New Commons (Skogen, Kultivator, Ställbergs Gruva/Folkets Hus)

In the New Commons project, concrete examples and suggestions are implemented, built and organized on how cultural actors can develop new commons, organize resource sharing and drive processes for increased local resilience. Ställbergs Gruva is involved in developing a cultural center organized jointly with the associations and the municipality of Kopparberg. In Gothenburg and Mariestad, Skogen is practically and theoretically experimenting with sharing systems and new models and methods. Kultivator on Öland is creating a residence and village-wide meeting place that enables hosting based on local organization and local resources.

As their part of the New Commons project, KULTIVATOR is giving an open program of work and learning around the process of establishing a Guest Habitat, built from the conditions and history of the local ecosystem, for future (global) needs. In Kultivator’s 20 years of activity, hosting and hospitality have been a central part of artistic practice, as well as seeking ways to create together with the ecosystems, the landscapes, we are in. In a time of intertwined crises, and change, the need for intertwined solutions is greater than ever. We need to learn from local traditions of self-sufficiency farming as well as from global practices for sharing resources and ideas, and most of all, from all our companion species that already live here. How do we create a community ecology where both those who have taken root, and those who temporarily need a refuge, can be at home? 

By realizing the Guest Habitat in practice, actually building it, we want to provide a concrete, material example, for other organizations and groups aiming to create sustainable residencies/sanctuaries. The work is being carried forward in open labs, but in between, all steps (strategies for finding and collecting recycled materials, structuring the time bank, preparation for the next step, etc.) are also documented to be included in short instructional films that are published during the construction period. 

Frog inventory

Taking down the timber house