“Göteborg är en svår stad för kultur. Åtminstone för oss rasifierade” – Det vita konstrummet i Göteborg och hur det uppfattas av rasifierade

Abstract

Art spaces in Gothenburg are overwhelmingly occupied by white bodies, leaving artists of color as marginalized outsiders as they do not fit the somatic norm. Based on this marginalization, this thesis uses ethnographic fieldwork to study the experience of existing as an artist of color in spaces usually reserved for white people. It examines the personal experience of inhabiting spaces where one is non-normative, as well as challenges one consequently might face, along with strategies one uses to find belonging and establish oneself in these fields. The thesis argues that artists of color experience personal, social and structural challenges, where issues such as loneliness, a burden of representation, and economical, migrational, and spatial conditions shape their experiences. With the help of Bonilla-Silva’s (2006) theory of white habitus, Widigson’s (2013) previous research on socio- spatial segregation in Gothenburg, Bourdieu’s (1986) theory of social and cultural capital, as well as Puwar’s (2004) extensive research and theoretical frameworks about invading spaces where one is not the somatic norm, the study’s findings can be understood in a theoretical context. Fieldwork was conducted over a two month period, based on participant observations, pure observations, and interviews with eight different artists in the Gothenburg area. The thesis is written in Swedish.