Röda Sten Konsthall is a contemporary

art center An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

located in the district of

Majorna Majorna () was until 2011 one of the 21 boroughs of Gothenburg Municipality. Since 2011 it is joined with the former borough of Linnéstaden and they do together form the new borough of "Majorna-Linné". It was composed of four districts: * ...

under

Älvsborg Bridge The Älvsborg Bridge ( sv, Älvsborgsbron) is a suspension bridge over Göta älv in Gothenburg, Sweden, connecting the island of Hisingen with the mainland. It was designed by Sven Olof Asplund, and inaugurated on 8 November 1966 by Swedish commu ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. ''Konsthall'' roughly translates to "Art Gallery" however the organization is much more similar to a German ''

Kunsthalle A kunsthalle is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, ''Kunsthallen'' are often operated by ...

''. Röda Sten Konsthall is an exhibition space for a diverse range of cultural events and art exhibitions, is home to Gothenburg's only legal graffiti wall "Draken" and hosts a rich program of educational activities for all ages. RSK presents an exhibition program of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

and has collaborated with Swedish and international artists such as

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...

Carsten Höller Carsten Höller (born December 1961) is a German artist. He lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.Alice Rawsthorn (January 2012)"Cliff Hanger - The Ghanaian home of artists Carsten Höller and Marcel Odenbach goes above—and beyond" ''W Magazi ...

, Natalie Djurberg/Hans Berg, Ylva Ogland,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, and Rachel Maclean, among many others, is home to the

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

, collaborates with

Valand Academy Valand Academy ( sv, Akademin Valand) is a school for film, photography, literary composition, and fine art at the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was formed in 2012 through the merger of three formerly independent schools/de ...

to exhibit the photography program's degree show, hosts choral and opera performances at the beginning of each year and since 2013 has held a design and craft focused Christmas market.

History

Röda Sten Konsthall was originally built in 1940 as an old boiler house that supplied the industries of with heat. It was then used as a warehouse for hazardous waste, abandoned and stood empty for many years. The building, owned by the

city of Gothenburg Gothenburg Municipality (''Göteborgs kommun'' or ''Göteborgs stad'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented ...

, was set to be demolished as it was seen as a "festering sore" on the city, because it was home to intense rave parties and covered in

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. This was the place that inspired Kulturprojekt Röda Sten. Bob Kelly, a businessman and entrepreneur, had seen how people in the USA and England were renovating and re-purposing old factory buildings into spaces for cultural and artistic activities. He believed the boiler house had the potential to become a similar project. Kelly contacted Per Hållén, who at the time was a district committee representative of the Left Party for the Majorna district of Gothenburg, and who from January 1992 was also a member of the Gothenburg City Council. Kelly and Hållén then approached the Director of the

Gothenburg Museum of Art Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collect ...

and , an architect from the firm Lund&Valentin to add an art institutional/architectural perspectives to the group. These four “founders” soon expanded the group by adding people with different strengths: artist and former professor of painting , and economist Lars Strannegård.

First functions at Röda Sten

During the summer of 1994, the Property Management Administration completed a provisional repair of the boiler house. The premiere program was a newly composed “psycho-acoustic” opera performance based on Dostoyevsky’s novel ''The Idiot''. In September 1994, thirty-seven artists from Majorna exhibited their work in the boiler house as a manifestation of Kulturprojekt Röda Sten. October 1994 brought another exhibition: ''Ready for Landing'', an installation by Michel and Eva Droetto. Forty-five tons of soil were trucked in for the exhibition and covered the floor in the cathedral. In 1995, the Friends of Röda Sten Association was established, and during 1995–1999 the Röda Sten Project was dedicated to finding financing and planning for the renovation of the building.

Renovation and inauguration

Shipping magnate

Sten Allan Olsson Sten Allan Olsson (28 October 1916 – 12 July 2013) was a Swedish billionaire businessman, the founder, CEO and owner of Stena Sphere. Sten Allan Olsson was born on 28 October 1916, on Donsö, in the Gothenburg archipelago, the son of a schoo ...

pledged a donation of three million SEK (approximately 360,000 USD) toward the boiler house renovation. The County Labor Board contributed free labor, and the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning offers one million SEK (approximately 120,000 USD) to the renovation. Sören Mannheimer, chairperson of the Chalmers Technical University Foundation, offers 500,000 SEK (approximately 60,000 USD) toward the property renovation and an equal amount for collaboration between artists from Röda Sten and technology students from Chalmers. Between September 1999 and September 2000, the boiler house was renovated. On October 6, 2000, the renovated boiler house was rededicated.

From Culture Project to ''Konsthall''

2005

Röda Sten hires its first General Director
Mia Christerdotter Norman

2006

The association changes its name from ''Kulturprojekt Röda Sten'' to ''Röda Sten Kulturförening'' (Röda Sten Cultural Association). The Municipal Cultural Affairs Committee asks Röda Sten Kulturförening to arrange the 2007

(GIBCA)

2007

The pilot for the arts education & social program Young & Creative begins. The Executive Board decides to establish a new, independent program committee composed of , Lisa Rosendahl, and Fredrik Svensk. Röda Sten Kulturförening becomes a member of

Trans Europe Halles Trans Europe Halles (TEH) is a European-based network of cultural centres initiated by citizens and artists. History In 1983 the independent Cultural center, cultural centre "Les Halles de Schaerbeek" (Brussels, Brussels, Belgium) organised a w ...

(TEH). Edi Muka and Joa Ljungberg are the Curators of ''GIBCA 2007: Rethinking Dissent''.

2009

Röda Sten hires its first full-time curator, . Johan Poussette and Celia Prado are Curators of ''GIBCA 2009: What a Wonderful World''.

2010

The Executive Board decides that the boiler house and its operations as a whole should be called ''Röda Sten Konsthall''. The exhibition program begins, with Edi Muka as a curator. It displays international contemporary art and focuses on site-specific exhibits.

2012

appoints its first Artistic Directors. Stina Eblom (who had been Co-Curator for the biennial in 2011) together with Edi Muka, Röda Sten Konsthall's Curator. Draken, Gothenburg's only legal graffiti wall is inaugurated.

2014

Aukje Lepoutre Ravn is appointed Curator of Röda Sten Konsthall and Artistic Director for GIBCA 2015 alongside Stina Edblom.

2017

Mariangela Mendez Prencke is appointed Curator of Röda Sten Konsthall. Ioana Leca is appointed Artistic Director for GIBCA 2019.

Exhibitions at Röda Sten Konsthall 2010-2018

2018

Delcy Morelos: ''Inner Earth'' Annika Dahlsten & Markku Laakso: ''Diorama''

2017

Julian Rosefeldt Julian Rosefeldt (born 1965 in Munich) is a German artist and filmmaker. Rosefeldt's work consists primarily of elaborate, visually opulent film and video installations, often shown as panoramic multi-channel projections. His installations rang ...

: ''Asylum'' Hanne Nielsen & Birgit Johnsen: ''Protect/ Release'' ''WE ARE THE REMIX:'' Halil Altindere, Korakrit Arunanondchai,

Cecilia Bengolea Cecilia Bengolea (born 1979, Buenos Aires) is an Argentinian artist, choreographer and dancer. Her works have been shown or performed at the Desert X of the Coachella Festival, the Art Basel or the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao amongst other venues. ...

& Måns Månsson,

Vincent Moon Vincent Moon (real name Mathieu Saura, born 25 August 1979) is an independent filmmaker, photographer, and sound artist from Paris. He was the main director of the Blogotheque's Take Away Shows, a web-based project recording field work music vide ...

& Priscilla Telmon, Nastivicious, Rachel Maclean,

Anne de Vries Anne de Vries (22 May 1904 – 29 November 1964) was a Dutch teacher and writer, particularly famous in the Netherlands for his novels of regional life. Born in the village of Kloosterveen near Assen, de Vries married Alida Gerdina van Wermeske ...

. Exhibition design by MUSEEA - Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov ''GIBCA 2017: WheredoIendandyoubegin'' Curated by Nav Haq

2016

IC-98 - ''Tides of Time'' ''Surfacing Earth'' - A group exhibition featuring six artists and three artist collaborations whose practices reflect upon the changing awareness of landscape in the age of the Anthropocene:

Rosa Barba Rosa Barba (born 1972, Agrigento, Italy) is a German-Italian visual artist and filmmaker. Barba is known for using the medium of film and its materiality to create cinematic film installations, sculptures and publications, which inquire into the ...

Ursula Biemann Ursula Biemann (born 8 September 1955) is a Swiss video artist, curator, educator, and art theorist.Yvonne Volkart (2010, 2016). Biography Born on 8 September 1955 in Küsnacht. Biemann trained in art in Boston, Mexico and New York, graduating ...

& Paulo Tavares,

Bigert & Bergström Bigert & Bergström is a Swedish artist duo consisting of Mats Bigert and Lars Bergström. The Bigert & Bergström creative partnership began in 1986 while attending Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm. Since then, the duo have created a w ...

, Tiril Hasselknippe, Marie Kølbæk Iversen, Ferdinand Ahm Krag, Astrid Myntekær, Yasuaki Onishi, Reynold Reynolds & Patrick Jolley Pinar Yoldas: ''The Warm, the Cool and the Cat''

2015

Carlos Motta - ''For Democracy There Must Be Love'' Reverberations - A group exhibition exploring sound’s relationship with form, space and memory. Featuring:

Janet Cardiff Janet Cardiff (born March 15, 1957) is a Canadian artist who works chiefly with sound and sound installations, often in collaboration with her husband and partner George Bures Miller. Cardiff first gained international recognition in the art worl ...

, Mikael Ericsson, Jonas Gazell,

Babette Mangolte Babette Mangolte is a French cinematographer, film director, and photographer who has lived and worked in the United States since 1970. Life and career Mangolte was born and raised in France and moved to New York City in 1970. She attended L'Eco ...

, José Luis Martinat, Ursula Nistrup,

Kirstine Roepstorff Kirstine Roepstorff (born 1972) is a Danish visual artist who lives and works in Fredericia (DK). Roepstorff studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen from 1994-2001 and Rutgers University, Mason School of Fine Art (MFA), USA ...

, Vinyl, Terror- & Horror ''GIBCA 2105: A story within a story...'' Curated by

Elvira Dyangani Ose Elvira Dyangani Ose (born 1974) is a Spanish art curator who has been serving as the director of MACBA Contemporary Art Museum in Barcelona. Dyangani's family comes from Equatorial Guinea, and she was born and raised in Spain. From 2018 to 20 ...

2014

Adrian Paci: ''Of Lives and Tales'' Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen: ''Musical skies, dropping down to earth, making trees fly'' : ''Diverse Variations of Other Spaces''

2013

''Mynningsladdare'': Group Exhibition featuring: AKAY, AMAN, BLUE, BUFF-IT, DWANE, EKTA, KARMA, NUG, PIKE, WIRAEUS - Curated by

Carolina Falkholt Carolina Alexandra Falkholt, with the pseudonym Blue, born 4 March 1977 in Gothenburg, is a Swedish artist, graffiti writer and musician. Sometimes she uses her own coined term ''grafitta'', to describe her art. It is a play with the two wo ...

''THE COMMON ROOF PROJECT'': Stealth (dis)assembled. ''GIBCA 2013: PLAY! Recapturing the Radical Imagination'' - curated by Katerina Gregos, Claire Tancons, Joanna Warsza, Ragnar Kjartansson & Andjeas Ejiksson

2012

Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg - ''Fåfänga försök''

- ''Den mest sällskapliga ensamvarg jag någonsin mött'' ''Plattform # 2''

2011

Loulou Cherinet: ''Testaments Betrayed'' ''(De)monterat De)constructed'' STEALTH.unlimited ''GIBCA 2011: Pandemonium: Art in a Time of Creativity Fever'' - curated by

Sarat Maharaj Sarat Maharaj (born 1951 in Durban, South Africa) is a writer, researcher, curator, and professor. Maharaj's family was part of the large group of Indians who migrated to the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the nineteenth century. The grandfather o ...

, Gertrud Sandqvist, Stina Edblom, and Dorothee Albrecht

2010

Sislej Xhafa Sislej Xhafa (born 1970 in Peja, Kosovo) is an Kosovar contemporary artist, based in New York. In a Hatje Cantz Verlag monograph about the artist, art critic Guido Molinari writes "The condition of relentless traveler, throughout the West ...

- ''2 075 BACI''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roda Sten Konsthall 1994 establishments in Sweden Buildings and structures completed in 1940 Art museums and galleries established in 1994 Contemporary art galleries in Sweden Arts centres Arts organizations based in Sweden Entertainment venues in Sweden Buildings and structures in Gothenburg Culture in Gothenburg