Managing Contested Public Art: From Conflict to Conversation is a practical toolkit developed through the Nordic Insights project, designed for cultural operators, historians, artists, educators, local authorities and community activists working with contested monuments and public art.
Structured around a four-phase methodology — MIRROR (mapping and diagnosis), MEGAPHONE (artistic intervention and community action), DIALOGUE (mediation and policy), and LEGACY (formalizing solutions) — the guide offers step-by-step approaches, checklists and case studies drawn from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Romania, and the Republic of Moldova. It includes three specialized toolkits: a Community & Educational Heritage Toolkit for resource-limited contexts, Jonas Dahlberg’s pinballMETHOD for non-linear public space interventions, and Rebecka Katz Thor’s Post-Monument Framework for commissioning monuments addressing difficult heritage.
Built on the core principle “Don’t erase, overlap”, the Action Plan proposes recontextualization over demolition as a path for transforming social tension into cultural capital.
The guide was developed within the Nordic Insights project — a Nordic-Eastern European knowledge transfer initiative addressing cancel culture in public spaces through artistic dialogue and cultural innovation — by project coordinator Oana Nasui with action plan consultant Laura (Lala) Panait, in partnership with Center for Kunst og Interkultur (CKI, Denmark) and Intercult (Sweden). The project is implemented by the Formare Culturală platform and funded by the Nordic Culture Fund through the Globus Opstart+ program (2025–2026).
