A new cultural exchange is emerging between Lublin and Kiruna

When Region Norrbotten's art consultant Silvia Colombo traveled to Warsaw and Lublin in March, she took a first step towards an upcoming collaboration between the European Capitals of Culture 2029: Lublin and Kiruna. What can post-war housing projects teach us today?

One purpose of the trip to Poland was to study post-war residential architecture and contemporary artistic practices. Another purpose was to explore what could become a long-term exchange between the regions. Such a track quickly emerged in the meeting with the Museum of Housing Estates and curator Aleksandra Kędziorek.

Colombo describes how the modernist residential areas shaped by Oskar and Zofia Hansen in Lublin and Ralph Erskine in Kiruna became a common starting point.

– During the trip, it became clear that their ideas about participation, community and everyday architecture still hold great power, she says.

From left: Aleksandra Kędziorek, Andrea Luciani and Silvia Colombo in Warsaw. Photo: Anna Cymer

Exploring keys to togetherness

The joint project, Vacant spaces / common spaces, focuses on issues that are particularly relevant today. How can places create togetherness in a time of climate change, social differences and geopolitical unrest? From each small town – Lublin in eastern Poland and Kiruna in northern Sweden – it examines how shared and sometimes unused spaces can become arenas for art, design and participation.

Colombo believes that these environments open up new ways of working.

– We see how simple everyday environments can become places for both identity and faith in the future when people are allowed to participate in shaping them, she says.

Svappavaara will receive a visit from Poland in June.

Return visit to Norrbotten

The next step will be a return visit. In June, Kędziorek and architect Michał Fronk will come to Norrbotten to take part in similar environments in Luleå, Svappavaara and Kiruna. At the same time, contact between the teams behind the two future capitals of culture will continue.

The study trip has become a starting point for work that can continue for a long time and bring together several different areas. The ambition is to deepen the understanding of how art, architecture and design can contribute to sustainable societies. How can two regions with similar challenges grow through cooperation?

The trip was carried out together with architect Andrea Luciani, Luleå University of Technology, and was funded by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.