LB°27 — News
Carola Grahn, New Red Order, Lea Simma and Wolf Babe Collective are the first participants invited to develop the 2027 edition of Luleåbiennalen, Scandinavia’s oldest art biennial. The invited artists are all Indigenous and share an interest in collective practices.
The upcoming edition of Luleåbiennalen (The Luleå Biennial) will take shape through collective processes. In part, these will consist of a series of public gatherings starting in autumn 2025, where the biennial will offer conversations and activities, on site as well as digitally, for its invited artists as well as collaborating partners and audiences. Taking off from the question of how we can imagine a future in the north and in what ways culture can be a part of that future, the gatherings will serve as platforms for knowledge and experience exchange shaping the biennial going forward.
The artistic process behind Luleåbiennalen 2027 will be initiated by artists Carola Grahn, New Red Order and Wolf Babe Collective, as well as poet and writer Lea Simma. Operating across a wide variety of art forms and methodologies, they come together in a shared interest in collaborative practices. With humour and site specific issues as recurring features in their respective work, these Indigenous artists will shape the upcoming edition of the biennial. Additional participants and collaborators will be included as the biennial develops.
“Allowing the biennial to grow forth from collective processes and Indigenous perspectives means including stories, experiences and knowledge on the artists’ own premises, and letting these shape future biennial editions. Luleåbiennalen has, since its beginning, worked towards filling gaps in regards to what is made visible and what is included in the art scene. For the past few editions, this has meant an increasing presence of Sámi perspectives. Letting the biennial become a platform for Indigenous artists to meet in Sábme is important and a unique feature amongst biennials in Sweden today. There is both a need and a space to contribute valuable perspectives and exchanges. Together with practitioners who in various ways challenge current notions and conditions, we wish to engage people and contribute to continued development, facilitating even more exciting and thought-provoking experiences.”
“The truth is—and few of us care to admit it—Indigenous epistemologies will save us from the end of our future. Looking towards the greatest post-apocalyptic parafiction of all time has catalyzed us all to reflect on ‘how did we get here, and where can we go?’”
“We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2027 edition of Luleåbiennalen. Our ethos as a collective strives to celebrate the joys of the seemingly ‘ordinary’ or ‘mundane’ and considers instead the movements of daily life as special and extraordinary—moments which are embedded in the natural, metaphysical and more-than-human worlds.”
Luleåbiennalen 2027 consists of a public programme spanning between 2025—2027 and exhibitions will be presented in several locations between March 3—May 30 2027. The first public activity will take place in Luleå at the end of 2025. More information to be released shortly.