WE DO NOT WORK ALONE | BFA exam exhibition 2025

Nothing is ––
Look, and it is. 1

Artistic expression finds its form in the unfolding journey toward an exhibition. In the case of the graduation show, this journey has called on students to attend not only to their own creative processes, but to those of their peers—and, perhaps most importantly, to envision an audience. What once lived within the private sphere of the studio now confidently steps forward, inviting others in. Each work stands as a testament to a singular voice, revealed in its full, unguarded presence.

Inspired by the spirit of the Mingei movement, which honors the beauty of the ordinary and the handmade, this exhibition unfolds as a quiet tribute to the lived lives behind artistic practices. “The source of art is in the life of a people” 2 — a sentiment that permeates the work on display, bridging concept and materiality, thought and feeling, object and observer. 

As with many contemporary places of education, Malmö Art Academy is institutional in its appearance: uniform white and grey doors, each labeled with only a number, concealing the person and the process inside, transmitting rather the feeling of a waiting room than entering a space of creative becoming. Containment defines the space — but containment rarely holds. Things leak. Meaning permeates.

Presence is a matter of bodies.

The exhibition — spanning KHM1 and KHM2 — features work in a broad range of media by thirteen remarkable artists. It is unburdened by a singular overarching theme, and marked instead by the absence of a sequence of cause and effect. A space of immediate perception, or chokkan (直観), unfolds.

There is resonance here. A kind of superimposition of forms, like echoes or mirrorings — a movement not outward, but inward and back. Yet providing a manifold opening: Look and it is. The works do not line up to tell a single story, but they speak together. Each artist brings a presence — Adrian-Alicia, Benedikte, Cecilie, Felix, Gunvor, Jelena, Klara, Lavinia, Loke, Mads Malthe, Noah, Othilia. Thank you all.

1 ‘The Windows of Life,’ in WE DO NOT WORK ALONE – The thoughts of Kanjiro Kawai. Yoshiko Uchida. Kawai Kanjiro’s House. Kyoto, Japan. 2017 (1953). 

2 The original marquetry floor in South London Gallery’s main gallery (not on public display) was designed by socialist artist and illustrator Walter Crane and bears this inscription.

Opening hours

Opening Friday May 16th 19.00–22.00, Opening speech: 20.00
Exhibition period 16 –31 May

Tuesday–Friday 12.00–18.00
Saturday–Sunday 12.00–16.00

Gallery KHM1, Friisgatan 15
Gallery KHM2, Bergsgatan 29, 3rd floor

Curated by Karin Bähler Lavér

Our Annual Exhibition opens the same day

On 16 May, we will also open our Annual exhibition at Båghallarna, Föraregatan 4 where all of our students open up their studios for smaller solo presentations, while the school's project rooms and common areas are transformed into a large group exhibition. The opening of the Annual Exhibition is between 16.00-19.00, so that you as a visitor can take part in both openings. Exhibition period: 16-25 May.