Baltic Art Center was founded in autumn 1999 by international institutions for contemporary art within the Baltic Sea region. This development started in 1993, when the “Baltic Sculpture” exhibition was opened on Gotland, along with the Baltic Center for Writers and Translators. This generated the idea of establishing a Baltic Art Center with international guest studios. The Municipality of Gotland acquired the Björkander Warehouse to house the proposed Art Center.

BAC has worked publicly with exhibitions since 1999, and produced a range of high profile international exhibitions at the BAC exhibition hall in the Björkander Warehouse in Visby between 2001 and 2007. In 2007, the permanent exhibition hall was closed down due to a decision by the Swedish Arts Council and the Gotland Municipality to prioritize the residency and production program.

The Production-in-Residence program for international artists was established at BAC 2004 and has been operating successfully since then. In 2008, an additional Artist-in-Residence program for Nordic artists, curators and contemporary art writers was initiated, financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers. As of 2010 also artists and cultural practitioners from the Baltic countries are welcome to the Artist-in-Residence program.

For more information about BAC please read the Mission Statement