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Worry: A Conference on Artistic Practice, Research, Activism and Public Life – in Response to Climate Anxiety, Geopolitical Instability, and Shifting Social Landscape.
We warmly welcome you to the conference Oro: konst, beredskap, motstånd at Linnaeus University in Växjö, 20 May 2026. Artists, researchers, students, and cultural practitioners—both established and emerging—are invited to join us in exploring the role of art in times of uncertainty. The conference acts as a start-up for the art happening The Småland Triennale 2026.
Speakers include Dr. Alice Twemlow and Roxy Farhat.
The conference engages with perspectives on art, ecology and societal transformation in relation to contemporary conditions of crisis and change. This is a multidisciplinary gathering where contributions focus on the intersections between artistic practice, research, activism and public life—such as how art can respond to climate anxiety, geopolitical instability and shifting social landscapes, and how it can shape new forms of preparedness, resilience, and collective imagination.
The field explored within the conference spans, but is not limited to artistic research, environmental humanities, design, cultural studies, pedagogy and social practice. By bringing together diverse approaches, the conference aims to foster dialogue across disciplines and to examine how knowledge can be produced, shared, transformed and mediated through both artistic and academic processes.
The conference programme includes keynote lectures, artistic presentations, student presentations, workshops and panel discussions.
Invited speakers represent a range of perspectives within artistic research, design, and environmental humanities. This constellation reflects the interdisciplinary ambition of the conference and its focus on exploring the thematics of The Småland Triennale 2026 Oro: Konst, beredskap, motstånd as both a lived condition and a creative strategy.
The conference is co-produced by Konstfrämjandet Småland together with The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, The Faculty of Arts and Humanities and The Cultural University at Linnaeus University, forming the academic opening of The Småland Triennale 2026. It functions as a platform for dialogue where different forms of knowledge meet and challenge one another.
The conference will be held in English.
Questions and more information
Please contact: kristian.anshelm@konstframjandet.se
Location: Linnaeus University, Växjö
Organising Committee: Kristian Anshelm (Konstfrämjandet Småland), Zeenath Hasan (Department of Design, Linnaeus University), Marcelo Ketzer (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaeus University), Martin Gren (Department of Cultural Sciences, Linnaeus University), Helen Hägglund (The Cultural University, Linnaeus University), Kristoffer Gansing (Department of Design, Linnaeus University), Matilda Plöjel (Department of Design, Linnaeus University).