Grafikens Hus – our values

An art museum that makes an impression
In our work, we show consideration for the field, the artists, the public, our collaborations, and each other. Together, we strive to change the homogeneous art scene in which operate and of which we are a part. We aim to expand the spectrum of who has access to working in this field. We do so by engaging a broad range of artists and making their narratives, images, crafts and perspectives visible in Grafikens Hus’s exhibitions, events and future collection.

We believe in working with a long-term perspective and making our activities relevant by challenging our own role and understanding how we can contribute to the process of change in Sweden’s art sector.

We apply an intersectional perspective[1] in our work – whether it relates to print production, the art that is presented to our audiences or the people who work here.

We aim to be an art museum that experiments, explores, reaches out, makes an impression on society and inspires others.

An art museum that makes room for expression
By making a wide range of perspectives and styles visible, we open up for alternative ways of understanding and thinking about the world, society and human experiences.

Our outreach programme aims to give more people access to art in their everyday lives as well as providing them opportunities to express themselves through art. We welcome the public with openness and develop an art programme based on perspectives beyond our own understanding of our times and society.

Our core activity is art production, where the work can be individual or collective. Our role is to encourage development and provide a space where art can be free and powerful. We want to contribute to making the artistic process enjoyable and grubby, with a large scope for trying, testing and experimenting.

An ever-changing art museum
Grafikens Hus strives to be in perpetual motion. By staying curious and flexible, we create an art museum with a printmaking workshop for collaborations, knowledge-sharing and development of the art of printmaking. We want to be a museum in tune with the times, while challenging the concept of what a museum and place for printmaking/art is and can be.

We embrace the fundamental idea on which Grafikens Hus was originally conceived: as an art museum with a range of skills. Our ambition is still to promote social commitment.

We seek to spread knowledge about printmaking through its history, with an awareness that tomorrow’s narratives are formed today.

Grafikens Hus will be an open house with room for the artistic process, where things are allowed to take time to be shaped and reshaped. An art museum with room for more people, and where we can develop and carry out our activities together.

[1] Intersectionality is a socioscientific approach that focuses on uncovering specific situations of oppression that arise in the intersection between power relationships based on race, gender and class. Translation of entry in Nationalencyklopedin.

Illustration: Iris Hautaniemi