ABOUT US
In the project of liberation, conceptual art and design can play a crucial role among activism, schooling, training, rebellion, spiritual practices, medicine, engineering, public health, planning, and research. Artists and designers whose practices are conceptual and political have the potential to bring a distinct skillset: to negotiate concepts and speculate in concrete, visible ways—enabling us to imagine otherwise.
Centre for Nordic Otherwise was created to address the urgent need for many more spaces where racialized individuals in the Nordic region, who are working towards liberation through conceptual and artistic means, can find support.
Since Myriam Diatta dreamt up the concept for the Centre in January 2024, racialized folks who work as artists, architects, designers, educators, archivists, curators, researchers, and other cultural workers have joined, inspired, and contributed deeply to the initiative. To run the core activites and make this project socially sustainable, the Centre runs on a paid membership program, donations, and institutional funding. See Join Us! for more.
team
Yasmin Ibrahim
Workshop Coordinator
Helsinki, Finland
Workshop Coordinator
Helsinki, Finland
collaborators
ASSATA
Library and publisher celebrating revolutionaries of the global majority
Oslo, Norway
Andromeda8220
Collaborative art and architecture gallery
Gellerup, Denmark
advisory circle
The Advisors for Nordic Otherwise are a circular and intergenerational group of warm, sharp practitioners. Some advisors are professional consultants who support collaborations and facilitate solidarity-based methods. Some advisors are the very earliest supporters of the idea for Nordic Otherwise and bring their trusted reputations and cultural knowledge in their respective Nordic cities.
Abdul Dube
Professional Consultant, Artist
Aarhus, Denmark + Berlin, Germany
Professional Consultant, Artist
Aarhus, Denmark + Berlin, Germany
Amy Gelera
Designer, Chair of Somos S.U.R.
Helsinki, Finland
Designer, Chair of Somos S.U.R.
Helsinki, Finland
Jonelle Twum
Filmmaker, Founder of Black Archives Sweden
Malmö, Sweden
Filmmaker, Founder of Black Archives Sweden
Malmö, Sweden
Lina Patel
Professional Consultant, Facilitator
Melbourne, Australia
Professional Consultant, Facilitator
Melbourne, Australia
vision
In 2025, it’s pilot year, Centre for Nordic Otherwise is testing and refining its Curriculum and Network. At this stage, participants of the project are involved in an experimental process.
The 5-year vision for the Curriculum—a critical artist development workshop—is to evolve into a roving school that operates through student tuition and scholarships. The vision is to allow racialised and critically-engaged students to enroll in cities around the world and for a team of former graduates of the Curriculum to be trained to facilitate the workshop process. The vision is for the Curriculum to travel to where it’s critical and by-us-for-us approach is most urgently need.
The 5-year vision for the Network—an online and in-person series of meetings to share underground work methods—is to remain anchored in the Nordic region in order to support racialised cultural workers, educators, students, artists, designers, architects, academic researchers, and more with practical tools for sustaining spaces by and for us. (As of January 2025)
purpose
WHY? Nordic Otherwise was initiated in response to the need for resources capable of supporting the racialized artist and the criticality of their art-making processes. We aim to be a trustworthy model for how to move towards divergence, autonomy, liberation, and plural realities.
HOW? What we do is both intimate—touching the artist, their materials, and their deepest concerns—and meta—developing strategies capable of supporting critical art practice.
FOR WHO? Nordic Otherwise is designed by and for emerging critical practitioners of the global majority (BIPoC) navigating life in white-normative contexts.
WITH WHO? We will run initiatives including an intensive workshop and a network of cultural practitioners. We do this in cahoots with others in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and more. (As of April 2024)
licensing
CC BY–NC–ND 4.0︎︎︎
cvr/se no.
45033708