Nik Karlsson
Producer & Founder, Holobiont Project
Based in Sweden but spending much time working and travelling in Europe, Nik Karlsson has a background in alternative forms of documentary filmmaking and media production but currently works mostly with graphic design, illustration, street art, musical toursupport and various forms of art production and theory.
Nik has studied art & design, media & cultural studies and digital media in the United Kingdom and was one of the founders of the international cross-media project Matchbox Media Co-operative. He was active as a media activist and documentary filmmaker with a special interest in new media technologies and grassroots social and environmental justice issues. He has worked on the production of the crowdfunded films Porters of the Inca Trail and Sandgrains.
In later years he has been working as a tour manager and producer for several bands from around the world with who he has travelled extensively throughout Europe. Some of these bands and musicians are Yann Tiersen, Wye Oak, Konono No.1, Mandolin Orange and Will Butler. Through this he has gained a clear and comprehensive understanding of how many sides of the music and festival industry works and has visited several big and small venues and several of the top media outlets in Europe.
He has worked as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator as a part of the Black Button Collective and has an active interest in street art. He is a founding member of the Holobiont Project and is in the pre-production stages of several events connected to that. As a member of the Holobiont Project he has facilitated many international discussions and meetings that have led to various projects such as the exhibition Caged City by the Stockholm based street artists Hop Louie and Hello Banana in Athens and contributed to the academic project The Urban Politics and Governance of Social Innovation in Austerity.
He worked on the production of the double exhibition "Artists in Athens-City in Crisis", a project by the social scientist Heiner Legewie and photographer Georg Eichinger about artists living and working in Athens during the economic crisis, The exhibition took place in Athens and Berlin in 2017 and was made possible through support by the Baumgart Foundation in Munich, the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin, and the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens. He also contributed to the accompanying publication with the article Street Art and Urban Environments in Athens. The full publication can be found HERE.
Since 2017 Nik has been working as a project coordinator for the Swedish artist and academic Kerstin Bergendal, who teaches fine art at the Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg and is active in several projects such as Hjertet i Ikast, Denmark and ”Konstnärligt arbete pågår” at the Art Inside Out residency in Halmstad, Sweden.
Based in Sweden but spending much time working and travelling in Europe, Nik Karlsson has a background in alternative forms of documentary filmmaking and media production but currently works mostly with graphic design, illustration, street art, musical toursupport and various forms of art production and theory.
Nik has studied art & design, media & cultural studies and digital media in the United Kingdom and was one of the founders of the international cross-media project Matchbox Media Co-operative. He was active as a media activist and documentary filmmaker with a special interest in new media technologies and grassroots social and environmental justice issues. He has worked on the production of the crowdfunded films Porters of the Inca Trail and Sandgrains.
In later years he has been working as a tour manager and producer for several bands from around the world with who he has travelled extensively throughout Europe. Some of these bands and musicians are Yann Tiersen, Wye Oak, Konono No.1, Mandolin Orange and Will Butler. Through this he has gained a clear and comprehensive understanding of how many sides of the music and festival industry works and has visited several big and small venues and several of the top media outlets in Europe.
He has worked as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator as a part of the Black Button Collective and has an active interest in street art. He is a founding member of the Holobiont Project and is in the pre-production stages of several events connected to that. As a member of the Holobiont Project he has facilitated many international discussions and meetings that have led to various projects such as the exhibition Caged City by the Stockholm based street artists Hop Louie and Hello Banana in Athens and contributed to the academic project The Urban Politics and Governance of Social Innovation in Austerity.
He worked on the production of the double exhibition "Artists in Athens-City in Crisis", a project by the social scientist Heiner Legewie and photographer Georg Eichinger about artists living and working in Athens during the economic crisis, The exhibition took place in Athens and Berlin in 2017 and was made possible through support by the Baumgart Foundation in Munich, the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin, and the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens. He also contributed to the accompanying publication with the article Street Art and Urban Environments in Athens. The full publication can be found HERE.
Since 2017 Nik has been working as a project coordinator for the Swedish artist and academic Kerstin Bergendal, who teaches fine art at the Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg and is active in several projects such as Hjertet i Ikast, Denmark and ”Konstnärligt arbete pågår” at the Art Inside Out residency in Halmstad, Sweden.
