Meryem Saadi: Mobilising Vulnerability: Practices, Methods, and Tactics of Rural Artist-Run Initiatives in Sweden

Abstract

This thesis examines how three rural artist-run organisations in Sweden mobilise vulnerability to generate artistic, curatorial, and pedagogical practices that resonate with their local communities, the Swedish mainstream art world, and institutional funders. It follows the trajectories of Kultivator, Rejmyre Art LAB’s Center for Peripheral Studies (RAL), and Gylleboverket, all of which have been active for more than 15 years, longer than most other small artist-run spaces. 

Through a multiple-case study analysis that combines close readings of material, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews, the thesis unpacks how each self-organised group develops distinct practices, methods, and tactics that enable it to survive within a Swedish funding system not suited to the needs of artist-run initiatives. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from philosophers Judith Butler and Erinn Gilson, the study approaches vulnerability not as a condition associated with helplessness, disempowerment, or lack but as a set of relations that can produce new opportunities, audiences, and formats. The thesis argues that Kultivator, RAL, and Gylleboverket allow the vulnerabilities they encounter to inform and shape their practices, methods, and tactics instead of ignoring them. It demonstrates that by recognising vulnerability, taking responsibility for it, and mobilising it as a generative force for production, the three platforms address broader ontological forms of vulnerability in their practices while simultaneously negotiating their own vulnerability as artist-led initiatives.

While research on contemporary art increasingly examines self-organisation and collaboration, there is a limited body of research on the practices and challenges of artist-run spaces outside urban centres. This study addresses that gap by shedding light on the relations between rural artist groups, their sites, their local communities, their funders, and the art world. By situating these platforms’ practices within a framework of horizontal art history, the thesis thus challenges dominant centre-periphery narratives and highlights the rural as a site of critical contemporary cultural production.