Kista Art City (KAC) takes its departure from the transformed and complex meaning of the concept site in global society. A development that both challenges and creates new possibilities for art and art institutions. Public art has always played an important role in portraying the individual in society. However the global society has long since challenged and left behind the concept of “public art”, as we have defined it according to yesterday’s centralized art terminology, manifested in sculptures, mural paintings and monuments. For what the glocal city needs is public art that works both locally, by putting human beings in focus, and at the same time can recreate the site as the weave of historical, political, global and economic significations that every site in today.

KAC is the idea of the contemporary art institution as a mobile, open office without walls and a workshop that connects the site with its players. It is also an idea about art as practice to recreate society and a collective sense of community – as a critical instrument for influence and change. KAC is based on an understanding of the importance of establishing independent, autonoums systems of atistic inguiry. The interesting thing today is not WHAT is done in the form of art – but rather HOW and WHY it is done. Thus a large part of KAC is about reflecting, developing and communicating this HOW and WHY. And about creating opportunities for artists to develop artistic and institutional practices in relation to the material/social conditions of public place, and the the contemporary public spehere.

The major challenge in the project is to develop a context that involves different groups in society. The local players in Kista are a segregated group consisting of an expansive international business sector and, on the other hand, a group of inhabitants who live in the shadow of the economy. A future art institution must answer the needs of both these groups in order to be a part of urban development, integration and the work to further democracy. Another challenge has to do with structural questions about the role of the artist and the concept of art and the obstacles these put in the way for social mobility, interactivity and participation. KAC challenges the traditional image of the artist as a solitary producer, as well as ingrained perceptions of the general public and those who commission artwork as passive consumers.