The exhibition "All set for solidarity" was part of a collaboration between the platform Settings, Konsthall C and the city of Stockholm and would have opened on 27 June.

Last Tuesday, however, the organizers were reached by the message from the district administration on Norrmalm that the exhibition is canceled.  

- Surprisingly, we received an email last week where we received the news that the exhibition was canceled due to parts of it being considered party political.

Since then, we have tried to get a meeting with the district director Jesper Ackinger to get a definition of what he thinks is party politics.

We think that there is an important difference between that a work is political and that it is party political, says Rebecca Vinthagen, operations manager at Settings and one of the exhibition organizers.

The exhibition itself drew inspiration from election posters and consisted of a number of posters with messages such as: "I want a prime minister who never cooperates with racists" and "A country to share, not a divided country".

- What we investigated was how our election posters could have manifested themselves if we were in a political situation where humanity and equality were at the center, says Rebecca Vinthagen.

Perceives the works as party political

In an email to Rebecca Vinthagen, a representative from the district administration writes that the administration management has decided to suspend the collaboration.

The reason is that several of the works are considered to "balance on a fine line between art and party politics", which can jeopardize the administration's objectivity and neutrality.

According to the administration, the works risk being perceived as "a submission in the upcoming election campaign."

- We told Settings about the conditions and what was possible on the spot, but when we found out the content on June 15, we became a little thoughtful and saw that some parts of the work could be perceived as party political.

It becomes sensitive because it is on Sergels torg and difficult to frame it in a natural way, to make it be perceived as an art exhibition, in addition, it is close to a choice, says district director Jesper Ackinger and continues:

- Other parts of the city of Stockholm have been commissioned to work with art.

This would have been easier for that type of business.

But as district administration, we do not have art as our main purpose, but use it as a tool to create a safer and more welcoming urban environment, he says.

Art "censored"

The organizers, for their part, believe that the district administration's management has not explained how the works can be perceived as party political.

Rebecca Vinthagen also emphasizes the principle of arm's length distance between art and politics.

According to her, the decision means that "art in the city is censored".

We see that the administration is setting up an exhibition whose purpose is to raise compassion in the election movement, which is deeply worrying.

Where are we going when officials set up exhibitions because of how they perceive its content?

I would like to know how the city's Cultural Citizens' Council views the art in the city being censored in this way?

Art must be free from political control, it is a fundamental democratic issue ", writes Rebecca Vinthagen in a press release.