With the Swedish national election just a year away, four artists were invited to share their perspectives on collective processes, democracy, and sustainable change. The Magic Carpets Residency at OPENART 2025 was divided into two parts – Part 1 (participating artists: Gina Disobey and Johan Ibrahim Adam) and Part 2 (participating artists: Bahzad Sulaiman and Doris Apelqvist). A consistent feature across all residencies was the collaboration with the local community organisation Ung Arena – which works with teenagers and young adults under the age of 20 who are currently not in school or employment – supporting them to break isolation and find a way forward, whether through education or work.
Part 1 – June 2025:
Johan Ibrahim Adam is an artist with local roots who recently returned to his hometown of Örebro after spending years living in Pretoria, London, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. Growing up in the district of Brickebacken, Johan experienced first-hand how Brickebacken – and similar areas – were not prioritised when it came to access to art or inclusion in public cultural conversations. During his residency, Johan began creating two artworks in the form of chandeliers. The larger chandelier will be installed in Brickebacken, built from flat iron and decorated with objects made by Johan together with children from the local school. The second chandelier – a ready-made piece – will be placed at Örebro Castle, the city’s historic seat of power. Instead of suspending it overhead, Johan plans to position it on the ground, within reach of everyone. By doing so, he challenges the symbolism of the chandelier as something elevated, exclusive, and reserved for the wealthy and powerful – placing it instead at our feet, accessible to all, inviting conversation on equal terms. Together with Ung Arena, a preview version of the Brickebacken work was created on canvas, where young participants contributed shapes and figures. The work now hangs in Ung Arena’s premises, bringing art into their everyday environment. Both of Johan’s chandeliers will be exhibited at the OPENART Biennial, 13 June – 6 September 2026.
Gina Disobey is an Afro-Italian interdisciplinary artist and youth worker dedicating her art practice to social change, in collaboration with communities and grassroots movements. Themes such as identity, healing, and empowerment run through her work. She is the daughter of a Nigerian and an Italian artist, a background that shaped her through its blend of cultures and experiences. She began the residency with a two-day workshop together with Ung Arena. The participants were introduced to an unconventional screen-printing technique using embroidery hoops instead of traditional frames. The curiosity and creativity of the young people made the experience both inspiring and meaningful for Gina, who then began working on her sculptural installation. The work is based on a recurring dream of a giant elephant, combined with Gina’s exploration of the metaphor “the elephant in the room”. The elephant appears as a presence too large to ignore and too uncomfortable to name. Inviting people to reflect on its meaning, Gina covered the sculpture in mirrors. The elephant becomes a multifaceted metaphor – an image of burden and strength, silence and voice, visibility and invisibility. It is at once personal and collective. Placing the elephant in public space allows us to see ourselves and each other reflected, and together our stories can be transformed into shared power. Gina’s artwork will be exhibited at the OPENART Biennial, 13 June – 6 September 2026.
Part 2 – September 2025:
Bahzad Sulaiman is a Kurdish-Syrian artist based in Germany. His work moves between different forms of expression and interweaves identity, space, tradition, and humanity’s impact on society today. In early autumn, he began his Magic Carpets residency and the creation of Garden of Fragments – a new interpretation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The work uses discarded refrigerators, washing machines, and stoves as building blocks, with greenery flowing through openings and cracks. By reshaping these remnants of everyday life, they become symbols of memory, consumption, and social change. Garden of Fragments becomes a metaphor for coexistence and a reminder that creativity can weave together what are otherwise perceived as opposites – waste and life, technology and nature. During the final week of the residency, Bahzad invited the Ung Arena community to reflect on these everyday objects present in their own homes, particularly refrigerators, which often serve as vessels for memory and daily life – covered with photos, school schedules, and unpaid bills. Together they created their own small sanctuary of memories and emotions by installing their own artworks, notes, and photos into one of the discarded machines. Bahzad’s artwork will be exhibited at the OPENART Biennial, 13 June – 6 September 2026.
Doris Apelqvist moves freely between painting, sculpture, textiles, video, and music. Her practice carries an improvisational pulse – an intuitive movement where small daily observations are woven together with contrasts and unexpected encounters. Using a stream-of-consciousness method, her largest artwork to date was created during the residency. In a playful manner, she combined recycled wood with paint and wallpaper, assembling a giant collage-like sculpture. The structure resembles a discarded house – a splash of colour in the cityscape, a glimpse of another reality, an interruption in the rhythm of everyday life. It is a work that celebrates imagination, unconventionality, and whimsy. Doris also shared her stream-of-consciousness method with the Ung Arena community. For two days they immersed themselves in creating their own collages using cardboard, magazines, paint, and glue. The participants quickly settled into a rhythm where hands were allowed to lead and thoughts to rest. Their time with Doris opened new windows into their own imagination and creative path forward. Doris’s artwork will be exhibited at the OPENART Biennial, 13 June – 6 September 2026.
Curatorial text by Sofia Gustafsson