LIVE ACTION XCHANGE is Live Action’s international exchange programme for performance art. The programme establishes long-term, reciprocal partnerships between Live Action and festivals in different parts of the world, creating new international opportunities for artists working in Sweden while introducing international performance artists to Swedish audiences.

LIVE ACTION XCHANGE has grown out of Live Action’s many years of international activity and its extensive network of artists, curators and festivals. Rather than relying on isolated or occasional invitations, the programme is founded on recurring collaborations, shared responsibility and sustained exchange between different artistic and cultural contexts. Particular emphasis is placed on creating international opportunities for artists based in Gothenburg and the Västra Götaland region.

The programme was launched in 2025 through a collaboration with VIVA! Art Action in Montréal. The Gothenburg-based artist Chuyia Chia was presented at VIVA! in Canada, while Mai Bach-Ngoc Nguyen from Québec participated in Live Action in Gothenburg. This first exchange became the starting point for the continued development of Live Action Xchange as a long-term international programme.

A central component of Live Action Xchange is an expanded international curatorial model. Through the programme, artistic directors and curators from partner festivals are invited to select and present the artists they consider to be of particular significance within their respective countries and regions. Their perspectives complement Live Action’s own curatorial vision, enriching the festival through a diversity of artistic experience and cultural contexts. In 2026, this means that three curators from three festivals representing three different international contexts will contribute directly to the festival programme.

This approach opens Live Action to experiences, knowledge and artistic perspectives that extend beyond the organisation’s own horizon. Each partner curator brings an in-depth understanding of their local and regional performance art scene and is able to introduce artists who would otherwise rarely be encountered by Swedish audiences. Live Action Xchange therefore represents not only an exchange of artists between countries, but also an exchange of curatorial knowledge and perspectives. The programme creates space for different understandings of what is urgent, innovative and significant within contemporary performance art.

In 2026, Live Action Xchange expands through collaborations with three international festivals in North America, Asia and Africa. Olof Persson will participate in RIAP – Rencontre Internationale d’Art Performance in Québec City, while Laurence Gravel from Québec will be presented at Live Action in Gothenburg. Joakim Stampe will participate in Asiatopia in Bangkok, while the Thai artist Pitchapa Wangprasertkul will take part in Live Action. Through the collaboration with ICA Live Art in Cape Town, Mauritz Tistelö will be presented in South Africa, while Lorin Sookool from Cape Town will participate in Live Action in Gothenburg.

In 2027, the programme will continue to develop through its collaboration with Territori Festival in Ibiza, where Maria Q Brising is planned to represent Live Action, while Ana Sanz from the Balearic Islands will be invited to Gothenburg. Additional collaborations and exchanges will be developed progressively through the programme’s expanding international network.

Through Live Action Xchange, Live Action serves both as an international platform in Sweden and as an active gateway for Swedish performance art abroad. The programme creates encounters between artists, curators, places and audiences, while building long-term relationships between performance art communities—from Gothenburg to Montréal, Québec City, Bangkok, Cape Town and Ibiza.

Live Action Xchange is founded on the conviction that international exchange is about more than geographical mobility. It is about working in new contexts, engaging with different artistic traditions and audiences, sharing curatorial knowledge, developing new relationships and creating the conditions for artistic development over time. With Gothenburg and the Västra Götaland region as its point of departure, Live Action Xchange seeks to contribute to a more interconnected, diverse and sustainable international performance art landscape.