Is an alternative to the known. Yet it is familiar, for it often uses the formats we know of in art, and in life.

Artmaking. Residencies. Thinking together, thinking alone.

Animal husbandry. Food. Natural resources. Work and play. Interspecies communication. Friendships, old and new.

Adventures.

Learning from a place, learning from other places. Learning from each other.

How can we move in unison towards the future?

How can we learn to accept our differences, to celebrate them?

How can we create the grounds for amazing art to emerge and be appreciated by new audiences?

How can we be free?

The Mirror Institution mirrors, reflects and expands the ideas and programmes of existing arts institutions, whether small or large. It mirrors our current curatorial and artistic ideas, making space for the experimental and joyful at the core of creating.

The Mirror Institution is not bound to a specific place. The Mirror Institution aims to take a stand, to be the island of refuge, when everything else seems impossible.

The Mirror Institution currently runs Silon Studios and a residency programme from a farm on the island of Öland off the Southeast coast of Sweden. We produce books and support artists and curators in developing new ideas and projects, learning from places and communities.

The Mirror Institution is an ongoing conversation between curator Joanna Sandell, Steuart Wright and many others.