Looking at the world around us and see how we can maded. This. In our venues.

When
people come do they feel like okay this is relevant or why are we talking about this? Yeah.
So So looking at what is happening, the macro and then Seeing how this can be reflected in
an exhibition, in a program activity, Facebook, post Instagram post.

That's what it means to me, I guess.

How do you work to create relevance?

How do I work to create relevance? I mean, Right now, I'm working as a project leader or
production leader of exhibitions at the Mediterranean Museum. And, The topics that we
choose. We choose to. Like the topics about our exhibitions, they are relevant to either
certain minority groups or majority groups at the same time.

So, I know, for example, that they're making exhibitions, for kids making exhibitions, like, we
had FIFA Mexico. We had the Habibi exhibition that I worked with for queer, but in particular
with the focus on out of queer but it was open for all queers And, Right now with this
exhibition that I'm working on, that's the two exhibition.

It's relevant because you get to look at the Mediterranean region from a different angle. You
get to learn about the history of that region through tattoos and Sweden is One of the in
Sweden we have. I guess the second mostitude Mason or tattoos are very popular in
Sweden. So, um, I mean this is why it is relevant, we bring something that is relevant to
people.

And how do you like? So, when deciding an exhibition, The minister learning scrippen, who
decides? No, we have the comments, right? So they somehow take a decision there. And
then this decision is taking to the bosses To the heads of departments. And how is that
decided like How was that?

Decided like we want to focus on Habibi. I want to like open up for our queers. How was
that? Like I mean, it's a long story, but I would skip but um, It's an exhibition that was
successful in Paris that managed to bring together more than 80 000 visitors.

So again, it was a relevant topic to talk about queers and it was looking at that region. Yeah,
from a completely different angle, not an angle of war of conflict of Isis or but queer and
celebration and happy and Activism. That maybe it was missing from. Mental house music
before.

Not really because the exhibition I I don't have so much knowledge about me. That helps me
see. It's but the one before was about ultras and football, that was a bit. I mean, you also
look at the Mediterranean region through football and the Ultras But I can't say it was a
happy exhibit, but it was also another form of activism because these ultras groups are
activists in their own way.

Interesting. So, um, So, yeah, it's, uh, it's a lot about activism. Even that the two exhibition
people who still choose to tattoo themselves. Although it is forbidding culturally frowned
upon etc. Etc. It's a form of activism. Yeah. Um, I guess the next question was to ask about
an example.

Smb core. I've worked with relevance. To reach a group of people. An example or every like,
I mean, you have Habibi. Yeah, it's celebration. Every year you have the, you have But,
during West Pride. I mean, we, oh, during third closet, what else like we were. I don't know
about vegetables yet more than about the other, the other ones, but even Yukai, like, manga
and Yokai and all of this is really big today among youth.

So we do. Look also at what is trendy? What is happening? What is popular? What is what
are big questions? And this is reflected in our exhibitions and the programs done around the
exhibitions. Do you see any challenges? In doing this. Like following the trends. Are there
any challenges?

Sometimes you're going to upset people. Yeah, sometimes you're going to upset people. So
Habibi exhibition was controversial, of course it did upset some people, it did celebrate other
people. Um, It was an opportunity for some to change their opinion about a certain group of
people.

Yeah. I don't know. We've seen now with this Native, American fashion exhibition. What
happened? Yeah, politically on a high level high political level in the US. It's not very
celebrated topic. But um, it's very important that we talk about the rights of the indigenous
people. Yeah. Today. Yeah, I mean it goes with the museums.

It's a museum of our culture. Yeah. And but our main goal or our main vision is to make the
world bigger. Yeah. And more human. Yeah. So When you open an exhibition about Native
American fashion in Gothenburg, it might sound like, why do it? But it's bringing the world to
you so that you would know.

Oh, I don't just live in a small town where, you know, we only Have exhibitions about, I don't
know sale. Or I don't want to be, I don't want to sound politically Incorrect, although it's fine
to have an exhibition about Siri and or Lux, but you feel the world is bigger.

Yeah. Totally. Um, Well, have you ever heard of anything like I don't know something that
went against like the Lightning scriven like a suggestion that was not. Because I don't know
how this will help you. Yes, it has been. I think it's mine or no. I think it's worse.

Mine doesn't vibrate.

As long as I'm still recording, I think it is. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um Do you see any like
Outsiders to the museum to still like people who are not welcome? And if so, like what do
you think is preventing them from being interested? Note that I can think of Terms of visitors.

You're asking right? Not that I can think of Because we are really open for collaboration if it's
not through exhibitions then it's open through programs. We even have an exhibition made
for people with special needs. And Which I found amazing. I mean it's really amazing that we
have such an exhibition Here in the house.
But if we're not talking about visitors it's a very wide organisation. Yeah. It's a very wide
organisation and the only diversity, even this, the least diversity, we could have could be at
least in the reception. Yeah. And we don't have this, no. And this is, No, this is for me.

Something that needs to be changed ASAP. Yeah. I mean I'm, I'm reading this. Book for the
report by Nina Simon. If you know Nina Simon like the singer, no Nina Simon. Okay? It's just
like a mesologist and she's written a book, The Art of relevance, okay. And according to her,
it's really like In order to create true relevance the matter.

As many people as possible. There has to be. Changed in the inside the organisation.
Definitely, I mean, I agree but it's not like all our activities like, this is why I said when it
comes to visitors. Yeah, but when it comes to here, yeah. Diversity. I think I'm the only one
who speaks Arabic.

Yeah. Um, I think I'm even the only person of colour. Now we have a new person in
economy, but I was the only I am the only person of colour. Yeah, sitting on the fifth floor. So,
But again, I don't know about recruitment processes. No, I don't know if people with colour
they apply and then they are not taken, because they are just people of colour, I don't know.

I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

And when you start a new project, how do you decide? What's going to be relevant? Fire
audit for the audience.

I mean, it depends again. I'm just I need to not to think I have my museum hat on. I'm
thinking mind the Gap or other projects because apparently two years ago I wasn't even
working with any of the right. Yeah. I barely knew Luis, I barely knew all of this.

Even now, Luis, I started to know him with the tattoo. Yeah. Um, but I mean that's also a part
of now. Let's I mean I'm just For me. It's the text and the content sometimes. I try to put
myself in the shoes of a visitor. Yeah. Is it interesting for me to know this Maybe, maybe not.

So, um, So, I try to see if this could be interesting. So I kind of tested on myself. Yeah.
Because if you look at the exhibition in Milano of the two, I mean it was like 500 pages next,
you know, So this is when it comes to me, I test it on me and I'm somebody who like, I'm still
old school.

Like I need to print and read and so on otherwise I'm not dyslexic. But, Nowadays with the
technology and everything is just digital portrait video moving image. It becomes more and
more difficult to just read text. So let's try to make it as short as concise, and interesting. I'm
always also interested in the stories because this is how you Crepe Bridges.

I know it sounds very tacky this crate Bridges, but I'm watching a photo of someone I don't
know. But when I read the story and I'm like, oh, I had the same two, I would start thinking,
ah, maybe I did not do this. But yeah, I remember when I sat there when my grandmother
died, I was sitting next to her casket and like, you know, like these kind of and then you
would start to reflect.
So I'm very, very interested and that's why I started the whole mind, the Gap in storytelling,
right? Because this is how even when you read somebody's story. A heavy story. You read
how somebody healed it also heals you as a person when you look at them. So stories, how
can we make like create a narrative of stories?

I don't know if that answer is your question. Yeah, but I think definitely definitely. Cuz without
What are stories? Don't want us there for the yeah, exactly. Visitor to experience. Exactly. So
And again like how do you formulate? The the story. Yeah. What words you choose. This is
really, really important.

Yeah, and how do you change, like, we had a discussion. Now, when it comes to the, to the
text of tattoo example, we had a whole section about the amazing and Sophia Hagman and
Honda Berry they said, no, we should not have the word better and if we use it, we should
have it.

Maybe once because the word better comes from Barbara, which means barbaric. Yeah.
Okay. In Arabic. So we should use. Stick to Amazir the same way. Like, in Native fashion,
they have a whole wall when they where they are saying we did not use the word Indian
Americans. It is a matter of choice.

It's a matter of choice. Why Habibi exhibition was in Swedish and Arabic. Because we
wanted to show that you can talk about queer in a heavily, gendered language. Yeah. Which
is Arabic, we wanted to bring sorry.

Everything is political everything. What you eat? What do you address? What? You What
you put on display? Because um, I don't believe in impartiality. Everyone has an agenda.
Yeah, everyone has an agenda. So which agenda do you have? They have an agenda to
spread awareness about a certain topic, or do you have an agenda to spread the
misinformation and disinformation or Is what we try with the exhibitions.

And now with this, Uh, the colonising. Museums. Uh project. So it was really the first time
now with to exhibition that I had people saying, we need to take a look at the text from a
decolonial perspective. Yeah. And this is one, they said, for example, takeaway Yeah, yeah.

I mean Stately industry. Jason That is supposed to be neutral. Yeah. No, I'm not saying that
I'm saying that the museum. Has should be neutral in a right-wing government and in like,
Yeah. But obviously, it's not No, actually, and I wanna, I mean, I myself, I want to work in a
place.

That is on the right side of History. Yeah, of course. Yeah. That's where I want to work. And
this is So, the day I will feel, we are not on the right side of History. I'm gonna be like hello.
Bye, I can't compromise. Uh, This but so far, I think we're doing a good job.

With the MacBook exhibition, with the Native American fashion with the Habibi exhibition.
Yeah. What else? Yeah, pushback needs to be revolutionised. Yeah. Um,

No. That's interesting. One last question. Yes. If there's anything you would like to see
change. The museum defines and works with relevance,
I mean, just one one thing that I always think about is I get a lot of requests all the time. Can
we exhibit? Can we show our work at the Museum and so on? So this we don't have no, no.
And this is an opportunity for a lot of especially of emerging artists and so on.

So if we could have a space at For example, it doesn't have all one of the four museums at
least. Uh and I think fits the best because it's open World cultures you know so it can be
awesome health. So, if we could have this space where we could allow, Where we could
become a gallery.

Yeah. Over one month. So, this is something that I see we could change. And for sure, that
would be, I mean you have the overall slap it Yeah, and also like the the room of glanton.
Yeah, jumping after that could be like really small calories, could be photography, it could be
like um film or photography something that is simple.

Yeah, something that doesn't require like Montero. So something simple. That would be.
Yeah. Something I would love to see. Plus, of course more diversity. Yeah, of course. Do you
think it? Do you think it will happen? As time goes on. Definitely? Yeah, has to. Yeah, it has
to like Rene has already started a little bit like she had.

Nadia did

Like, I've noticed she's mostly hiring people of other backgrounds. But, But it is, it is still
Yeah, the place that needs to be like if I can use the word penetrating you know, by people of
colour. Yeah. At least in the front. Yeah. Yeah, of course, at least in the front If they can't
make it to plant Femme, at least on the ground floor.

Yeah, because Yeah, it was at the little I, Someone said I'm a Muslim girl with a hijab and
she was black and she said, a lot of different people work here. And I was like, um, I guess
they do, but Depends what you mean by different, I suppose. Yeah.

Generation was yeah. But it used to be better. I don't know what happened. Still have
Cynthia. I used to have kedane. Used to have. Other. We used to have a girl who was
wearing the veil. An Iraqi or Assyrian background, but it was like one of these rooster match
program.

I hope I really, I hope so. And I hope Rita Change this, but I mean, Of course. I'm a big
believer of, if you're not from them, then you can't. Who was it? If you're not from them, you
can't talk about them. And that something like you will not think about them.

No, like I would not my first is not that I'm thinking about people with special needs no, but
not that. Okay? I think about people that are black or um you know, that's not or middle-aged
white man. At all. Like this is not the first group that I think about No, because they don't
belong.

I don't belong there. I would think about them, of course. But you know. Yeah, sometimes
and and here with people trying to be highly politically correct people are too afraid. Yeah. To
say something that is not correct. So they kind of they shut up. Um, but that's a very
Swedish.

Exactly. Thank you. Yeah, this was people here. Like I meant from Sweden. Not just, not just
at the museum. Yeah.

Yes. Wow, it's fine, huh. Yeah wow. Well done. Molly, thank you. Well done.