and formulate possible ways forward.