Solvej Ovesen

Art

25 August 2026

Art

Solvej Ovesen

25 August 2026

Q: What do you believe is the biggest challenge for cultural institutions today?

A: Different institutions face different challenges. Personally, I think museums and cultural forums should help audiences slow down, reconnect with their bodies, become open to new perspectives, and perhaps even make new friends. We need constant reminders that people live in countless different ways, shaped by different challenges and privileges—and that we, as humans, have the capacity to transform when we act with conviction. But we need time to make up our minds and find conviction.

Q: How do you see the relationship between culture, diversity, and social change evolving over the next decade?

A: I think community is becoming almost everything. We’ll need much more entrepreneurial and collaborative thinking to respond to the ecological, social, military and political crises we’re already experiencing. To face these challenges, we need to stay together, build resilient communities, and become more politically strategic and not only resilient but also more open to different voices we can’t control.

Q: What conversations do you think the world is avoiding right now?

A: The possibility of systemic collapse—of ecological systems, public safety, and the cyclical systems or respect and emphatic values that hold societies together.

"We’re avoiding the big perspective on collapse. On the fact that economic and ecological systems and habitual practices need to change for masses of people."

Q: How do you create spaces where people with opposing views can actually listen to each other? 

A: We need more “third spaces” where people come together through music, food, care and art. These spaces should be welcoming, accessible, and free for anyone who wants to join. Shared experiences often create the trust that’s needed before difficult conversations can happen.

Q: If you could start one global conversation tomorrow, what would it be about?

A: How we can genuinely enjoy each other’s company more across cultures. How we can become more sensitive, more life-affirming, and more generous in the way we live together—and how we can spread those qualities.

Q: What places in Berlin do you keep returning to?