THE PROMISE

With works and materials by Alternativ stad, Bevara Slussen, Bostadsvrålet, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, CRUSH, Filmform, Avprivatisera Hagsätra, Högdalens Vänner, Adelita Husni-Bey, Kate Newby, Norra Järva stadsdelsråd, Malin Pettersson Öberg, Sonia Sagan / Orten i fokus, Secretary, Söderorts Institut För Andra Visioner (SIFAV), Våra Hem, Fredrik Vaerslev, Peter Wächtler and others.

The Promise is an exhibition and events series that explore the city as a political space, and the role of architecture and design in shaping a context for our lives. With more people than ever living and working in urban agglomerations and with a growing importance of commercial and political centers, the space of the city has become one of the most contested issues of today. The Promise highlights the complex organization of space through the built environment, but also the invisible structures of ownership, policies and legal regulations that control access to resources and determine social interactions. Engaging specifically with the surrounding of Index and the city of Stockholm, the project consists of a series of newly commissioned artworks by Swedish and international artists. In addition, the exhibition presents an extensive selection of works, materials and documents that trace the history of urban struggles, conflicts and resistance, a series of talks and events, and a three-part film program throughout the summer.

Questions the project deals with are: How do a city’s inhabitants live together, and how does the city’s design – its architecture, urban design, landscape, and infrastructure – impact on the conditions of living? Since the early modernist movement, design has often been considered to have a critical social function. Revolving around a minimum standard of living and equal access to space, air, light, and water, modernist planning was a promise for a better society for all. On the other hand, planning can only create frameworks for living, and the power of design to shape a new reality has been overestimated, neglecting the many and diverse relationships between people and their environment. Late-modern planning since the 1960s – from the impressive yet ambivalent Million Program to the modernization of Stockholm’s city center – marks a paradoxical moment, in which design principles with ambitious social ideas created spatial solutions with often significant shortcomings, and many were met with resistance. After the deregulation of housing policies since the 1990s, various forms of divisions within the city of Stockholm have become more profoundly articulated, especially in terms of the housing market, leading to a stark dynamic of gentrification, segregation, and social inequality. The Promise engages with what the geographer David Harvey described as “the right to the city” – the possibility to not only access urban resources, but also the ability to impact on space in order to change the way we live.

Events

Wed 14 June, 2017, 17.00
Index Teen Advisory Board: Zine Release Fest

Fri 16 June 2017, 19:00
Kim West: The museum as a catalyst for social change. On the original and unrealized plans for Kulturhuset in Stockholm, 1963-70

Tue 20 June 2017, 18:00
Film Program – Part 1
Films by Reinhold Holterman (1929), Lennart Johansson and Lennart Arnér (1951), Per Olof Grönstrand (1953), Carl Slättne (1971), Sven Elfström (1971), Lina Selander and Oscar Mangione (2016)
Admission: 40 SEK

Every Saturday, 29 July–2 September 2017
The Roaming Institute
A series of city walks conceived as part of the course Modernist Legacies and Constructions of Whiteness at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm

Fri 17 August 2017, 19:00
Reading: Peter Wächtler

Wed 23 August 2017, 18:00
Artist Talk: Malin Pettersson Öberg in conversation with Malin Zimm
Before the event, at 17:00, there is a possibility to visit the model archive of Stadsbyggnadskontoret, together with model expert Harri Anttila. Location: Stadsbyggnadskontoret, Fleminggatan 4

Tue 29 August 2017, 18:00
Film Program – Part 2
Films by Felice Hapetzeder (2001), Muammer och Synnöve Özer (1980), Maria Magnusson, (2014), Ane Hjort Guttu (2013), Karl Holmqvist, (1997), Guillermo Alvarez (1982)
Admission: 40 SEK

Sun 3 September 2017, 18:00
Film Program – Part 3
Films by Peter Weiss (1957), Lennart Johansson (1959), Josef Doukkali and Lennart Westman (2009), Ane Hjort Guttu (2012), Christine Leuhusen (2016)
Admission: 40 SEK

Social media: @indexstockholm #thepromise

Download the exhibiton guilde in English or Swedish.
Download the voiceover text for Malin Pettersson Öberg’s film Modellarkivet in English or Swedish.

The Promise is realized with generous support by Goethe Institute Sweden, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Creative New Zealand, Jan Warburton Charitable Trust, the Nordic Art Association, in collaboration with the Royal Institute of Art / Kungl. Konsthögskolan and Film i Samtidskonsten. Thanks to the Italian Cultural Institute, the Stockholm Urban Planning Department and The Garage Stockholm.