Who are you?
— I love building contexts for humans and content to shine in. I and my colleagues founded the business conference The Conference in 2011 on the premise that fields, disciplines, and backgrounds other than your own is a great resource for learning new things. Essentially, we’ve created a space where you can participate from all walks of life and feel comfortable in getting the perspectives you didn’t think of googling — a conference that caters as much to participants’ intellect as to their emotions. All thinking starts with feelings. The Conference 2022 is less than a week away, and we’re overly excited to host 900+ people from 15 countries in Malmö. We are glad to have Liam Young talk about how machine senses can make us more sensible of the world we inhabit, to have Maya Man talk about how to fall in love with a computer, to have Lucia Tahan about spatial computing, Tega Brain on why the environment is not a system, Christina Agapakis talk about natural intelligence and the metaverse, to have Victor Galaz talk about planetary boundaries, and to have hundreds of peeps talking to each other in our coffee bar.
For someone who hasn’t been to Malmö, how’d you describe it?
— The conference could not have taken place somewhere else. Malmö is a place to break norms, where the establishment isn’t that established, where new ways of doing things are cherished, where people are approachable and helpful, and where collaboration is not seen as the opposite of competition. Malmö is the first stop in Sweden. Malmö has open arms. Malmö is punching above its weight. Malmö is small but has the benefits of being the third biggest city in its country and 20 minutes by train from Copenhagen.
My favourite thing that makes me proud of Malmö:
— The food scene. I know, every city nowadays claims — and rightly so — to have a good food scene. But not every city has the world’s best lunch canteen — Saltimporten — and not every city has Aster that get the relaxed vibe, the cocktails and the food right. Not every city gets pumped by the energy from Fruktstereo’s explorations of what Swedish Pet Nat (a natural sparkling wine, Ed’s note) can taste like, and not every city has the continent’s best arable land to grow great produce on within its city limits. Not every city has ShawarmaGiganten that dips the role in the fat from the meat and creates a minor fire in pushing it on the grill. Not every city has roasting kings like Solde Kaffebar that are equally good at making prestige cappuccino and croissants. Not every city has Marvin that serves something so unique as gorgeous English food in the shape of pies and muffins. Not every city has an unpretentious fine dining experience like the one Jörgen Lloyd puts in at Lyran. Not every city had a person like Nina Chistiansson who apart from being a great restaurateur and host herself always put out a helping hand of encouragement and advice — rest in peace. And then there are food innovators like Sproud and Oatly that attract talent from all over the world in their endeavours to make the planet cope better with our need to get fed. Not all cities have natural wine pioneers like Vin & Natur. Piew, a mouthful. Welcome to Malmö.
My favourite place for dining out:
— Aster.
My favourite weekend routine:
— The slowness of a Sunday morning. Brew a cup of coffee, put some music on — check out Hey Elbow for a great Malmö act — and read the local (Sydsvenskan) and national news (Svenska Dagbladet) that lands on my doormat. Head out to the neighbourhood’s staffed outdoor gym LOGS.
My favourite cultural spot:
— Malmö Konsthall is the city’s most beautiful room. Airy, flexible, and literally open to passersby to take a peak. Built in 1975 by Klas Anshelm, and they manage to be bearers of history and to push the contemporary at the same time. And! Being a music club kind of person I was surprised that during the pandemic, what I missed the most, was the performances of Malmö Symphony Orchestra which is fortunate enough to call the amazing Malmö Live Concert Hall its home.
My favourite place for a creative or business meeting:
— Solde.
My favourite breakfast place:
— Ruths.
My favourite excursion or city escape:
— There are four art spots around the Scania (Skåne) region that I cherish and frequently pay a visit to; in the foot of Hallandsåsen is Galleri Arnstedt, in deep forests north of Kristianstad is Wanås sculpture park, Galleri Thomas Wallner in Österlen and last but not least the Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art in Lund.
My favourite local entrepreneur or creative I want to promote:
— Peter Hahne, a painter with forty years of work and exhibitions under his belt.
My favourite hotel for a staycation:
— The Duxiana. Small, newly renovated, great location, and has the best beds.
My favourite space for great design:
— The Japanese design store Zakka.
My favourite route for a run or walk:
— I live next to a Kungsparken. I enjoy running in eighths and recording nice patterns in Strava.
My favourite place for fashion:
— Très Bien offers their great webshop as fitting room. Again, not all cities of 350.000 inhabitants has an outlet with an eclectic selection of Dries van Noten, Prada, Nike, Maison Margiela, Acne Studios, Polar Skate Co., and more.
My favourite example of tech innovation in Malmö:
— The human-centric, design-driven tech company Hövding. Bread at Lund university, developed at Malmö incubator (Minc) and grew up at creative spaces at harbourside Saltimporten. The perfect storm. The inventors Therese Alstin and Anna Haupt are my idols.
My favourite local media:
— Malmö Locals Guide for inspiration on what to do, Pet people for great design and quirky topics, and Sydsvenskan for all things local — including the world’s best soccer team, Malmö FF.
My favourite thing at home:
— The art of Anastasia Ax, Peter Hahne, Addie Wagenknecht, Hanna Sjöstrand, Johan Furåker, Charlotte Wallentin, Jens Fänge, Thomas Broome, Martha Ossowska Persson, Dick Hedlund give me both comfort, courage, and energy.
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