CURATORIAL STATEMENT

Eli Lindén’s curatorial practice is deeply rooted in critical historiography and decolonial exhibition methodologies. With a working class background and an academic foundation in history and gender studies, Lindén approaches the exhibition space not as a neutral site for display, but as an active political arena and a living mechanism for archivism. By questioning whose narratives are preserved—and whose are erased—the work focuses on making visible subcultural movements, somatic experiences, and hidden histories through strategic collection acquisitions and institutional interventions.

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Approaching the exhibition as a living counter-narrative and an act of collective memory work, Lindén initiates cross-disciplinary co-creation processes between independent grassroots networks, international NGOs, and national memory institutions. This challenges the traditional curatorial role in favor of shared authorship and a circular dialogue with contemporary artists, deliberately operating in the tension between the underground, ephemeral DIY format and permanent institutional structures.

In their current role as artistic director and curator, Lindén translates these theories into an accessible, discursive institutional practice. By weaving academic rigor together with a deeply human and permissive responsiveness, exhibition spaces are created where the political power of beauty, radicality, and vulnerability exists in its own right. The ultimate goal is to dismantle entrenched power structures, offering an arena where both artists and viewers navigate freely, beyond self-censorship and historical invisibility.

In previous artistic and curatorial endeavors, Eli Lindén has operated under the name Elinore Lindén Strand.