Image: Batwa Kvinnor, Etnografiska Arkiv
Southnord co-hosts residency in Stockholm
Southnord will in collaboration with the World Culture Museums Konstfack, the Nordic Art Association, the Swedish Artists' Council/IASPIS host an artistic residency with Banji Chona and Katarina Spik Skum in the Spring of 2026.
Banji Chona (Zambia) is an artist whose practice critically explores relationships between history, storytelling, healing and co-creation based on the nature and people around the Zambezi River. As a scholar of Zambezian Earth, she interrogates imposed ways of knowing shaped by colonial and imperial ‘inheritances’ while offering alternative ways of being.
Katarina Spik Skum (Sápmi) is a Sámi textile artist and duodjár who works from her origins and culture. She is specialised in the tanning and crafting of reindeer hides. In collaboration with other artists/craftsmen, she creates works in which she transforms Sámi culture into new expressions.
“We are excited to bring these two cultural practitioners together. Coming from literally opposite sides of the world, their knowledges and artistic endeavours bear witness to how interconnected we all are. Hopefully this will be the first of many exchanges where we invite artists based on the Continent to spend some time in Stockholm,” says Southnord’s founder, Marcia Harvey Isaksson.
During the residency in Stockholm (April-May 2026), the artists will jointly examine a collection of antelope skin cloaks from the Twa people in Zambia. These cloaks were collected by Eric von Rosen, a Swedish “explorer”, ethnographer and co-founder of the Swedish Nazi party NSB. Von Rosen organised an expedition to Rhodesia and Congo in 1911-12 and came into contact with the BaTwa during that trip.
Today the Kawambwa-lechwe antelope species, whose skin the cloaks were made from, is extinct and the craft is no longer practiced. The BaTwa, along with their distinct traditions and practices have been assimilated into the larger Zambian society. The collaboration between the artists is one of learning through the craft practices of two marginalised cultural groups will result in several public expressions:
The Museums of World Culture will show a work (produced during the residency period) by Banji Chona in a new main exhibition about Sweden's colonial history at the Ethnographic Museum. The exhibition will open in December 2026 and is part of the project funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Bringing Objects to Life (2024-2026).
The residency will also be documented in a publication within the framework of the research environment Textile Heritage, led by Professor Maja Gunn, at Konstfack. Textile Heritage is a research environment in artistic research funded by the Swedish Research Council (2025–2031) and aims to investigate museums' textile collections.
In connection with Stockholm Design Week in February 2027, Southnord will produce an installation including the processes and experiments created by Banji Chona and Katarina Spik Skum during their residency period.
The Nordic Art Association and the Swedish Artists' Council/IASPIS jointly provide studio space for the artistic residency and collaboration. The artists will participate in their respective residency programs and also present parts of their work in a public form.