Speaking Volumes

The group exhibition “Speaking Volumes” brings to light six unique artistic practices from the USA, UK and Sweden. Participating artists are Nicole Storm, Monica Valentine, Alan Faulds, Mawuena Kattah, Mattias Johansson and David Cheung.

When something speaks volumes it communicates powerfully without needing many words. What is said often goes beneath and beyond verbal language. It becomes spatial – it could be a feeling, an impression or an energy in the room.

For this exhibition, Malmö Konsthall has invited six artists who speak volumes through their works. Their distinct visual languages each reveal different ways of experiencing the world. In bypassing rigid definitions, explanations and categorisations they instead invite us to celebrate plurality, fluidity and nuance. The exhibition brings together a spectrum of fascinations and urgencies: mapping and worldbuilding, the repetition of patterns and movements, and experiments with colour and composition. Bearing visible traces of their makers’ unique methods and processes, the works are both living vessels for personal thoughts and reflections, and tangible expressions of our shared experience of being human.

The artists work with a wide variety of materials and techniques ranging from ceramics to installation, drawing to performance, painting to weaving. In this exhibition the artists are not presented separately; rather, their works interact with each other throughout the space. One aspect that unites these artists is their access to supported studios — communities that enable artists with disabilities to develop their singular creative practices and establish themselves as visible and equal contributors to the contemporary art world. Malmö Konsthall has led efforts to establish a supported studio in the region, and in autumn 2025 the new studio opened its doors in Malmö.

The curator of the exhibition is Lucy Smalley, Malmö Konsthall.

Participating artists: Nicole Storm (Creative Growth, USA), Monica Valentine (Creative Growth, USA), Alan Faulds (Artlink, UK), Mawuena Kattah (Intoart, UK), Mattias Johansson (Inuti, Sweden) & David Cheung (Malmö, Sweden).