Swedish Curators’ Association has developed a model for digital portfolio reviews over the autumn, commissioned by Regionsamverkan Syd Bild och Form. This initiative serves as the first step in a long-term initiative to strengthen the regional cultural scene, promote professionalization and internationalization within the visual arts sector, and create more opportunities for visual artists to meet and showcase their work.
The event targets professional artists residing in Blekinge, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, Kronoberg, and Skåne, providing them with the opportunity to present their artistic practice and initiate dialogue with curators from the Baltic States and the Nordic region.
This initiative aims to foster collaboration between curators and visual artists, focusing on the Nordic and the Baltic countries as the first phase of offering a platform for exposure and dialogue. The Swedish Curators’ Association has acted as an advisory body, a jury, and provides support through its curatorial network.
The portfolio review is one component of a broader endeavour to strengthen the infrastructure for the arts in more rural settings, and to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas. As a first step these portfolio viewings will take place digitally as a means to bring together an international cohort of curators to encounter the work of artists working in southern Sweden while economising on time and natural resources since neither curators nor artists are obliged to travel.